Gov’t eyes more legal remedies vs Angkas

The government will exhaust all legal remedies against motorcycle-taxi app Angkas after a Mandaluyong court allowed the firm to resume operations.

The Department of Transportation (DOTr) and the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) said in a statement yesterday they “will exhaust all legal remedies to ensure that our roads are cleared of colorum vehicles, such as Angkas motorcycles.”

Judge Carlos Valenzuela of Mandaluyong Regional Trial Court Branch 213, issued a writ of preliminary injunction dated Aug. 20 that bars the LTFRB, the DOTr and its agencies from interfering with Angkas’ operations pending the hearing for its main petition for declaratory relief.

The DOTr said it considers Angkas as operating without authority from government regulators – in this case the LTFRB – and is therefore engaged in colorum operations.

The DOTr warned that motorcycles are not considered as a safe mode of public transport and cannot be offered as such under Republic Act 4136 or the Land Transportation and Traffic Code.

The LTFRB last year shuttered Angkas’ main training center in Makati with the help of the local government.

Angkas said the court order is a “victory for the commuting public and for our driver partners.”