Manila solon cries foul over Grab’s business decisions in the Philippines

Manila, Philippines – Multinational technology company Grab which operates in Singapore, Malaysia, Cambodia, Indonesia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam, has confirmed that a number of local employees of the ride-hailing company will be affected by the announced mass layoff.

Manila 2nd District Representative and Metro Manila Development Committee Chairman, Congressman Rolando M. Valeriano, reacted with grave concern over the news. He said, “In a position that Grab submitted to us in Congress and in a letter to the Department of Transportation, the company boasted of its commitment to provide a livelihood to thousands of Filipinos but, a few months thereafter, announced a mass lay off?”

Congressman Valeriano further called for a warning to be given to the US-publicly listed company because of a number of actions he branded as “wanton business decisions.”

“The Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) has penalized Grab a couple of times already. Our Congressional Committee is already looking into other possible errors Grab may have committed in price-surging as sole TNVS player, as well as in acquiring Move It, a motorcycle taxi fleet,” Valeriano added.

The Manila solon also disclosed that their committee is looking at other possible violations that may have been committed by Grab, such as creative charging in its digital platform that offers a host of other businesses, including some form of “banking” by way of the e-wallet, money transfer, payment, through GrabPay.

“What is frustrating to us in Congress is the fact that Grab, in many ways, snubbed our efforts to clarify details or the reasons behind some of its actions under the cloak of it being a US publicly listed company,” the solon said.

Valeriano ended by saying, “Just imagine, in our past hearings, Grab representatives were reluctant to attend, and when they finally sent their legal team, they evaded the lines of questioning, saying that the lawyers were not privy to Grab operations.”