President Marcos has expressed his desire to relax the regulations covering Transportation Network Vehicle Services (TNVS) and legalize motorcycle taxis amid his administration’s move to improve the country’s transportation system.

Marcos said this after he and First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos met top executives of ride-hailing platform Grab in Malacañan on Tuesday, Feb. 20.

In a Facebook post late Tuesday, the President said his administration is also looking into legalizing motorcycle taxis in the country to benefit the riding public.

“We're working with Grab to legalize motorcycle taxis and relax regulations on TNVS,” he wrote.

“More transport options will benefit commuters, drivers, and MSMEs,” he added.

Various bills were proposed to regulate and legalize the operation of motorcycle taxis as public utility vehicles to ensure the safety and protection of the stakeholders.

Grab, which started operations in the Philippines in July 2013, is proposing the legalization of motorized taxis, noting that the pilot testing of motorized taxis is already operational for four years.

The law prohibits the use of motorcycles to transport passengers or freight but requests to review the policy and allow motorcycles as a form of public transportation prompted the transportation department to pilot test the operation of motorcycle taxis within Metro Manila and Metro Cebu in 2019.

Grab has likewise recommended the deregulation of the supply of TNVS. However, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) said the removal of the supply cap will need further evaluation, which will be based on the consultation and data provided by the transportation network companies and other relevant data.

Employment

Meanwhile, during his meeting with the President, Grab CEO Anthony Tan, expressed his gratitude for the support Grab is getting from Filipinos and his company’s interest to expand their services in the country.

He likewise discussed with the First Couple the incorporation of electronic vehicles (EV) into Grab services and public transport services and shared the best practices being implemented in other countries.

In response, President Marcos welcomed Grab's contribution to generating local employment, citing the company comprises about 1.1 percent of the increase in employment in the past 18 months.

"That was Grab, so that’s the 300,000 that we’re talking about has a significant effect," he said.

For his part, Tan told the President that when they bought "Move It" in a successful acquisition in 2022, Grab increased its number of rides from 8,000 to over 300,000 daily. It hopes that with Marcos' support, it can increase ridership to 500,000 rides a day in six months.

This was Marcos’ second time meeting Tan in Malacañan. In February last year, the President secured an investment commitment from Grab, which could translate into 500,000 jobs. The two also discussed possible ways to modernize transportation in the Philippines.

Tan likewise promised to create jobs in the country, assuring the President that his company would deliver.

In 2023, Grab created over 100,000 driver and operator jobs and digitalized more than 15,000 small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), which contributed to easing the national unemployment rates by 1.1 percent to 1.6 percent from 2019 to 2021.

Grab Holdings Inc. is a Singapore-based technology app that offers ride-hailing, food delivery, parcel delivery, digital payment, and financial services.

GrabCar is operating in 25 cities while GrabFood provides services to more than 100 cities nationwide.