I Don’t Get It

Written on Tuesday, July 8th, 2008 at 7:06 pm | by Marck Ronald Rimorin

I don’t get it.

“For one, I don’t understand why I have to get cheated out of fare by some unscrupulous taxi drivers. On those rare occasions that I have to ride a taxi, I almost always get shortchanged. There is honesty, I suppose, even in the smoky roads of the city, but should I get shortchanged by some dishonest taxi drivers on top of a new mandatory tip?”

For two, I don’t understand why given the many fare increases over the past few months, the transport lobby groups insist that the fare hikes are “not enough.” You won’t hear of a commuter lobby group saying that their salaries are “not enough,” I can tell you that much. “Enough” means to settle on the maximum tolerable and allowable fare hike - the absolute three- to five-year ceiling - and settle on that. Until such time that this absolute ceiling meets the demands of fuel costs and living costs - ceteris paribus - then there must be a moratorium on fare hikes.

For three, I don’t understand the logic or the prudence of passing the burden to the commuter, when the same lobbying strength could have been used to pressure The Government into taking part of our debt allocation budget and defer our outstanding payments to the world market on the premise of a worldwide food and fuel crisis. Thus said, said part of the total budget allocation should be turned into a fuel subsidy, to at least partially offset a global fuel crisis through government intervention.

I know it’s flawed economics… but any takers?

For one, I don’t understand why I have to provide a mandatory P10 “tip” to a taxi driver who already cheats me out of a fair fare anyway. A few months ago, a taxi charged me P100 from SM Megamall to the office near the University of Asia and the Pacific just because it was raining. (This was the original first paragraph.  Please pardon, excuse, and accept my humble apologies for having to replace it.  Thank you.  - Marck)

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About The Author: Marck Ronald Rimorin is a twenty-something blogger, "critic," and writer from Baguio City, and currently works in Metro Manila as a writer. His personal blog is at The Marocharim Experiment

Filed Under Business and Economy

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Comments

17 Responses to “I Don’t Get It”

  1. benign0 on July 8th, 2008 8:56 pm

    Well, what else does one expect when much of the public transport infrastructure of the Philippines is funded by private investment. Jeeps, private buses, tricycles, etc, are run as businesses FIRST before they are run as public services.

    In many countries, public transport is government run. In fact, during Marcos’s time, the Metro Manila Transit Corp (MMTC) I think had the largest bus fleet in the metropolis (so when price pressure sets in, the Government is in a better position to respond).

    Pati FXs and shuttles which were once considered colorum transport services are now part of the system. Hirap sa Pinoy e. Pwede-na-yan measures usually become institutionalised.

    Instead of broad long-term architected plans implemented, our systems are mere accumulations of small-minded TINGI initiatives, whether it is public transport, food supply, or whatever else. Even those rice terraces we are so proud of are not outcomes of a large-scale design effort (unlike, say, the Pyramids of Giza) but rather just an emergent structure from little individual contributions.

    Nick Joaquin had a phrase for this mentality: A Heritage of Smallness.

    Just goes to show how all the different little dysfunctions that afflict our society are all interrelated in an almost unbreakable framework of doom for our society.

  2. cvj on July 9th, 2008 2:00 am

    I think the taxi drivers are just following Benign0’s motto…“True change will be driven by people who find no shame in expecting a buck for their trouble.”

  3. Jon Limjap on July 9th, 2008 4:32 am

    But considering that a liter of LPG costs nearly PHP40 nowadays, and a liter of gasoline at PHP62, could you blame a taxi driver who has a boundary of PHP1300 on top of his PHP3000/day gas bill?

    Besides, if you can’t afford it, WHY THE HELL are you taking a cab?

    Oh, yeah sure, it’s convenient. And that’s precisely what you are paying for.

    Stop complaining and take a jeep.

  4. Arbet on July 9th, 2008 9:52 am

    Jon, there are no jeeps in Ortigas Center.

