MANILA International Airport Authority general manager Eddie Monreal is considering a total ban of regular white taxis from picking up passengers at the airport in reaction to mounting public complaints against overcharging and other abuses.
But the problem at the moment, according to Monreal, the Ninoy Aquino International Airport does not have enough accredited taxis and vehicles-for-hire to take thousands of domestic and international passenger arriving daily.
“Initially, there is no contract between the white taxis and the MIAA. The reason why we allowed them because, before, passengers were experiencing long queue. So, we let them for the passengers to get an option to get a ride,” said Monreal in a press conference at the Naia Terminal 1 Thursday.
He added “once I was given the numbers of Yellow Taxis, Coupon or Uber Taxis we need that is enough to service the riding public, then, by tomorrow I will immediately remove them.”
The MIAA tapped the Airport Police Department to create a special task group led by APD Officer II Roderick Mejia and ordered them to intensify case build up on the illegal activities of white taxi drivers.
The most recent incident happened last week involving passenger Ralph Perez who complained he was a victim of Bernadell (UWN-692) taxi driver Victorino Duldulao, who was arrested and later charged criminally before the Pasay City prosecutors office.
The authorities also found out that the taxi is not a legitimate franchise and engaged in “double registration plate modus.” They later learned that Duldulao has an outstanding robbery case.
Monreal also called on other victims of Duldulao to come forward.
“With this development, we are now coordinating with other possible victims of the suspect for consolidation and immediate filing of the criminal case,” he said.
So far, more than 300 white regular taxis were placed under the MIAA black list prohibiting them from picking up passengers at the four terminals of the country’s premier airport.
Among other infractions committed by the non-accredited taxi drivers were reckless driving, refusal to convey passengers, contracting, arrogance, no proper queuing and death threat to their clients.
In July last year, Monreal gave the go-signal for regular taxis to line up and pick passengers at the airport following complaints about the lack of affordable transportation while the accredited transport company could not supply the required 200 utility vehicles to service the influx of passengers during daily peak periods between 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. and 10 p.m. to 2 a.m.
The move was also made to give passengers other option or choice of transportation to their destination.
To ensure safety of the riding public, dispatch slip with the name of the driver, taxi plate number, name of the operator and the important hotline numbers will be given to passengers while a copy of the taxi slip will be retained by the dispatcher at the airport.
Airport authorities said major passenger terminals have thousands of incoming passengers a day, most of them arriving practically at the peak-hour window. They added the MIAA has been criticized for the lack of transportation which is why the authority decided opening the airport to non-accredited taxi companies.
