Passenger reveals NAIA taxi drivers new modus operandi

[Bama 1,710]

https://philippineslifestyle.com/passenger-reveals-naia-taxi-drivers-new-modus-operandi/

Passenger reveals NAIA taxi drivers new modus operandi

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A passenger shared his story, which revealed a new modus operandi of one of the taxi drivers in NAIA.

Ralph Perez, a passenger from Iloilo, posted on he nearly became a victim of NAIA taxi drivers modus operandi.

“After getting off a midnight plane from Iloilo, I went to the closed-loop bus stop but was told that the next bus won’t be until 7 am and not wanting to pay for the exorbitant prices of the yellow airport taxis, I walked to where the sign said metered taxis.

I saw this cab, Bernadell Taxi with plate number UWN 692.

I asked the driver who had his window open: “Manong, metro lang po.” (Meter only)

He said yes so I went in. As soon as I sat down he pointed to something that didn’t look like the regular meter and pointed to the digits at the end and said: “Sir, ito po ang metro natin. Bale 30 per 1km. 30 po yung flag down. Nasa zero zero po ah.” (Here’s our meter. It is P30 per 1km. P30 is the flag down. It’s in zero.)

I just nodded thinking it was just another model of a meter but worked the same.

He asked me to pay for the 20 pesos fee on the skyway and I handed it to him.

As we were speeding through the skyway, I saw that the counter he pointed at earlier was furiously counting the distance but the price remained at 44.

I asked him: “Manong, paano ko mapapareimburse kung ganyan yan?” (How can I reimburse if it’s like that?)”

Perez continued to question the taxi driver’s meter system. The driver then revealed that the meter is not actually P30 per kilometer but P300.

Perez then decided to pay and go down. He continued, “The whole time I was trying to open the door and I couldn’t. I couldn’t roll down the window too. I was imagining all sorts of scenarios. I didn’t want to end up in some ditch in some dark alley so I decided I should just promise to give him money by withdrawing from an ATM.

He agreed to let me off at some ATM after I give him the money I’m supposed to owe him. We passed several and he wouldn’t let me get off because he said there was no pedestrian lane but I noticed it was because those ATMs had guards near them. We passed some MAPSA Officers and I thought of screaming out to them or waving crazily to catch their attention but I doubted if they could hear or see me from the closed car. We got to Jupiter and he still wouldn’t let me get off despite the many ATMs that dotted the length of the street.

Finally, he saw the BPI at corner Jupiter and Polaris where it was relatively dark and isolated.

There were vendors across the street, and some drunk was sitting on the road being pulled up by his girlfriend. Maybe the driver thought, I wouldn’t think I could get help there. He went down to let me out of the cab and I took my stuff with me and went up the steps to the bank. After pretending to take out my card from my bag, I took out my phone and hastily took a pic of the cab. I made to run towards the people across the street and knowing he wouldn’t be able to keep me cornered; he zoomed away.”

Perez said he ran to a police vehicle parked along Makati Avenue, but no one was there. He also tried calling 911 and 8888 emergency hotlines, but they are not working.He also said he contacted the NAIA SMS hotline and NAIA FB page but have not received replies yet.

 

 

[smokey 21,527]

The last paragraph is sadly reality

[mikewright 3,779]

Similar thing happened to my daughter and two of her school friends who arrived at Cebu airport late at night a few years ago. They caught a metered white taxi from the airport, and half way to their destination the driver stopped the cab in a dark deserted street, demanded extra money  and threatened that otherwise  they would have to get out of the cab there and then.   He "negotiated" an extra fee of 500 pesos on top of the meter reading. Unfortunately the taxi details on the slip of paper given to them at the airport was illegible, so couldn't follow up.

Still, that has been the only real problem we have had with taxi drivers in Cebu in more than 25 years.

[+Dafey 12,420]

Every taxi I take I take a photo of the drivers posted ID and then fake a phone call saying I'm with driver XXX in cab ###. When they know they can get caught they are unlikely to perpetrate a crime

[HTM 5,368]

In 2018 The Congress approved HB 7774 (Taxi Passenger Rights Bill) on third and final reading, hope it become an active law soon.

