Ordinance No. 0621-21 was passed by the City Council which requires delivery riders to register their business and procure a permit as any business enterprise should.
And why not? Delivery riders are doing business in the same manner as a vendor, sari sari store, or karinderya owner.
Delivery riders thrived during the Covid-19 crisis as they become instant heroes in the midst of the lockdown. Nevertheless, it is still a business enterprise which necessitate regulation and registration. Thus, Ordinance 0621-21.
In a complete turnaround, two members of the City Council are taking the cudgels of the appeal from the delivery riding community to exempt them from getting business permit. The reason being economic hardship.
The delivery riders are saying they cannot afford to pay for the business permit.
Councilors Bernie Al-ag and Al Ryan Alejandre agreed to recommend the repeal of that particular business permit provision in the ordinance.
The Committees on Trade Industry and Commerce and Finance, Ways and Means and Appropriation held a joint committee hearing to discuss the concerns and suggestions of freelance delivery riders concerning Ordinance 0621-21 particularly the requirement to obtain a business permit to operate.
“They cannot afford to pay,” said Councilor Alejandre as the main reason for the recommendation.
There is a principle of law known as the Rule of Law which means that the same laws apply to everyone regardless of their occupation, level of wealth, race, colour, sexual orientation, gender or other personal characteristics.
It means that all people are treated equally by the same standards.
If the requirement to obtain a business permit will be waived, it could be unfair to other entrepreneurs who are similarly situated as delivery riders. The inability to pay due to one’s current economic standing should not be a convenient reason to discard a local ordinance’s provision which applies also to others engaging a business.
If we exempt the delivery riders, others may also follow suit using the “cannot afford to pay” narrative.
Perhaps, holding in abeyance the particular provision for the meantime can be a better solution rather than taking it off completely.
A business permit issued by the local government is a key compliance document which entitles and enables a business to legally operate and do business in the area in which the business is registered. In short, it is as a “licence to operate” without which one is not legally allowed to engage in the trade of goods and services.
In addition to protecting a business legally, licenses means business credibility and allows for the local government to regulate those who do business and at the same time protect the consumer public.
