MOVE IT seeks rider cap reaffirmation

In its latest move to reverse an order that could significantly cut its fleet, MOVE IT has asked the Motorcycle Taxi Technical Working Group (MCT-TWG) for a formal declaration affirming its right to operate with 15,000 riders in Metro Manila.

In a Thursday supplemental filing to its earlier motion for reconsideration, MOVE IT asserted that its compliance with the 2020 revised rider allocation guidelines was ignored by the group.

“The enforcement of the Order – which was issued in flagrant violation of the right to due process – will displace almost 7,000 riders in Metro Manila, 3,000 in Cebu, and 3,000 in CDO,” the company said, adding that the scheduled rehabilitation of EDSA next month could further compound commuting challenges.

“It is both arbitrary and unjust for the Honorable MCT-TWG to base a decision — one that effectively obliterates up to 14,000 jobs — on a single ‘hearing’ conducted solely by the Secretariat, without the presence of the Chairman, Vice Chairperson, the five (5) other members of the Honorable MCT-TWG, and, most critically, without the participation of the directly affected parties, MOVE IT and the riders,” it added.

While the company stressed that it was not challenging the TWG’s authority to regulate, it emphasized that “the power of regulation should be exercised by the tenets of due process as mandated by the 1987 Philippine Constitution.”

“Any further delay in the resolution of the Motion will not just affect 14,000 riders and their families, but also the riding public, for whom the MCT pilot study was contemplated and envisioned,” the company said.