Two flagdowns for one taxi ride?



Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 22:49:00 04/07/2010

Filed Under: Transport


LAST MARCH 22, 2010, AT about 7 or 7:30 p.m., together with three female companions (two of them senior citizens) and I flagged down a taxi marked Rodailyn with Plate No. TWE 509, along Katipunan Avenue, right in front of the Pan de Manila store. The driver asked us where we were going. We told him we were going to UP Campus. He asked how many we were to board. We told him there were four of us.

On the way to UP, my companions and I were discussing whom to drop off first. When the driver heard this, he told us that if we were going to get off at two places, we have to add to the fare. I told him we do give a tip to cab drivers even without them asking. But this was the first time that a taxi driver was charging us for bringing us to different destinations. He even dared us to report him to Land Transportation Office (LTO), saying that the LTO would support his position as the two destinations should be good for two “flagdowns,” noting that there were many commuters on the road. He let us disembark in one corner. We paid him an amount more than what was indicated in the meter. He took the payment and told us to get off.

What I forgot to do was to bring him to the police station. I checked the telephone number of the taxi company; I found out it is not in the telephone directory.

—RUBY GAMBOA ALCANTARA, Ph.D., professor, College of Arts and Letters, Office of Student Housing, University of the Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City