Delivery riders gather at the Sangguniang Panlungsod in Davao City on Tuesday, 05 November 2024, to urge anew Mayor Sebastian Duterte and the councilors to revoke the business permit requirement imposed on them. MindaNews photo by IAN CARL ESPINOSA
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 05 November) – Members of the United Davao Delivery Riders Association (UDDRA) gathered in front of the Sangguniang Panlungsod building here Tuesday, November 5, to renew calls to exempt them from getting business permits.
“Hinaot aksyonan na ang among panawagan nga wagtangon na ang business permit requirement dinha kanamo ilabina nga pila na lang ka bulan, ting-renew na usab sa business permit, ug ang among dili pagbayad moresulta sa pagkawala sa among panginabuhian (We hope that our call to remove the business permit requirement will be acted upon, especially since there’s only a few months left before the annual renewal of business permits. Our failure to pay could result in the loss of our livelihood),” UDDRA said in statement.
Addressed to Mayor Sebastian Duterte and the city council members, the statement stressed that delivery riders are not businesspersons, therefore they must be exempted from getting business permits.
In this city, business permits are usually renewed every January.
The group said that getting a business permit will cost their members between P1,720 and P5,200, depending on the model of their motorcycles.
“This is an ‘unjust law’ that adds to our expenses and makes things more difficult for us,” the statement added.
In asking for exemption from the city’s business permit requirement, the group cited the Supreme Court decisions on Ditiangkin et al. vs Lazada, 2022 and Fuentes et al, vs. Lazada E- Services, 2023, which ruled that delivery riders are not “businessmen nor business partners.”
Eduardo Quijano, UDDRA spokesperson, urged the city council to heed their pleas because “in the first place, we are not businessmen.”
Because the city government classifies them as business owners, Quijano said they also have to apply for permits or certifications from the Department of Trade and Industry and the Bureau of Fire Protection, among others, akin to businesses that occupy physical stores or spaces.
Quijano said they were not properly consulted with the measure that affects an estimated 8,000 delivery riders in the city.
CIty Ordinance No. 0291-17, also known as the Davao City Revenue Code, was passed in 2017 but amended in 2021, mandating the delivery riders to apply for business permits, among other changes.
Last April, Councilor Jesus Zozobrado, Committee on Ethics chairperson, held a committee hearing where they agreed to invite UDDRA members. But later, he said they will hold a joint committee hearing with Councilor Myrna Dalodo-Ortiz, chairperson of the Committee on Finance, Ways and Means and Appropriations, and Councilor Bai Hundra Cassandra Advincula, chairperson of the Committee on Labor and Employment, to address the delivery riders’ concerns.
Zozobrado said then that amending the revenue code is possible, and told the delivery riders to submit their petition along with the justifications and necessary computations.
Quijano said they already sent their petition last month but that they haven’t been invited to another committee hearing since then.
Last October 22, the city council approved a resolution recognizing UDDRA’s position. The resolution seeks to expedite the process to have the riders exempt from paying business permits. (Ian Carl Espinosa / MindaNews)
