Taxi rate in the Philippines is officially more expensive

The flag down fare for taxis in the National Capital Region (NCR), where Manila is, and other provinces in the Philippines will have a PHP10-increase (US$.20), the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) announced on Wednesday.

The flag down fare will now be PHP40 (US$.78) in Metro Manila and in provinces except for those part of the Cordillera Administrative Region where the increase will by PHP5 (US.10), making the fare PHP35 (US$.68).

There is now also a PHP13.50 (US$.26) charge for every additional kilometer and PHP2 (US$.04) for every minute of travel within the National Capital Region and other provinces.

In 2015, there was a rollback in taxi rates that reduced the flag down fare to PHP30 (US$.59). Because of this, taxi driver groups petitioned for a fare increase last year.

But something good could come out of this.

The LTFRB approved the fare increase under the condition that taxi drivers and operators participate in the department’s modernization program.

The program requires taxis to have free WiFi, a CCTV that records the past 72 hours, and a dashboard camera with at least 24 hours of recording.

The fare adjustment has long been a clamor by the taxi drivers because fuel prices have bloated since the last increase in 2008, said Maricor Akol, president of the National Center for Commuter Safety and Protection.

“As a commuter, of course, it’ll hurt our pockets, that’s why what we think with this increase that they’re asking for is that their services will improve, that they wouldn’t refuse passengers during traffic,” she told radio DZMM, a radio affiliate of ABS-CBN News.

LTFRB Board Member Aileen Lizada said taxi drivers will need to have their taxi meters reprogrammed and re-calibrated according to the new flag-down rate.

Lizada also said the boundary rate, or the fee taxi owners charge for drivers to use their cabs,  must not increase despite the increase in the flag-down rate.

“The boundary must not increase, because what the operators are paying is constant with the loan amortization and gas,” Lizada was quoted in GMA News.

Lizada added taxi drivers work for almost half a day just to earn enough money to pay their boundary with. That fee ranges between PHP1,000 (US$20) and PHP1,5000 ($25) a day.

“Hopefully we’ll see that, instead of 14 hours to get money for the drivers, the number of hours would go down. Hopefully it would go down to 10 hours. And maybe a nine hour drive on the road, to get the boundary,” she said.