Platform CEO cannot represent app workers—riders’ group

The riders’ rights group Kapatiran sa Dalawang Gulong (Kagulong) lambasted the claim of Angkas CEO George Royeca that he can represent app riders and informal workers as a partylist nominee. “There is an inherent conflict of interest between employers and their workers. Di na kailangang i-memorize yan. Employers want to maximize profit while workers desire better wages. We see this in the case of platform riders who frequently complain of arbitrary cuts by apps in their income share even as the companies continue raking in profits,” asserted Don Pangan, Kagulong secretary-general.

 

Royeca filed his candidacy as first nominee of the Angkasangga partylist group which professes to be an organization for informal workers. In 2010, the COMELEC disqualified the first two nominees of Angkasangga, a businessman and an ex-mayor, because they are not from any marginalized groups.

 

Pangan added that “Royeca contends that among his advocacies for running as partylist nominee is the formalization of informal workers. He does not have to be a partylist congressman to lead in this advocacy. As Angkas CEO, all he has to do is to transform their app riders from so-called freelancers to regular employees so they can enjoy the protection of labor standards and workers rights. This is the very definition of formalizing the informal sector—having them covered with the benefits of social protection which in our system is tied to the employment relationship.”

 

“We challenge Royeca to put his money where his mouth is. Stop misclassifying Angkas riders as independent contractors. Recognize them as regular workers and extend to them social protection, labor standards and workers’ rights,” Pangan explained.

 

Kagulong also observed that the glitzy and expensive launch of Angkasangga already reveals how the partylist group truly does not represent informal workers who are the most vulnerable section of the working class.

 

Kagulong has been conducting voters’ education among its members and the broader riders’ community. “We call on riders to be critical of the election candidates. Kilatisin ang plataporma, huwag papadala sa porma at pera ang aming panawagan sa mga botante at sa mga kapwa riders,” Pangan ended.

October 9, 2024

Kagulong

Workers group slam billionaire app owner running as partylist nominee

 

The workers group Partido Manggagawa (PM) slammed the owner of the platform app Angkas who is running as the first nominee of the Ang Kasangga partylist. “How can a billionaire like George Royeca represent ordinary app riders? This is another Mikey Arroyo, son of then President Gloria Arroyo, who ran as nominee of a fake security guards partylist group. Royeca is a poster boy for the undermining of the partylist system as a reform measure,” asserted Judy Ann Miranda, PM secretary general.

 

She added that riders have been misclassified as freelancers by platforms and as a result have been denied the protection of labor standards and social security. “Riders have been organizing against abuses by platforms such as arbitrary cuts in pay. How can Royeca speak and fight for riders’ rights and welfare when he owns the app?,” Miranda averred.

 

According to the COMELEC, 73 partylist groups have filed their certificates of nomination and acceptance. But more are expected as 170 partylist groups have been accredited by the COMELEC.

 

“The Constitution provides for the partylist system as a mechanism for representation of marginalized groups such as workers who traditionally have been excluded from Congress as a result of elite domination of politics. Unfortunately, fake partylist groups, like Ang Kasangga of the Angkas CEO, have provided a backdoor for trapos and capitalists to enter the House of Representative. They have squeezed out legitimate partylist organizations truly representing workers and other basic sectors,” Miranda explained.

 

Ang Kasangga first ran in 2010 ostensibly as a partylist of small entrepreneurs but the COMELEC disqualified its first two nominees—a businessman and a former mayor—for not belonging to a marginalized group. In the same election, Mikey Arroyo won as security guards partylist representative.

 

PM was among the second batch of partylist groups which successfully put leaders of marginalized groups into the House of Representatives. Rene Magtubo, a factory worker and union president, sat as PM partylist representative for two terms until 2007.

Miranda called on app riders to reject Ang Kasangga and instead vote for partylist groups which truly represent workers and other underrepresented groups. 

