Habal-habal drivers will be delighted to know that the move to legalize their operations is making progress. /CDN file photo
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Dependency on habal-habal operations is evident, even more, among residents of the less developed towns of the province.
Cebu Governor Hilario Davide III echoed Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña’s call for lawmakers to pass legislation regulating and legalizing the operations of motorcycle taxi or habal-habal.
“In fact, gusto pod ko nga naay balaod nga magregulate og habal-habal. Tinuod man na ang gisulti ni Mayor Osmeña nga daghang mga tawo ang nagdepende sa habal-habal,” Davide said on Wednesday.
Davide said residents in the towns of the province even depend on habal-habal to carry on with their daily routines.
“People from the mountain barangays, they depend on the habal-habal to bring their children to school, to buy goods from the Poblacion ug uban pa nilang mga daily routine. Para nako its about time. dugay na gani nga dunay moves to regularize habal-habal,” Davide added.
Davide also said that regulating habal-habal operations would even lessen the present risks and concerns in taking motorcycle rides.
“Istriktohon langgyod ang requirements that is why kinahanglan nga i-reguate gyud. Theres a public transort law but ang covered ana four wheeled vehicles ra man. Kinahangaln gyod nga kining mga motorcycles dapat iregulate na gyod na,” Davide added.
At present, the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) has intensified its operations against habal-habal drivers after Supreme Court (SC) issued a ruling in December last year that banned the operations of Angkas, a motorcycle-hailing app that mostly use habal-habal drivers as their partners.
In a speech during a committee hearing at the Congress posted on the mayor’s Facebook page, Osmeña told lawmakers that Cebu’s economy will not survive without the habal-habal operations.
“Yes, like with anything, there are abuses within the habal habal industry, but many of these issues (safety, cleanliness, pricing) have already been addressed by Angkas. Before they were made illegal, Angkas was doing goverment’s job better than government. So why did we end Angkas?” Osmeña’s video caption reads.
“Government must be responsive. The essence of Federalism is to make government more responsive to the people we serve by doing as much as possible at the local level. We must react to their needs, not tell them what they need,” the post added./elb
Read more: Fate of angkas, habal-habal under House review