In the city, everyone follows the same continuous rhythm—almost like a constant heartbeat, resounding every single day. Students would hustle to get to their schools, and working adults would rush over to work. At the end of what was once a normal day, people would go home, rest, and repeat the process once again.

Travel has always been defined by a destination and a starting point. Transport Network Vehicular Services (TNVS) operators and their riders know this all too well. Customers set the points of entry and exit for the driver to follow in their respective apps. Thus, it is not an exaggeration to say that the riders of popular TNVS such as Grab and Angkas see their everyday world as a simple yet never-ending cycle of “capture the flag.”

Despite their success, however, the pandemic had placed riders in a precarious situation. The very nature of work of these third-party rides relies solely on the demand for travel. But this demand has been all but wiped out with establishments shifting to an online mode of operation. Riders, then, are left to join the multitude of Filipinos left jobless by the new quarantine-stricken daily routine of the nation.

There are already numerous ex-riders who have transitioned to relying on new means to find work online. Yen Reyes, a former Grab Driver of three years, quit the company last year just before the lockdown had officially started. He said that while his job and skillset as a rider had not been affected too greatly by the drastic dip in demand for private transportation, severing his reliance on TNVS was definitely the right choice, especially during the peak of the pandemic. 

 “Sa totoo lang, mas gumanda ang kita ko ngayong pandemya,” said Reyes. “Hindi ko [naman] kasi naranasan ang lockdown. [Halos] frontliner [na rin] ako eh, kaya nakakatagos ako kahit saan,” he explained. 

Reyes implied that being able to work separately from Grab has actually helped him earn more as a freelancer, relying on his own methods to find customers, and setting his own fares without having to worry about the cut of the company. Unfortunately, it was only possible because of his thorough exposure to numerous clients in many different places.

Back then, the demand was high, the pay was good, and the market competition was easy to beat. Even he was surprised at the new innovation that the Grab app brought with regards to connecting passengers and their respective drivers. He said that it really was a good and reliable source of income back in the day, especially if one had the necessary resources, such as an adequate car and a driver’s license, coupled with proper discipline and good old-fashioned hard work.

Because the plunge in demand for private transportation is very much real, it became very risky to rely on the sole salary from being a Grab driver. 

“Sapalaran na talaga [ang pasahero]. Kahit pandemic, [maneho parin], wag lang magutom ang pamilya,” Reyes said. While there are probably still a lot of potential passengers and customers, he said, it was simply the combination of bad marketing choices and workforce depletion that caused many of the already meager commuters to move to other choices in the market. 

Though the rise of competition and workforce saturation had already triggered the decline of worker benefits, a truly lethal blow was not dealt with until May 2020, two months after the imposition of the community quarantine. The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) implemented new guidelines seemingly out of nowhere, which drastically affected the livelihood of TNV drivers. Other than several tedious paperwork such as the required reapplication of a valid Certificate of Public Convenience (CPC) or Provisional Authority (PA), as well as the issuing of Personal Passenger Insurance,  the most infamous new policy was the absolute imposition of an electronic payment system.

“Wala kasing Grab nung [simula ng] pandemic. After mag-operate ulit, [naging] cashless na ang Grab ngayon [kaya lalong] nabawasan ang pasahero,” Reyes stated. These immediate and drastic changes in the accessibility of Grab rides for the average person left both drivers and passengers, looking for alternatives to get by. 

The low fares, as well as the 20 percent cut of Grab from his pay in each booking, pushed Reyes to leave the company even before the pandemic. One year after the lockdown, he is now engaged with online habal-habal in addition to currently working as an online rent-a-car driver. He also actively works for Lalamove and Transportify on the sides. 

“Ang diskarte ko kasi habang wala pa akong nakukuhang pasahero online, naka-open ang [booking ng] Lalamove at Transportify ko. May diskarte rin akong [pagsabayin] ang tao at ang bagahe na malapit sa drop [off] ... ‘Pag sa Grab ka lang aasa, di kaya kitain sa isang araw yun,” he explained.

Though it would be difficult to say just how many TNVS drivers are still operating to this day as well as how many have quit since last year, a confirmed estimate by the Philippine Star places the number of “temporarily” decommissioned Grab units at 30,000 in March of 2020. Following the start of the quarantine, several barriers to entry such as the radical drop in customers and the succeeding LTFRB-TNVS policy revamp have all but destroyed benefits to operating as a Grab driver. At this rate, it is possible that more drivers would go down the path similar to Reyes’, transitioning to independent service, or even to other transportation industries.

For many riders like Reyes, the pandemic was merely the tipping point. Working for an industry like the TNVS had always carried massive risk, which drastically increased because of the pandemic. Many capable and competent Filipinos in the workforce are also still forced to test the company waters with both feet, always unsure if they will still be employed in the next weeks or if they have enough earnings to get by. 

The precarious state of workers can be traced back to the deep-seated corporate and administrative culture that perpetuates a system of discrimination and deprioritization of the gig economy. From the beginning, these companies have been ready to cut off the lifeline of their employees just as easily as they once invited them in. The government has also been indifferent to the struggle of workers, and even compounds their suffering by implementing rules that are detrimental to their livelihood. 

A year after the initial shock of the pandemic brought the Philippines to its knees, the situation is still far from ideal. It comes as no surprise that many years of indifference and neglect to those belonging to the lower socio-economic stratum leaves them utterly unprepared to deal with either the pandemic or the economic problems that come with it. ●

This article was first published on March 16, 2021.