Angkas has released an official statement on its social media accounts that reveal a decision made by the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board to reduce the number of Angkas bikers by 17,000 for its extended pilot run.
Free rides from Recto to Santolan Station (and vice-versa), anyone? ? pic.twitter.com/JuokulxQD1
— Angkas (@angkas) October 8, 2019
“It’s been an exhausting, bittersweet last few weeks,” the statement read. “Meron kaming good news at bad news. Ang good news: Tuloy ang operations ng Angkas next year. Ang bad news: Halos 20,000 bikers natin ang mawawalan ng trabaho sa pagpasok ng bagong taon.”
“Your everyday heroes in traffic will enter this Christmas season not knowing whether they will have money to feed their families next year,” they added. “Some of you may have noticed na ang hirap nang mag-book in the last few weeks. Marami kasi talaga ang nag-a-Angkas, pero gusto man naming dagdagan ang bikers para higit kayong mapaglingkuran, hindi kami pinayagan ng LTFRB.”
They lamented LTFRB’s decision to reduce their number of bikers from 27,000 to 10,000, many of whom have been serving the public since 2017. “That’s a compromise to the quality of service you can expect, and A DIRECT BLOW TO OVER 17,000 FILIPINO FAMILIES.”
They also said that this decision will also make it difficult for Angkas to provide everyone the service they need to get through the Metro Manila traffic which increasingly gets worse as time goes by.
“Bakit kailangang bawasan at tanggalan ng trabaho ang mga bikers natin? Bakit kailangang parusahan ang mga bikers na nakapag-training at napatunayan na ang galing sa daan?”
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They then asked the public to help them spread their message.
“For three years now, tayo ay nagsakripisyo at lumaban para bigyan ng dignidad ang ating mga Angkas bikers. Our bikers and their families took a chance with us, too, para makapaglingkod sa inyo. Now, at our time of need, we humbly ask that you share this message and help our bikers keep their jobs. Help us #SaveAngkas so we and our bikers can help save you again every day.”
Read their full statement below:
This statement comes after the LTFRB confirmed that Angkas will be extending their pilot run for three more months and that two new motorcycle ride-hailing services, JoyRide and Move It, will be participating in the experimental project.
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