DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 4 January) — A local delivery riders association on Friday called on the local government to release the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of the amendment to the city’s revenue code exempting them from paying business permits.
The city council approved the exemption on December 5 last year.
Eduardo Quijano, United Davao Delivery Riders Association (UDDRA) president, told MindaNews in a phone interview Friday afternoon that they are just waiting for the local government to publish the ordinance and release its IRR.
On December 5, the city council approved on third and final reading an amendment to the city’s revenue code, which would save the riders thousands of pesos. They will only be required to pay an occupational permit worth P125.
“Hangyo lang mi sa city government na magkaroon na og implementing rules and guidelines, and ma-provide na ang effectivity sa city ordinance this month of January 2025, para everything will go smoothly.” Quijano said.
(We request the city government to have an IRR and to make the ordinance effective this month, so everything will go smoothly.)
He said some of the delivery riders are now anxious and do not know what to do, as “they have not yet received final instructions” from the local government.
He said UDDRA had talked with Business Bureau head Maribel Paguican last December 27, and they were assured to “wait” for the IRR to formalize their tax exemptions.
The city’s revenue code was passed in 2017 but amended in 2021 when former city councilor Danilo Dayanghirang Sr. proposed that delivery riders be required business permits as they are “business partners” with delivery companies like Grab and FoodPanda, among other changes. His proposal became City Ordinance 0612-21.
Meanwhile, in a radio interview on city-government owned Davao City Disaster Radio, Paguican suggested that the delivery riders talk to their companies about what they should do to continue operating.
“Pero kung i-retire nila ilang permit, they don’t have the permits right now to operate. Pero kay gamay na man ju’y kulang, maybe, istoryahan na lang na nila sa ilahang mga principal sa ilang company unsa’y maayo buhaton o atake aron maka-operate gihapon sa kalsada,” Paguican said in a radio interview on Davao City Disaster Radio (DCDR) on January 2, 2024.
(But if they choose to retire their permits, they don’t have their permits right now to operate. But since only a small thing remains to be done, they should just talk with their principals in the company about what’s the right thing to do so they can still operate on the streets.)
Paguican assured that City Mayor Sebastian Duterte is supportive of the delivery riders’ pleas.
Renewal of business permits started on January 2 and will end on January 31. (Ian Carl Espinosa/MindaNews)
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