Horse and buggy or Grab and Uber?

I gather Uber and Grab are facing the possibility of being forced to essentially close down because too many of their drivers don’t have the necessary franchise, a certificate of public convenience (CPC). This is the wrong way to go.

Whether they don’t because they didn’t bother to apply, or whether they don’t because the LTFRB couldn’t handle all the applications I’m not too clear. Regardless of which it was, forcing them off the road on July 26 is not the way to go. It’s all very well to say they, like everyone, must abide by the law but common sense and the public good should prevail. And that says that time must be given. The LTFRB must give sufficient time for the 50,000 TNVs, as they’re called, to register and have that registration processed. I don’t think anyone loses by doing that.

Uber and Grab offer a service people want, and it works. Amazingly well. It should be encouraged, supported, made as simple and convenient as possible. With only the minimum controls to prevent abuse; background checks, police and NBI clearance and insurance for passengers should suffice.

Is it really necessary for every driver to have a certificate of public convenience? Perhaps the LTFRB can do a rethink to require only the minimum necessary. If the LTFRB should insist on banning these vehicles, some 80% of drivers will be taken off the road. You won’t be able to use this hugely popular service. The LTFRB needs to suspend this order and rethink. We’re dealing with individual car owners, not fleets. They’re the sort of very small entrepreneurs the government wants to support; some are former OFWs who have decided to stay in the country for good.

The world is changing, fast and dramatically. We must adapt to it, not be stuck in old mindsets.

The next major change will be driverless cars. They’re already on the road, they’ll be on the road commercially in the blink of an eye. And all cars will be driven by electric motors. Volvo says all its cars will be electric or hybrid starting 2019. You don’t need a DUI law for a robot. You don’t need gas or diesel for an electric motor. What will oil producers and oil companies do as demand for oil disappears? They’ll do a Kodak, if they don’t shift into something totally different. Other energy fields, as Shell is doing, is one option.

Payments are made not by barter — I’ll give you two chickens for that nice lambskin coat — and increasingly not even by cash. Cash will eventually disappear. And that “eventually” is not very far from here. Mobile phones will pay for everything, already are in some locales.

It’s the same in other industries. Hotels today face serious competition not from other hotel chains, but from Airbnb. The world is changing. And government wants to control how we get to work? Will there be work? Robots and artificial intelligence (AI) are taking over the world, and world governments are beginning to recognize it.

Are you ready for your phone to be built in? It will be, it’ll be fingernail size. Do you know there’s a camera now that is smaller than those widgets in a smartphone BUT only the thickness of paper?

Countries that move the fastest to embrace the new world order will be the winners. The President needs to establish a group of intellectuals with a variety of expertise to explore what to do. It probably should be part of an international endeavor. AI will be more intelligent than us. Will it have the ethics, the morality to act responsibly, or could it take over the world? Don’t laugh, but some renowned experts are pondering that now.

As I’ve raised before, we are living in a world of rapidly increasing change, at a pace we can barely comprehend, but one we have no choice but to adapt to. If decision makers don’t quickly learn to think “change” in all they decide, a revolution of the people will force their hand.

What do you need to do to not only adapt to an inevitable future, but embrace it? To lead in it? Are legislators thinking about that? I don’t think so. We are not only not recognizing it, we’re resisting it. We still want the horse and buggy.

E-mail: [email protected]. Read my previous columns: www.wallacebusinessforum.com.