Taxi flagdown fight, Driver ‘threatens’ man with knife

CEBU, Philippines - A passenger sought the help of the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board-7 yesterday after a taxi driver allegedly refused to honor the P10 flagdown reduction and even threatened him with a knife.

“Matud pa sa complainant nga giti-onan siya og kutsilyo sa driver sa dihang ni insister siya sa P10 nga diskwento sa pletehan,” said LTFRB-7 Director Rey Elnar.     

He said he already sent a summons for the operator of SD Taxi to present before his office the driver who is the subject of the complaint.

Elnar said he already set the hearing on the matter at 2 p.m. on March 12, adding that their resolution on the matter will be forwarded to the Land Transportation-7 for proper action against the driver.

The FREEMAN tried to contact complainant Dave Say Horca but he was not available as of press time.

Starting last Monday, LTFRB-7 implemented a P10 reduction of the P40 flagdown rate of all taxicabs in Central Visayas.

Most taxi units, however, still have meters calibrated to the P40 flagdown instead of the new rate.

Elnar identified the complainant as Dave Horca, who rode an SC Taxi with body number 0112, taxi from Escario Street to the Cebu I.T.

In his Facebook account, Horca posted Monday evening what happened to him and his wife that night.

He said that at 9:05 p.m., he and his wife asked for a P10 refund after the driver charged them the amount reflected in the non-recalibrated taxi meter, having known of the LTFRB announcement that the flagdown rate should already be P30 instead of P40 starting Monday.

He driver, he said, got angry and became hostile when they insisted on the P10.

“Gilabay niya ang duha ka singko sa amo then ni aksyon kuha ug knife. May na lang naablihan na namo ang door sa taxi then kagawas mi dayon. He then went out of the taxi then nagshagit shagit samoa na di daw mi mangbayad ug tarong!” Horca said.

“The guards in i3 building let us in kay gukuron unta mi niya. When he found out that I was taking a close picture of his face he then ran away and got into the taxi and rushed to drive fast,” he added.

A photo of the taxicab was also included in the post.

In responses to comments of his post, Horca said he already had the incident recorded at the Mabolo Police Station and that he will really pursue the filing of a criminal complaint against the driver.

He is also already establishing the identity of the driver with the help of a friend who knows the owner of the taxicab. — (FREEMAN)