Taxi firm should post notices and retrain drivers

This is in reaction to the letter titled “Who’s to blame for abusive cabbies” (Inquirer, 6/18/12). I can understand the letter-sender’sobservations and complaints. Last June 21, the driver of a taxi I took claimed it was his first day on the job. Before that, he was a family driver, he said, and so was not familiar with many streets and routes. And to think we were just going to Glorietta in Makati from Mandaluyong. I felt it was useless to argue with him about his “ignorance” of Metro Manila roadways.

On another occasion, I got into a taxi which reeked of cigarette smoke inside. The driver claimed it was caused by a hard-headed passenger who insisted on smoking inside the taxi despite being reminded he was violating a law. (I got the impression that it was the driver himself who had smoked inside the taxi before I boarded it.) After telling the driver that he should’ve just stopped the vehicle until the passenger got off the taxi or approached the nearest traffic enforcer he could find, I decided to transfer to another taxi.

But this one takes the cake. Last June 19, I was about to board an MGE taxi (with license plate number UVF-311), carrying some groceries bought from a supermarket in Makati.

I motioned to the driver to open the car’s trunk so that I could put the groceries there. After he opened the trunk, he rudely asked (in Tagalog) if some of the plastic bags had meat (karne). I said, yes, there’s fresh chicken, aside from some vegetables and fruits.

When I asked him why he wanted to know, he replied that it was their company policy to refuse passengers carrying fresh meat. I assured him all the grocery items were wrapped in plastic and, on top of that, they were in a plastic bag. But he insisted on the policy, so I had to take another taxi.

I called MGE’s office the next day (June 20) and spoke to the person in charge of taking passengers’ complaints (Cynthia Balboa). She confirmed that their company indeed has such a policy, but that it applies to fresh fish and seafood only. So I pointed out to her several things that, as a company, MGE should do ASAP: (1) prominently post notices in all their taxis which should read, “WE RESERVE THE RIGHT TO REFUSE PASSENGERS CARRYING FRESH FISH AND SEAFOOD”; (2) reorient their drivers to implement their policy correctly; and (3) retrain their drivers to speak courteously to their passengers.

It was the first time I heard of such policy, but the MGE driver sounded as if I should’ve known better.

—ROBBY DECENA,

[email protected]