Cops as taxi drivers, anyone?

Abusive taxi drivers, allegedly led by policemen moonlighting as taxi drivers in a block-long terminal along Rizal Avenue Extension in Caloocan City, are in cahoots with unscrupulous traffic authorities, including members of the city’s Department of Public Safety and Traffic Management (DPSTM), Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) traffic aides and traffic policemen of the local and district traffic offices.

They were also reported preying on commuters by charging them exorbitant fares even on short trips. Sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the terminal stretches for one block northbound from the Bonifacio Monument Circle, including the area fronting Gotesco Grand Central, a Caloocan City shopping mall, down to 11th Avenue.

One source said that a trip from the Gotesco mall at the LRT North Terminal to the Caloocan City police station, a distance of about half a kilometer, would set a taxi commuter back P100, a P4 trip by passenger jeepney. For a trip from Monumento to Valenzuela City Hall, the contracted fare would be P150.

Some of the taxicabs were seen sporting markings like "CIDG" and "SPO4" on the front bumpers or on the windshields.

Inspector Vicente Lucena, head of the Traffic Management Group in Caloocan, said these transactions conducted by sedan-type taxi drivers setting the fare for point-to-point destinations or on a shuttle basis like FX taxis are illegal.

Lucena, however, denied reports that uniformed men are behind this "modus operandi" in exchange for protection money. He also dared the alleged victims to file a complaint with his office so appropriate action could be taken.

The traffic official explained the modus operandi of the abusive taxi drivers is not directed by a syndicate but done by individual drivers.

"They play a wily cat-and-mouse game with the traffic enforcers. You will see that when there are no law enforcers around, you also see the long line of these taxicabs for blocks," the official said.

Sources, however, contradicted Lucena’s statement saying that the more the official denies it, the closer to the truth the reports become.

"Even with the traffic men visible in the area, still the line of taxicabs is there fronting Grand (Central), including passenger buses (provincial operation) effectively blocking traffic from 9th Avenue up to Monumento)," the source said.

The same source said the cab drivers allegedly give to the syndicate, including some traffic officials, some P5,000 per week, a jump from the P3,000 to P4,000 weekly tong they allegedly gave last year.