Mindanaotoday.com | On The Road With Doh
By: Churchill G. Aguilar | On The Road With Doh
There is this thriving alternative public transport in Cagayan de Oro City popularly known as habal-habal. It’s a motorcycle taxi ride which is technically an underground industry as they are as of the moment unregulated by both the national and the local government.
With the advancement of technology, a lot of these riders have organized themselves and their patrons as an exclusive group in their social media pages with members reaching to thousands, making their transport services more personal and convenient for commuters not to mention their affordability. We hear of Fetch CDO, Fetch Downtown, Fetch Uptown, Fetch Carmen and Pick Me Up CDO to mention a few.
There is a legitimate player though, the Angkas, whose operations have been standardized and regulated but as I have observed is not quite patronized probably because their rates are relatively more expensive and are fixed, not giving room for commuters to bargain-something very pinoy.
Colorum motorcycle taxis primarily thrive because they provide services that the legitimate transport system cannot provide especially during wee hours when the need for transport is on a door-to-door basis.
Interestingly, as a thriving business there are quite a lot of group riders competing in their cutthroat market. In Cagayan de Oro alone, we are talking about a couple of thousand riders in 8 major Facebook pages which translates to a couple of thousand families as well having food on their table at the end of the day as each driver earns as much as 500 pesos to over a thousand pesos a day.
The thing is, because they are not being regulated, safety and quality service is not guaranteed. I know for a fact that a lot of them do not even have driver’s licenses and a few riders are still minors. Every now and then, we also hear horror stories from commuters on social media about their bad experiences of getting ripped off with unreasonable fare charges as there is really no standard charging in the said industry.
As a patron of the industry myself sometimes, I have my preferred group who in a way has relatively mastered their quality service with a standard operation and has assured their commuters of their riders’ accountability especially on safety. They even sometimes tap social media influencers to provide free rides every now and then which is a good marketing strategy.
On the other hand, I also got a taste of transport service from some riders with no license, who charge unreasonably, and who drive recklessly.
Thus, the question, should habal-habal be abolished? A big NO. Thousands of good and loving citizens would go hungry. But should they be legalized and regulated? Yes of course, just as how the local government units regulate tricycles. It can actually be done, in fact the local government can even organize them better and provide them the right IT support to make their operation safe and effective.
There is an urgency to regulate this underground industry because the lives of our commuters are at their hands. This is more urgent than destroying perfectly fine roads and reconstructing them again. Besides, these riders are good people with families simply trying to make a living, not to mention, our communities badly need their services now more than ever.
Regulating them would mean, standardizing minimum requirements of the skills of the drivers and the condition of their motorcycles, holding them accountable, monitoring them, standardizing fare, and providing minimum insurance both for the rider and the passenger. Regulating them would also mean providing them needed support such as the technology they need in a smooth and safe operation.
I hope sooner than later our habal-habal drivers will have their legitimate place in our growing city. A status where they can also get protection and can also enjoy perks as law abiding citizens engaging in a legal business and contributing to our city’s progress.
###