SOME COMMUTERS are turning to motorcycle taxis for speed and affordability, but a dangerous vacuum of accountability threatens public safety. These two-wheeled transport services — known locally as angkas or habal-habal — continue to operate in full view of authorities, without permits, standards, or clear regulation. Yet, no one seems willing — or able — to act.
In Iloilo City as reported by this paper yesterday, officials say their hands are tied. “There is no existing ordinance in Iloilo City that regulates motor taxis,” admits Iloilo City Traffic and Transportation Management Office head Uldarico Garbanzos. The power to regulate, they say, belongs to the Land Transportation Office (LTO). But the LTO and its sister agency, the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board, claim that two-wheelers are beyond their enforcement scope.
And so, the buck is passed from one agency to the next — national to local, local back to national — while unregulated motorcycle taxis continue to ferry passengers through Iloilo’s streets with no assurance of safety or liability. The result: a growing informal transport system that thrives not because of enlightened policy but in spite of legislative neglect.
Worse, Iloilo City is not even included in the Department of Transportation’s pilot program that allows motorcycle taxi operations in Metro Manila through accredited apps like Angkas and Joyride. This leaves Iloilo with all the problems — and none of the protections — of a burgeoning ride-hailing market. There are no driver background checks, no enforced fare systems, no vehicle inspections, and no accident accountability. The city’s only recourse so far? An inventory of operating motorcycles. That is hardly enough.
What Iloilo is experiencing is not a local failure but a systemic one — a textbook case of bureaucratic buck-passing where lives are at stake. The absence of a national framework for motorcycle taxis has left local governments like Iloilo helpless, despite the clear and present risks.
This cannot go on. The Department of Transportation must stop dragging its feet and finally release comprehensive regulations that authorize and guide the operation of motorcycle taxis nationwide. Congress, too, must expedite the passage of legislation that legitimizes the sector while imposing safety standards. In the meantime, the Iloilo City Council must explore creative interim solutions — including voluntary registration, safety seminars, and city-issued guidelines — to mitigate risk while awaiting national action.
Transport safety is a shared responsibility. But when every agency claims it is someone else’s job, it becomes no one’s job. And it is the riding public who ultimately pays the price.