October 7, 2024

Riders’ appeal to President Duterte: Don’t send us back to pre-Angkas status

Members of nationwide umbrella of motorcycle riders’ clubs and organizations, the Riders of the Philippines (ROTP), joined fellow bikers who gathered at Mendiola Bridge Friday morning to bring their grievance directly to the attention of the President.

The action is part of their rolling struggle against the impending dislocation to be imposed by LTFRB next year against the pilot testing operation of motorcycle taxis.

“Nakatawid na po kami sa bagong industriya kaya’t hiling namin sa Pangulong Duterte ay huwag na kaming ibalik sa dating iligal at impormal na paraan ng paghahanapbuhay,” stated Robert Perillo, President of Bulacan Motorcycle Riders ConFederation (BMRF) and one of ROTP core Convenors.

Many bikers who enrolled to Angkas came from organized motorcycle riders’ club affiliated with ROTP. They include some of BMRF’s members from Bulacan and Central Luzon. But prior to Angkas, Perillo explained that most of those who bike for a living were either in the informal and illegal state (habal-habal) or in the formal sub-sector of the services industry, as employees in offices and factories, or in trading and delivery services.

“Bilang bikers and tawag namin sa isat-isa ay ‘kagulong’ pero dahil 99% sa amin ay manggagawa, itinuturing din naming sila bilang ‘kamanggagawa’,” thus as workers,  their principal concern is job security and working conditions as business, competition and profit is to Angkas, Move It and Joy Ride, said Perillo.

Perillo contends that the loss of privilege for Angkas and the gain for Joy Ride and Move It should not be at the peril of workers who by next year, according to LTFRB, will be placed under three masters.

Perillo who is also a member of the National Council of Partido Manggagaw (PM) echoed his party’s view that as workers in a sunrise TNVS sector, government regulations must now go beyond numbers, safety and franchise concerns, but also on labor rights. The government, according to PM, must support the transition of bikers and drivers from the informal to the formal sector.

“Ang mga bagong regulasyon at patakaran sa kompetisyon ay dapat nakabubuti, hindi nakamamatay,” added Perillo.

In its prepared letter to the President, the ROTP also complained about the group’s unexplained removal from LTFRB’s TWG headed by General Gardiola. It was the TWG which came out with a resolution cutting to 10,000 the maximum number of Angkas bikers and assign the remainder of 20,000 for the newcomer Joy Ride and Move It.

“Naging bulag kaming mga rider sa tinakbo ng TWG kaya’t hindi rin namin alam kung may nangyari nga ditong kababalaghan,” concluded Perillo. ###

Photos of the Mendiola rally can be accessed at https://www.facebook.com/partidomanggagawa/posts/10157716183019323?__xts__[0]=68.ARA8VH2oTOYx0MkV7EWU5fG39tJQR49F_pWtNQCikaUgyHrwhKCSwnk3TxAcwEpR_kUhbWUTtv52hMKbkt3n92PUv8lBgC_Rn6KipE9Pix2na3a-lhyQnTGn6z6EFBXF7c3Nul6ItwulSSP9BxrJezwy1utTWcVL3vQ59eJytXG2aS8ZctVF9SXgIbVfXxQn9KMbaRbkkbltFfDpCvHIPN5jmnp9UwnwOtRsz-aLUtzNOT0GIjSxzLfP0qnuciIk2AHWClU-DO7sNxKYLjDBDDzWs1MB98nz68NNomwqi8cJf-lOfgaDiwed3O9PtyvDs75EcK08MugeMnKmuR46&__tn__=-R

Robert Perillo
President, Bulacan Motorcycle Riders ConFederation
ROTP Convenor
27 December 2019

Labor group opposes displacement of Angkas riders

The labor group Partido Manggagawa (PM) expressed support for the riders of Angkas who are facing displacement due to a cap set by the Land Transportation and Regulatory Board (LTFRB). The LTFRB Technical working Group has reduced the number of riders from Angkas to 10,000 from 27,000 by the start of the 2020. Angkas riders launched a massive protest from White Plains to Quezon Circle today.

