■ CAB OPERATOR RISKS LOSING FRANCHISE OVER P2,000 HIS DRIVER CHARGED FOR RIDE
Driver allegedly overcharged a Japanese couple who are in Cebu for a honeymoon because of the traffic and distance from Mactan Island to SM Seaside City in Cebu City.
A taxi driver and operator failed to show up yesterday at the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB), which had summoned them to answer an allegation of overcharging. A tour guide has posted a video showing cab driver Jack Espanto, who asked two Japanese nationals to pay P2,000 for a trip from the Shangri-La in Mactan to the SM Seaside City in the South Road Properties. The couple haggled the price down to P1,500, but also told their tour guide Almalyn Pancho about the incident. Pancho posted the video clip on Facebook. LTFRB 7 spokesman Isidro Tumulak Jr. urged Espanto and the Gilgal Taxi operator to answer the allegations against them.
The taxi driver who was caught on camera overcharging a Japanese national didn’t appear during a hearing before the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) 7 yesterday.
The LTFRB will issue a show -cause order against Jack Espanto and the operator of Gilgal Taxi for failing to appear before their hearing.
If they cannot explain their side of the incident, LTFRB plans to cancel the taxi operator’s franchise, said LTFRB assistant spokesman Isidro Tumulak Jr.
On the Facebook page of Almalyn Salimbagat Pancho, a video showed Espanto ferrying a Japanese national and her companion from Shangri-La Mactan to SM Seaside City in Cebu City last Tuesday.
Upon arriving at the mall, the Japanese national asked how much they had to pay. The driv- er charged the couple P2,000, saying that the trip was far and marred by traffic jams.
The Japanese national asked Espanto to lower his price. They ended up paying P1,500.
As of press time, the video has already been shared 337 times.
On her post, Pancho condemned what Espanto did.
“It is one of the many reasons fewer people want to ride taxis. I pity the other taxi drivers who are working decently,” she said.
In an interview with SunStar Cebu, Pancho said she served as a tour guide of the Japanese nationals who were in Cebu for their honeymoon.
Pancho said it was the couple who gave her the video after they felt that they were duped by Espanto.
In an interview, Tumulak told SunStar Cebu that they invited Espanto and the taxi operator to attend the hearing at the LTFRB 7 office in Cebu City at 10 a.m. yesterday but the latter failed to show up.
Tumulak urged the driver and taxi operator to answer the accusation against them.
“Had they attended, they would’ve been able to defend themselves and air their side on the matter,” he said.
Representatives of Gilgal Taxi said, though, they will answer the show-cause order issued by LTFRB. /