EDITORIAL - Taxi drivers or highway robbers?

The operator of a taxi company has been issued a show cause order by the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board after one of its drivers allegedly tried to overcharge Korean singer Soobin while he was here in Cebu.

In his blog, Soobin, the leader of the group Tomorrow X Together, said that the price for the ride should have been only ?300, but the taxi driver asked for ?500, citing high fuel prices.

But the taxi driver didn’t seem content, by the time they arrived at the destination he asked for double the fare or ?1,000.

Soobin refused and told the driver he would report the incident to authorities.

We see two issues here. First is its possible impact on tourism.

We want tourists to have a good impression of Cebu. We don’t have to point out that incidents like these put off tourists, the very people we want to visit our place in the first place.

Unfortunately, in this case, the taxi driver seems to have chosen as his victim someone who is famous, has a blog, and can influence the opinion of his fans around the world.

Second is the implication on how some taxi drivers here now behave.

Taxi drivers in the capital are notorious for overcharging. Even before oil prices rose as a result of the Iran war they usually ask for more money above what appears in the meter. Sometimes they don’t use the meter. Sometimes they ask for a fixed rate to a certain destination, reasoning that it’s rush hour, or that its color-coding day, or they can be stuck in traffic.

They will use whatever reason to wring more pesos from passengers. You seldom pay what you are supposed to be fairly paying.

We thought taxi drivers here in Cebu were of a different stripe. They are known for their honesty. In fact, they are known for returning items left behind in their vehicles.

Has something changed? If some taxi drivers start doing this with tourists, how long before they start doing the same to the locals? To be fair, many of our cabbies are still honest; scalpers behind the wheel seem to be the exception rather than the rule.

We should do everything to deter taxi drivers who behave more like highway robbers.

We don’t want our taxi drivers here in Cebu driving away tourists. Also, we certainly don’t want them to turn into the opportunists and vultures they have in the capital.