“We call on the LTFRB to withdraw its decision. Almost 20,000 Angkas riders are facing a sad Christmas and a bleak new year. Fostering competition in the motorcycle taxi sector is good but it should not lead to massive dislocation of riders. These Angkas riders have already went through months of training and practical experience in plying motorcycle taxis. Only for them to end up jobless due to a LTFRB decision,” asserted Wilson Fortaleza, PM spokesperson.

Fortaleza spoke this afternoon as an assembly of riders in Malolos, Bulacan. Many of the riders in the Malolos assembly joined the Angkas riders protest in Metro Manila.

PM has a history of solidarity with riders’ issues and struggles as it considers them as workers. Aside from the legalization of the motorcycle taxi, PM has supported the fight of riders against the plaka vest and the doble plaka.

“We also call on the Department of Labor and Employment to study the employment relations in the TNVS sector, including motorcycle taxis, and issue appropriate regulations. While companies like Angkas and Grab treat their drivers as independent contractors, we believe this is a misclassification as they should be categorized as employees with concomitant rights. The government must support the transition of riders and drivers from the informal to the formal sector. Thus this is not just a question of livelihood but also of labor standards and workers’ rights,” insisted Fortaleza.

He explained that “Workers comprise 99% of motorcycle riders in the country. The transportation sector is the second biggest employer in the service industry with a total workforce of 3.2 million o o 7.8 per cent of the total employed persons in 2018. Motorcycles are popular with the working masses, both in the formal and informal economy. It is cheap and convenient for going to and from work and as a vehicle for livelihood.”

According to data from the Philippine Statistics Authority, there are already 6.2 million registered motorcycles and tricycles as of 2013. The number is growing fast. More than 2 million motorcycles were registered just in the first 10 months of 2018. ###

Photos of the riders assembly can be accessed at https://www.facebook.com/partidomanggagawa/posts/10157702508339323?__xts__[0]=68.ARBC1Xhza9QYuECJEZvavVo_8e3wkBlM18oE9mFtb_egiy0C9JADtQsz-e4vPMvcCJ53_2omy1YRXs3ZTvtnvlYL75Mhxy2yc00752BmizKG9L1tTCBuGBA77jHqbdAxsUC6oZBm_rMevPNoRZU-CF-c5sVwYAlZ8XCOvG_5xxIapzd858Q_sRKgnqACdIeuzEzhKZbmGG7iGldO1ml4Xp553le0L-fAPXzzLR7NWer_bBHHJqpHM-8Yz8xp1V-m1mvcOOmSebvOOpaHyYzGcfQAkEyyR5fvf9dhFilF6MDTkPqet6JkAwxuKnjzl_4JsHEQBH77QxmynPjkzhQU&__tn__=-R

22 December 2019

PM sides with riders and commuters in opposing double big plate and ban on Angkas

Workers are both riders and commuters, thus, imposing rigid and prohibitive rules in the streets adds more burden to the working people and reinforces class discrimination in the guise of road safety and anti-crime campaign.

According to Partido Manggagawa (PM), the ban on Angkas operations, a popular motorcycle taxi denies thousands of working people a faster and safer mobility in NCR while the recently enacted law requiring double big plates for motorcycles is an added cost and poses safety concerns for riders whose vehicles were not designed for such anti-crime innovations.

"Banning Angkas and requiring double big plates on motorcycles will neither improve traffic conditions and road safety nor contain criminal activities of organized crime groups. Only organized communities, a disciplined police force, and a modern mass transport system can solve these age old public services deficit," said PM in a statement issued during the indignation activities conducted by thousands of motorcycle riders in Quezon City this morning.

The group said workers utilize motorcycles as the most economical and faster mode of bringing themselves to their workplaces or as the means of livelihood themselves as in the case of app-abled Angkas and other courier services.

"The government must adopt a flexible policy on this issue as rigid and discriminatory rules impacts heavily on workers," added PM.

At the same time it urges the riding community to help the government in ensuring road safety by raising the level of training and professionalism among riders in particular and by actively involving themselves in anti-crime, environment, emergency response and other social mobilizations at the community levels.

16 December 2018