Motorcycle taxi service story honored by regional group

For Angkas’ groundbreaking efforts to address traffic, as well as the company’s novel, sustainable and replicable contribution to poverty reduction, Angkas was one of only two Filipino companies to be included in this year’s Stewardship Leadership 25 (SL25). An initiative jointly curated by Stewardship Asia Centre, INSEAD Hoffmann Global Institute for Business and Society, WTW and The Straits Times, the SL25 is an annual listing of the 25 best stories of steward leadership excellence from among the 44 countries and territories that make-up the Asia-Pacific region. This year from the Philippines, ONLY Angkas and the Ayala Corporation made the cut.

“It has only been through the efforts of our biker partners that we have received this recognition,” said Angkas CEO George Royeca upon learning of Angas’ inclusion in this year’s SL 25. “All we did was take a chance on our hardworking and skilled Filipino drivers. Our belief, that given a fair shot, they would rise to the challenge and become contributing members of society. They proved us right.”

Angkas Is the first app-enabled, professionalized motorcycle taxi service in the Philippines. It was established explicitly to address Metro Manila traffic. According to the Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica), Metro Manila traffic costs the nation 3.5 billion pesos of lost opportunities daily. As the country’s first professionalized, app-based motorcycle taxi service, Angkas provides a viable and affordable traffic-beating solution to millions of commuters. To accomplish this, Angkas has tapped a long-marginalized sector of society, the country’s low-income motorcycle owners.

A motivated solution is a viable solution  

At the time of Angkas inception, motorcycles were involved in 50% of all fatal road accidents. Filipino motorcycle riders were deemed too undisciplined and unsafe to even consider a formal motorcycle taxi service. Angkas invested heavily in motorcycle riding and safety training for all applicants and literally re-wrote the standard training manual for these in the country. Even after training, Angkas fails 70% of applicants, a standard that has been maintained throughout. More importantly, after millions of bookings, Angkas boast and unparalleled 99.997% safety rating.

“On average, our riders make $30 a day, which translates to over $900 a month. This is significantly higher than the nation's existing minimum wage. What we offer to our partner bikers is the means to lift themselves out of poverty and to provide better lives for their families,” shared Angkas CEO George Royeca. “By keeping our riders as entrepreneurs, we are giving them a sense of pride and ownership,” he adds.

Creating solutions through creative resilience

While it started out as a motorcycle taxi service, Angkas branched out into logistics, especially during the pandemic. At that time the company focused on delivery businesses like Angkas Padala. With the shift, Angkas was able to keep bikers afloat while serving the larger community’s needs, and allowing people to stay indoors. Angkas even became the mobility partner of the Philippine Red Cross by collecting saliva for PCR test kits and transporting them to laboratories. As restrictions were eased, Angkas also offered free rides to healthcare workers.

Even as Angkas has returned to its stature as the leading motorcycle taxi service in the country, the company is looking to explore other opportunities in logistics, as well as looking for ways to partner with government agencies to enable them to deliver items such as government documents, medicines, and even IDs.

Paving the path forward

Angkas has created the largest motorcycle taxi community. Beyond their 30,000-strong fleet, the company champions 18 million motorcycle owners in the nation, and advocates professionalizing motorcycle-based services and bringing dignity to those who make their living with motorcycles in one way or another.

The strides made by Angkas have contributed to changing the narrative and mindsets of the general public with respect to a stigmatized industry. This has also paved the way for the discussion to legalize and regulate the motorcycle taxi industry in the country.

Angkas’ ultimate goal now, with government support, is to eliminate poverty for 18 million motorcycle owners in the country. “Because we were able to create a good livelihood model, it is now incumbent upon us, it has become our duty, to spread this to every corner of the country, so that we can touch more lives; 18 million more lives that can be lifted from poverty,” he concluded.