Angkas CEO makes it to Philippines top entrepreneurs finals

MANILA, Philippines —  Poverty remains the most urgent and prevalent issue of the nation, amid runaway inflation caused by exorbitant fuel prices. Angkas CEO George Royeca believes, as too few Filipinos do, that even low-income Filipinos have the capacity not only to lift themselves out of poverty but make a real contribution to society, if given a fair chance.

It isn’t idle daydreaming; with Angkas, Royeca has proven it. For professionalizing a once derided livelihood and making entrepreneurs out of bikers, he has been named among the finalists of this year’s Entrepreneur of the Year Philippines Award (EOYP).

The Entrepreneur Of The Year is an annual awards program that honors the country’s top entrepreneurs for their contributions to the economy and the greater good of the nation. EOYP has been a celebration of the achievements of some of the brightest stars among Filipino business pioneers for over a decade. This is in line with the government’s drive to encourage the development of homegrown companies and empower local entrepreneurs to take on the world market.

What George Royeca achieved was considered impossible before he proved it could be done. He built Angkas on the very principle that a high standard of service, in particular of safety, could be achieved by ordinary working-class Filipinos, even with a service deemed as impossibly problematic and potentially disastrous as motorcycle taxis.

Lifting Pinoys from poverty

Informed of his making it to the prestigious EOYP list, Royeca said: “We are grateful to EOYP in shedding light on our advocacy. This is a testament that training our countrymen well and equipping them with the right tools can turn a once informal sector to become an engine of economic growth.”

Motorcycle taxis were a logical, easily deployed solution to the world-beating, decades-old, chronic traffic congestion that plagued Metro Manila. However, the prevalent issue in 2016, the year Angkas was founded, was safety. At the time, motorcycle accidents were responsible for 50 percent of all vehicular accident fatalities.

Royeca rejected the notion that Filipino motorcycle riders were hopelessly undisciplined. Angkas invested heavily in training for all of its biker-partner applicants and chose only the most disciplined and skilled as biker-partners, failing as many as 70 percent of applicants.

Angkas has maintained that strict level of quality control throughout its history. This rigorous, thorough imposition of safety standards has netted a 99.997 percent safety record after literally millions of bookings over a six-year period.

Taking care of families

Angkas then empowered its rider partners through a fare-sharing scheme that would allow them to earn triple the country’s minimum wage for a fair day’s work. At a recent talk, Royeca proudly shared, “Every biker on our platform are out of the poverty line. They get to take care of their families and because of platforms like us, families of our bikers have a better life.”

To give biker-partners a sense of ownership, Angkas also engages their families, offering livelihood training and even work opportunities. Recently, Angkas became a partner in an ongoing government initiative to pay for the college education of deserving kids from low-income families. The children of all Angkas biker-partners can now all potentially benefit from this initiative.

Royeca has set his sights on replicating the Angkas model to benefit all 18 million motorcycle owners in the country: “And because we created a successful model for poverty reduction, it is now incumbent upon us – it has become our duty to spread this to every corner of the country, so that we can touch more lives. Eighteen million more families can have a chance to live better lives.”