Susan’s Notes
By Susan Palmes-Dennis
ROCKINGHAM, North Carolina—When it comes to regulating taxis in Cagayan de Oro City—based on my own experience living in the City of Golden Friendship and lately, on input from friends in my social media feed—the regional office of the Land Transportation and Franchising Regulatory Board (LTFRB) simply failed on doing its job.
During last Monday’s (Sept. 14) afternoon session of the 21st City Council, an LTFRB-10 official clarified that the GSM taxis that recently launched in the city are authorized to operate and fetch passengers. The official said these taxis, which are registered out of El Salvador City in Misamis Oriental province, are only ‘for mapping and reflection purposes.’ This meant that the GSM e-taxis are ‘testing the waters’ so to speak to see if they are commercially viable.
Based on info I gathered, the drivers/operator met with Cagayan de Oro City Mayor Rolando ‘Klarex’ Uy to see if they can operate in the city. A meeting scheduled on Sept. 22 between city officials and the operator/s will discuss permits and regulations which means the GSM taxis are surely going to operate in the city. But contrary to the LTFRB-10 official’s claim, several GSM taxis are already operating as public utility vehicles (PUVs).
This meant they are already fetching passengers even without a fully functional app hailing system in place similar to Grab and other transport hailing services. Being a mere extension of its national headquarters however, the LTFRB-10 office is unable to apprehend these GSM e-taxi drivers and operators. If they cannot arrest habal-habal (motorcycle taxis) drivers, how pray tell can they enforce the law on these GSM e-taxis?
The entry of these GSM e-taxis came amid the renewed enforcement by the Roads and Traffic Administration (RTA) of an ordinance restricting the entry of jeepneys and other public utility vehicles (PUVs) coming from Misamis Oriental province into the city’s downtown area. This drew a howl of protests from the commuters, mostly students and workers, who said they would be forced to take three instead of two rides to reach their schools and offices from their homes and vice versa.
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There’s nothing that prevents these GSM e-taxis from operating in the city. Such is the nature of business and since these taxis operate on electricity, they’re not that affected when it comes to fuel price increases which have severely affected existing PUV operators in the country. Taxis in particular are affected since commuters are more likely to choose jeepneys or airconditioned coaster buses to ride in since they’re cheaper somewhat.
When it comes to taxis plying the streets in Cagayan de Oro City, the LTFRB-10 adopts a casual, let-them-come-and-operate approach without taking into account exactly whether the existing population of commuters are sufficient to meet the existing number of taxis operating in the city’s streets. By that I mean does the existing supply meet the actual demand in the market? If so, then why the complaints of unfair competition coming from existing native taxi operators/drivers?
Taxis are in demand whenever there are no available options left since commuters in the city or any part of the Philippines for that matter will choose the cheaper alternative. Besides, the LTFRB-10 conveniently forgot to mention the number of motorists in the city who acquired their own vehicles for their own convenience, thanks in large part to financiers and banks that provided choices enabling them to buy their own cars/jeepneys.
I won’t be surprised if there are more motorists than taxis and even PUVs plying the city streets of Cagayan de Oro. Given that it is the center of Misamis Oriental province and the region of northern Mindanao, the LTFRB-10 should have mapped out a system in which a fixed number of PUVs including taxis operate in Cagayan de Oro that is sufficient to service the actual demand/number of commuters in the market while allowing operators enough room to earn a decent income.
I don’t know if the LTFRB-10 is capable of doing that given that it’s content to do what it’s been doing since time immemorial and the agency as a whole has not established a sterling reputation to the public—in fact like any other agency, it has invited public derision and suspicion as a haven for corruption. While I’m not opposed to the entry and operation of GSM e-taxis, I sympathize with the existing taxi operators and drivers who must struggle on a daily basis to earn their income.
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By the time this piece comes out, the Senate impeachment court would have decided once and for all whether or not to amend the voting threshold for the conviction/acquital of Vice President Sara Duterte-Carpio and I won’t be surprised if the outcome would cause a huge public uproar favoring or opposing their collective decision, whichever way comes first. That decision may seal with finality VP Sara’s 2028 presidential ambition.
While I’m still adamant about my opposition to impeach her—and considering that three former Supreme Court justices hold the opinion that the voting threshold can be amended by the Senate without having to seek a Supreme Court ruling on the issue—I have to admit that it looks pretty bleak for VP Sara right now.
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