At last, a taxi stops in front of you. You were there standing for too long waiting for a ride. It’s late at night and it might rain soon. It seems you have ran out of luck because every cab snobs you. You’ve been cursing them for not stopping and have been swearing them to hell. But now, you have been successful in hailing for your cab.
You felt like you are a movie star stepping in your limo. There, you gave a sigh of relief. Ou savored your victory and said, “Manong, sa Loakan po.” Well, all a sudden you are there again; right at the spot where you were fixated. You are back to zero. No ride. It’s late. It might rain soon.So, have you ever caught yourself with the same situation? Or have you been denied by a taxi driver? Well denied many times I bet. Never get upset then, for we have dug up LTO’s vault to search and deliver your rights as a passenger. And for sure, at the end of the day, you will be sitting back and be fastened comfortably in your cab. Bored in your Political Science class? Here’s something you’ll surely enjoy. In our long peregrination of looking for DOTC Land Transportation Office, our “foot and mouth” skills led us to the 2nd floor of the Post Office Building along Session Road. Filed there is the memo we’ve all been looking for… the one and only… MEMORANDUM CIRCULAR NO. 89-105. CHOOSE ME… CHOOSE ME NOT…
Denied or not being chosen by a bully taxi driver? Better read this: under ARTICLE X, Section 63 of the memo, “The driver of the taxi unit who refuses to render service to the public or to convey a passenger to his destination shall be penalized by a fine of FIVE HUNDRED PESOS (P500.00). the license of the driver shall be suspended for one (1) month”. So next time a cab driver refuses to take you to your place, be it a “climb every mountain” road or “touch every rainbow” avenue, you have all the reasons to report the incident to the nearest Policeman or Traffic enforcer. This apportionment of the memo also covers the right of the passengers to be brought one by one to their desired locations if they have different places to go to. If you and two of your friends are in the cab and you are residing in T. Alonzo while one who lives in Guisad and the other is to be brought to Bakakeng, the driver is obliged to bring all of you to your respective places without restarting the taximeter.
MY WAY
The above also includes the freedom of the passenger to choose the route according to his/her preference and from among alternatives if any. The same charges may be applied to the driver if he refuses to abide by the rule. “I’ve got to go my own way” does not apply in the life of a taxi driver, not even if he fancies Vanessa Hudgens of the famous movie High School Musical 2.
THE OVERCHARGERS
Let’s take the case of Ma’am X of the College of ABC who commutes twice a day. For ages, she’s been accustomed to paying a fare around forty-five pesos. One time however, upon being brought by a taxi in front of their house (within Baguio City), the taxi meter flashed a bold and shocking “76.00”. whoa! Reckon you have experienced the same? Read further! ARTICLE X, Section 61 reveals this: “A fine of TWO THOUSAND PESOS (P2,000.00) shall be imposed upon the owner/operator of a taxi unit with a fast, tampered, defective or non-operational taximeter, or with a tampered, broken, fake or altered meter seal. The license of the driver of the said taxi unit shall be confiscated and suspended for three (3) months for the first violation. For the second violation, the driver’s license shall be suspended for three (3) months and for the third, six (6) months.” Simply put, if in case everything in your trip seemed to be normal except your fare escalated to a sky-scraping level, you can complain directly to the driver and in case he won’t listen, endorse him to appropriate personnel of the DOTC. If you are a concerned citizen who happened to see a taxi meter with conditions stated above, why not exercise advocacy and report it to a uniformed officer?
WORST DRESSER AWARD GOES TO…
Dress codes? We’re not ones to abide by this rule. Even cab drivers must observe proper decorum. Under Section 65, ARTICLE X, “The driver of a taxi unit shall be penalized with a fine of SEVENTY FIVE PESOS (P75.00) for driving the vehicle without his driver’s uniform. So, if you happened to have friend or relative who is at the same time a driver wearing improper “outfit” ranging from an ordinary shirt, sando or if he is in his slippers, inform him before it’s too late!
THE NON-“HIGH” LIGHTERS
If you feel irritated seeing a cab without a top light even if it is available and it just passed in front of you, you may refer to this statement under ARTICLE X Section 62 (b): “A fine of ONE HUNDRED (P 100.00) PESOS shall be imposed upon the owner/operator of a taxi unit … (if he failed) to provide top indicating availability.” The above situation is a manifestation of intentionally intervening to not convey the passenger in his taxi unit.
AND SO IT IS…
Taxi cabs are considered to be among the group of culprits in the persisting traffic problems in the city. We, commuters utilize their service to be able to arrive at our respective destinations the way we wanted (that’s why we opted to take a taxi ride). If passengers are paying the exact fare with all the fairness extended, then drivers should also be fair in rendering the right service with no opportunistic intentions. There are also many admirable drivers who are kind and honest in moving people. However, there are still some who are taken away by the glory of being greedy. Cheating for them may be a way in earning more. Well, all we can do is WATCH OUT FOR PEOPLE LIKE THEM.
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