ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider DOLE eyes talks with motorcycle taxi companies on riders' benefits

DOLE eyes talks with motorcycle taxi companies on riders' benefits

Published Sep 6, 2025 02:49 pm

At A Glance

  • The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) is planning to require motorcycle taxi companies to provide government benefits to their riders.
The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) is planning to require motorcycle taxi companies to provide government benefits to their riders.
During House of Appropriations Committee's hearing of the agency’s 2026 budget, DOLE Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma admitted that emerging forms of employment, particularly the gig economy, became part of the challenges of the department.
His admission came after Pampanga 4th district Rep. Anna York Bondoc asked the agency on Friday, Sep. 5, regarding the labor protection it gives to workers from other sectors.
"How do we monitor them?" Bondoc said, asking if companies from this sector provide their workers, particularly the motorcycle riders Social Security System (SSS), PAG-IBIG and PhilHealth benefits.
"This has been going on for a long time na (already). I htink we should know which companies are giving and which are not," Bondoc said.
Laguesma said motorcycle taxi riders and the companies they are affiliated with do not have formal employee-employer relationship, thus the latter are not mandated by law to provide government benefits.
"Pero sa Department of Labor and Employment, kami po ay tumitingin at bumabalangkas kung ano po yung klase ng assistance kung meron pong mga reklamo (But on our part, we are studying and crafting ways to find out what type of assistance we could provide in case there are complaints)," he said.
"Gaya po ng aming regional offices, National Mediation Board upang mamagitan, at kung saka sakali po na kailangang maghain ng kaso, nandyan po ang mekanismo ng National Labor Relations (Currently, we have regional offices, the National Mediation Board to mediate between the sides, and if there are legal charges filed, we have a mechanism set in place under the National Labor Relations)," Laguesma said.
This was in reference to the agency's mechanism in cases that were not legally covered because of the informal relationship between the two sides.
There are also some companies that give SSS benefits to their workers, and there also who are "open" to providing one.
"Meron pong mga bukas doon sa ganoong klaseng arrangement,  pati yung pagbibigay ng social protection sa pamamgitna ng Social Security System (There are companies that are open to such arrangement, including those that give SSS)," he said.
"Open sila. So kami po ay makikipag-ugnayan doon sa mababanggit. Kailangan pong magkaroon kami ng talakayan... anong gabay ang kailangan nila para matulungan po ang manggagawa (They are open. So we will coordinate with those companies, and if necessary, get into discussion and give them what they need to be able to help their workers)," he added.
Bondoc said both the executive and the legislative branch should closely monitor the situation. 
"And maybe either a legislation or regulation should be filed," she added.
ADVERTISEMENT
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1561_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1562_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1563_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}

{{ articles_filter_1564_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.mb-article-details { position: relative; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview, .mb-article-details .article-body-summary{ font-size: 17px; line-height: 30px; font-family: "Libre Caslon Text", serif; color: #000; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview iframe , .mb-article-details .article-body-summary iframe{ width: 100%; margin: auto; } .read-more-background { background: linear-gradient(180deg, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0) 13.75%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0.8) 30.79%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000) 72.5%); position: absolute; height: 200px; width: 100%; bottom: 0; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; padding: 0; } .read-more-background a{ color: #000; } .read-more-btn { padding: 17px 45px; font-family: Inter; font-weight: 700; font-size: 18px; line-height: 16px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; border: 1px solid black; background-color: white; } .hidden { display: none; }
function initializeAllSwipers() { // Get all hidden inputs with cms_article_id document.querySelectorAll('[id^="cms_article_id_"]').forEach(function (input) { const cmsArticleId = input.value; const articleSelector = '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .body_images'; const swiperElement = document.querySelector(articleSelector); if (swiperElement && !swiperElement.classList.contains('swiper-initialized')) { new Swiper(articleSelector, { loop: true, pagination: false, navigation: { nextEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-next', prevEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-prev', }, }); } }); } setTimeout(initializeAllSwipers, 3000); const intersectionObserver = new IntersectionObserver( (entries) => { entries.forEach((entry) => { if (entry.isIntersecting) { const newUrl = entry.target.getAttribute("data-url"); if (newUrl) { history.pushState(null, null, newUrl); let article = entry.target; // Extract metadata const author = article.querySelector('.author-section').textContent.replace('By', '').trim(); const section = article.querySelector('.section-info ').textContent.replace(' ', ' '); const title = article.querySelector('.article-title h1').textContent; // Parse URL for Chartbeat path format const parsedUrl = new URL(newUrl, window.location.origin); const cleanUrl = parsedUrl.host + parsedUrl.pathname; // Update Chartbeat configuration if (typeof window._sf_async_config !== 'undefined') { window._sf_async_config.path = cleanUrl; window._sf_async_config.sections = section; window._sf_async_config.authors = author; } // Track virtual page view with Chartbeat if (typeof pSUPERFLY !== 'undefined' && typeof pSUPERFLY.virtualPage === 'function') { try { pSUPERFLY.virtualPage({ path: cleanUrl, title: title, sections: section, authors: author }); } catch (error) { console.error('ping error', error); } } // Optional: Update document title if (title && title !== document.title) { document.title = title; } } } }); }, { threshold: 0.1 } ); function showArticleBody(button) { const article = button.closest("article"); const summary = article.querySelector(".article-body-summary"); const body = article.querySelector(".article-body-preview"); const readMoreSection = article.querySelector(".read-more-background"); // Hide summary and read-more section summary.style.display = "none"; readMoreSection.style.display = "none"; // Show the full article body body.classList.remove("hidden"); } document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => { let loadCount = 0; // Track how many times articles are loaded const offset = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]; // Offset values const currentUrl = window.location.pathname.substring(1); let isLoading = false; // Prevent multiple calls if (!currentUrl) { console.log("Current URL is invalid."); return; } const sentinel = document.getElementById("load-more-sentinel"); if (!sentinel) { console.log("Sentinel element not found."); return; } function isSentinelVisible() { const rect = sentinel.getBoundingClientRect(); return ( rect.top < window.innerHeight && rect.bottom >= 0 ); } function onScroll() { if (isLoading) return; if (isSentinelVisible()) { if (loadCount >= offset.length) { console.log("Maximum load attempts reached."); window.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll); return; } isLoading = true; const currentOffset = offset[loadCount]; window.loadMoreItems().then(() => { let article = document.querySelector('#widget_1690 > div:nth-last-of-type(2) article'); intersectionObserver.observe(article) loadCount++; }).catch(error => { console.error("Error loading more items:", error); }).finally(() => { isLoading = false; }); } } window.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll); });
Join Our Newsletters

Sign up by email to receive news.

© 2025 Manila Bulletin The Nation's Leading Newspaper. All Rights Reserved.