 

[T.S. 777]

I rarely use white taxis anymore, but if I do use one or send a friend in one, I always take a picture of it including the company and plate number before I even get inside.

[smokey 21,527]

Huuuuummm taxi once midnight leaving port manila get taxi as we are leaving driver stops gate another guy jumps in front seat .... In cebu airport to talisay white taxi drives thru ludo area into dirt ally jumps out of taxi vanishes. Comes back in 5 min took a dump.  Foreigners cant own guns.   But everyone thinks they are rich.   Foreigners cant own land even though 99%of the time they paid for it.    Well now i know what behind the 8 ball means

[+Salty Dog 60,297]

I think implying this is as they say some "new modus operandi for Taxi Drivers" is a bit of a stretch.

The article only talks about one incident. How do we know this is a trend...

[lv2play 13]

i don't wanna judge anybody and have no idea about their financial situation but if you live in Philippines (Perez speaks Tagalog ) then you must be tired of your life to risk such an adventure at night in Manila. Only a few hundred peso more and you are save an comfortable, do guys that live here forget that a few hundred peso is actually only a few dollar?

Edited December 3 by lv2play

[savarity 578]

At the bottom of the article it lists others who claimed the same happened to them.

i don't wanna judge anybody and have no idea about their financial situation but if you live in Philippines (Perez speaks Tagalog ) then you must be tired of your life to risk such an adventure at night in Manila. Only a few hundred peso more and you are save an comfortable, do guys that live here forget that a few hundred peso is actually only a few dollar?

Is there some reason we shouldn't assume he is Filipino? And why couldn't a yellow taxi do exactly the same thing as a white taxi? I've had them try all kinds of tricks.

[samatm 2,944]

Perez makes a good read.   I'm skeptical.   Why would the driver let him out w his bag? 300 pesos per Klik...to a  Filipino.  Nah.  No witnesses.. No cell phone recording.. It could have happened... but

[Goetz1965 876]

Why are they all too stupid to do the only correct thing?

Let the driver finish the ride and when you arrive at the destination pay him what the usual rate is.
If he scams just get out and pay nothing! If he complains ask him if he wants to complain to police then you will happily get them to come.
If a driver would stop in a dark place with me in the taxi and demands money, I would look at him and ask if he wants to die now or live on for some years. And them tell him to drive or he will suffer pain. 

[lamoe 12,891]

Just now, Goetz1965 said:

Why are they all too stupid to do the only correct thing?

Let the driver finish the ride and when you arrive at the destination pay him what the usual rate is.
If he scams just get out and pay nothing! If he complains ask him if he wants to complain to police then you will happily get them to come.
If a driver would stop in a dark place with me in the taxi and demands money, I would look at him and ask if he wants to die now or live on for some years. And them tell him to drive or he will suffer pain. 

Many taxi drivers are armed - they get robbed also

I take a different approach - very familiar with airport / pier 3 routes and anticipated fares - don't just say condo name - give street intersection / name of hotel on corner / and lived here for 3 years before we even take off.

Only time scammed was tried was Gypsy "cab" at pier 3 - wanted P500

[Chris24 746]

Good information and good to be aware and on guard against the things that can happen.  The only two times I've had incidents were minor and revealed up front when they quoted a flat fee, one was at night after I'd gotten in,  so I just got back out and walked over to another taxi that didn't have a tout (a yellow flag in itself) .  The other was at NAIA when quoted a flat fee of P1200 (!!!) to Makati before getting in, so just walked to another taxi.  I don't recall if this was a white taxi.  

Glad he got the taxi info and license plate and that it made the news.  Hope we read more about it as with this one:  http://www.interaksyon.com/politics-issues/2019/05/09/148539/taxi-driver-who-scammed-austrian-vloggers-caught-by-authorities/

(Edited to paste the link in as a link)

 

Edited Wednesday at 02:23 PM by Chris24

[rrider 29]

Never had any problem with white cabs in the 16 years  of traveling to Cebu. I find the cab drivers quite friendly and helpful.