Royeca’s Innovative Zero Handout Approach to Poverty Reduction Seals the Win

Poverty remains the most urgent and prevalent issue of the nation, amidst runaway inflation caused by exorbitant fuel prices. Angkas CEO, George Royeca, believes as too few Filipinos do, that even low-income Filipinos have the capacity not only to lift themselves out of poverty but make a real contribution to society, if given a fair chance. It isn’t idle daydreaming either — with Angkas, Royeca has proven it. For professionalizing a once derided livelihood and forming entrepreneurs out of bikers, he has been named Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year at this year’s Entrepreneur of the Year Philippines Award (EOYP).

The Entrepreneur Of The Year™ is an annual awards program that honors the country’s top entrepreneurs for their contributions to the economy and the greater good of the nation. EOYP has been a celebration of the achievements of some of the brightest stars among Filipino business pioneers for over a decade. This is in line with the government's drive to encourage the development of homegrown companies and empower local entrepreneurs to take on the world market.

What George Royeca achieved was considered impossible before he proved it could be done. He built Angkas on the very principle that a high standard of service, and in particular of safety, could be achieved by ordinary working-class Filipinos, even with a service deemed as impossibly problematic and potentially disastrous as motorcycle taxis.

Lifting Pinoys from poverty

Royeca credited not just Angkas bikers, but all Filipinos who make their living on motorcycles for the award: “I stand here on the collective struggle of thousands or even millions of Filipino motorcycle owners who work hard every day for their families. We didn’t invent the motorcycle taxi. All we did was recognize that if you invest in the Filipino people, they will become productive citizens of the country, and that is why we are here now,” he said as he accepted the award.

Motorcycle taxis were a logical, easily deployed solution to the world-beating, decades-old, chronic traffic congestion that plagued Metro Manila. However, the prevalent issue in 2016, the year Angkas was founded, was safety. At the time, motorcycle accidents were responsible for 50% of all vehicular accident fatalities.

Royeca rejected the notion that Filipino motorcycle riders were hopelessly undisciplined. Angkas invested heavily in training for all of its biker-partner applicants and chose only the most disciplined and skilled as biker-partners. Failing as much as 70% of applicants, Angkas has maintained that strict level of quality control throughout its history. This rigorous, thorough imposition of safety standards has netted a 99.997% safety record after literally millions of bookings over a six-year period.

Taking care of families

Angkas then empowered its rider partners through a fare-sharing scheme that would allow them to earn triple the country’s minimum wage for a fair day’s work. To give biker-partners a sense of ownership, Angkas also engages their families, offering livelihood training and even work opportunities. Recently, Angkas became a partner in an ongoing government initiative to pay for the college education of deserving kids from low-income families. The children of all Angkas biker-partners can now all potentially benefit from this initiative.

Royeca’s drive to empower Filipinos to lift themselves out of poverty does not end with Angkas “And there are so many more from the informal sector that we need to promote, recognize and empower,” he emphasized. Royeca has been vocal about his advocacy is replicating spreading the Angkas gospel of poverty reduction many times over, particularly for the benefit of the country’s 18 million motorcycle owners, 90% of whom are low-income earners.