By Alexandria San Juan
Amid ownership and political connection issues, motorcycle taxi service JoyRide has debunked anew claims that government officials backed its entry into the bike-hailing market.
"We have absolutely no connection with the government. None of us have relatives that are in the government," JoyRide Vice President for Corporate Affairs Noli Eala reiterated on Thursday.
However, JoyRide President Sherwin Yu admitted that he sought help from Senator Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III to endorse his letter of intent to participate in the pilot run for motorcycle taxis to Department of Transportation (DOTr) secretary Arthur Tugade.
"We confirmed that letter. Actually, nagpatulong tayo sa opisina ni (we asked for help from the office of) Senator Koko Pimentel to transmit that letter to DOTr, but just the same we continued our intent to join the pilot implementation since September pa," Yu said in JoyRide's first press conference held in Quezon City.
In a September 2019 letter signed by Pimentel, the president of ruling party PDP-Laban endorsed to Tugade the request of We Move Things Philippines, Inc., the parent company of JoyRide, to participate in the six-month dry run of motorcycle taxis with bike firm Angkas.
Yu also denied any connection with Pimentel's wife, Kathryna Yu, and clarified that the senator is a family friend of the owners.
But Eala believed that their letter was not acted upon as there was no development on their application after they sent it.
'No ties to ruling party'
Meanwhile, Edwin Rodriguez, chief business adviser of Joyride, also denied rumors that the firm is connected with any politicians under ruling party PDP-Laban.
Rodriguez, who is currently the secretary-general of PDP-Laban Quezon City, said the party has nothing to do with and does not have stakes in JoyRide.
"Hindi ako lumapit sa kanila (PDP-Laban) para maimpluwensiyahan at humingi ng tulong para makapasok ang JoyRide," Rodriguez said.
(I did not approach the PDP-Laban to seek help from them to facilitate the entry of JoyRide.)
Eala also defended Rodriguez, saying that he was the one who took the PDP-Laban official into the company not because of his political background but for his experience in the logistics business, and for his longtime relationship with JoyRide's owners.
The JoyRide official also cleared allegations that former Special Assistant to the President and now Senator Christopher “Bong” Go is one of the owners of or has stakes in the motorcycle taxi service company.
"We want to officially debunk that particular false or fake news. Senator Go has never been part of JoyRide, and are the other government officials." he clarified.
Earlier, Go also denied having any ties to JoyRide.
'JoyRide is 100% Filipino-owned'
According to Eala, JoyRide is "100 percent owned and operated by Filipinos," majorly owned by the families of Ralph Nubla Jr. and Bea Chua who are "low-key and reputable Filipino businessmen."
He described the owners as involved in banking, real estate, wholesale, and retail trade. Nubla is a director of the Philippine Bank of Communications and serves as a president of realty firms.
Eala claimed that Joyride has been transparent on the firm's ownership, adding that the company's papers can be accessed by the public at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Before venturing into the bike-hailing service, Eala said that JoyRide had been in existence for quite some time under the name We Move Things Philippines Inc., which later transformed into Happy Move delivery service.
JoyRide is one of two new players that were approved by the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board technical working group (TWG) on motorcycle taxis to participate in the extension of the pilot implementation for three months along with Move It.
The two new transport network companies joined dominant bike firm Angkas for the extended dry run meant to see if motorcycles are safe for public transport.
The study, which began Dec. 23 last year, will run until March 23. The TWG will then submit their recommendations to the Congress to aid them in crafting laws to legalize the operation of motorcycle taxis in the country.