MANILA, Philippines – The Senate bill pushing for the inclusion of motorcycle taxis among public utility vehicles will soon be tackled at the chamber’s plenary.

On Thursday, February 12, Senator Grace Poe filed Committee Report 46 with substitution bill Senate Bill 1341, seeking to amend Republic Act 4136 or the Land Transportation and Traffic Code to recognize motorcycle taxis as PUVs.

Committee Report 46 hurdled the Senate public services committee, which Poe heads, and the committee on Local Government, which Senator Francis Tolentino chairs.

Apart from Poe and Tolentino, 14 other senators signed the report:

• Imee Marcos
• Panfilo Lacson
• Ramon Bong Revilla Jr
• Manny Pacquaio
• Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa
• Christopher “Bong” Go – may amend
• Nancy Binay
• Cynthia Villar
• Joel Villanueva – may interpellate
• Francis Pangilinan
• Risa Hontiveros
• Ralph Recto
• Franklin Drilon
• Juan Miguel Zubiri

SB 1341 defined motorcycle taxis as “any two-wheeled motor vehicle which is registered with the Land Transportation Office which transports passengers and goods on a for-hire basis, and which may utilize online ride-hailing or pre-arranged transportation platforms.”

Under the measure, motorcycle taxis have a prescribed weight of below 1,000 kilograms, and must be able to travel faster than 50 kilometers per hour. They must have a minimum engine displacement of 125 cubic centimeters.

The substitute bill consolidated the measures filed by Recto (SB 50), Poe (SB 128), Marcos (409), Revilla (SB 1262), and Senator Sonny Angara and Senator Joel Villanueva (1025).

In the previous years, motorcycle taxi operations faced a government crackdown as the 50-year-old Land Transportation and Traffic Code does not allow motorcycles to be used for hire or for transport. (READ: Why Angkas is illegal)

But since June last year, motorcycle taxi operations had been temporarily allowed by the Department of Transportation through a 6-month pilot run, which was later extended for 3 months or until March this year. (READ: The long road to legalizing motorcycle taxis)

The technical working group on the motorcycle taxi pilot-run said that the pilot implementation will no longer be extended after March. That meant that there would no longer be motorcycle taxi operations until Congress moves to approve the measure, and have the President sign it.

Apart from pioneer motorcycle taxi firm Angkas, JoyRide and MoveIt joined the extended pilot run. (READ: Metro commuting in 2019: The shortcomings of the motorcycle taxi pilot run)

Here’s a copy of the committee report, which will still face scrutiny by senators:

– Rappler.com