Apparently, not even the elderly get the mercy of picky taxi drivers.
A video posted on Aug. 22 shows a cab driver in the streets Cebu City making Inday Venemera, an 88-year-old woman, get out of the vehicle in the pouring rain.
The unidentified woman taking the video can be heard shouting in Visayan, “It’s raining so hard and he’s making the old woman get out.”
The cab driver replies, visibly irritated, to the woman taking the video, “It’s flooding, there’s no use.”
In a story by local newspaper The Freeman yesterday, the woman and her two granddaughters filed a complaint at the regional Land Transportation and Franchising Regulatory Board’s (LTFRB) office.
The video comes amid anger over LTFRB executives’ decision to suspended ride-sharing application Uber for a month, the latest in a series of moves to tighten regulations over technology-based transportation services.
The taxi driver Norman Enojada was fined PHP14,000 (USD280) for refusing to take the woman to her destination.
“We hold the operators responsible for their drivers’ actions because they are supposed to exercise the diligence of a good father. If a driver commits a violation, then it means that the operator is remiss in properly educating, guiding and teaching the driver on the proper things to do,” Ahmed Cuizon, the regional public transportation chief, told The Freeman.
The taxi driver told the LTFRB he asked Venermera to leave the vehicle because he assumed it was flooding in her neighborhood and would be held liable by his operator if the cab incurred flood damage.
The LTFRB reminded taxi operators and drivers through the media that they are not allowed to turn down passengers for any reason. “A second offense will result to a penalty of PHP10,000 and suspension of license. The vehicle will also be impounded for 30 days,” Cuizon said.
“For third and subsequent offenses, they will be fined with PHP15,000 and cancellation of franchise,” he added.
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