  5. marck on July 9th, 2008 10:05 am

    jon:

    like everyone else, i walk from where i disembark from the train to the where i work. :) i’d rather have the convenience of cigarettes - the only luxury i have - than to spend it in airconditioned convenience just to go somewhere.

    my only gripe is that on those very few-and-far-between days that i have to take a taxi from home to work, i have to get shortchanged. i don’t blame THE taxi driver: i blame that person masquerading as an honest taxi driver who cheats me out of a fair fare. yung nasa metro niya. kung P150 yung nasa metro mo, wag mo nang itakbo yung singkwentang sukli ko. pare-parehas lang tayong kumakayod.

    anyway…

    i’m still waiting for any economic adviser to take me up on the offer of deferring debt servicing and payments because we’re in crisis, and use that hunk o’ money to mitigate, or at least offset, the general public’s expenses on all-too-frequent hikes of everything. or for transport groups and oil companies to be upfront about what it really costs to get somewhere.

    it’s a choice between pitik-sa-tenga and a slap in the face.

  6. Arbet on July 9th, 2008 10:18 am

    Do an Argentina?

  7. Jon Limjap on July 9th, 2008 2:34 pm

    Arbet,

    I walk from Tektite to Megamall/Shangri-la or vice versa if I don’t have money.

    When I do have cash I take a cab. If worse comes to worst I take the FXs.

    This was in 2006-early 2007 though. I’ve since moved to Bonifacio Global City where there is a nice bus service going around the area.

    Marck,

    Your statement on your first paragraph have no qualifications: it is a simple sweeping rebuke of ALL cab drivers as cheaters in general.

    I find this unfair because, as with any community, you have bad eggs and good eggs. That the bad eggs are becoming more common nowadays because it’s too hard not to be bad egg when you have a flagdown/distance rate that was set in 2001 gas price levels. It does not justify what they do, but given the situation passengers are supposed to find ways to protect themselves from such cab drivers.

    For that matter I always make sure I have loose change when I ride cabs. So I can give the exact amount as much as possible (though I usually put +10/+20).

    Never ever ride a cab with only 100 peso bills as “change”. That way even if you give an amount smaller than what they ask for (but of course, equal to or a little greater than the meter reading) you can always claim that it’s all the money that you have. Cab drivers can’t stop you from alighting the cab anyway.

  8. marck on July 9th, 2008 2:37 pm

    Jon:

    point taken, and i’m sorry for the rather offensive first paragraph. :D i’ll have it struck-through right away.

    thank you! :)

  9. sparks on July 9th, 2008 3:50 pm

    @arbet. hahahahaha. if our government had half the balls of the argentines, they would’ve done it decades ago.

    to answer this question - coming from the perspective of the transpo lobbyists - which interest group is easier to beat? (with the government as the context within which conflicting interests duke it out)

    a.) commuters
    b.) commercial banks and other internatinal financial institutions

    maybe we commuters should set up our own lobby group eh? kaya lang, ano’ng bargaining chip natin?transpo groups can threaten to hold mass strikes. IFIs can threaten government with higher interest rates, downgrade of credit ratings or simply refusal to lend money.

  10. supersepoy on July 9th, 2008 6:07 pm

    If there’s one thing that’s good about the oil price hikes, it’s that more of the middle class are feeling it’s effects. This leads to more demand for true mass transport systems (like trains), and will eventually force the government to hasten these projects.

    I suppose what government failed to do when it tried to phase out the jeepney, capitalism and the markets are doing now. I can finally see a Metro Manila without jeepneys (not as much as today, anyway).

  11. benign0 on July 9th, 2008 9:09 pm

    As with most things, a good kick in the arse is often needed to get things pointed in the right direction.

    This situation may well be that kick Da Pinoy needs.

  12. Arbet on July 10th, 2008 1:27 pm

    @Sparks, I was told that we should have done that during Cory Aquino’s time, when there was much goodwill after EDSA 1. I still wonder why we can’t do it.

    @Jon, I like walking. But not walking under a strong rain. I think that was the context of Marck’s rant.

    Anyway, yay to more mass transport systems. Just make sure they are not like MRT3.

  13. Jon Limjap on July 10th, 2008 5:56 pm

    Marck,

    No problem; I appreciate the changes though :)

    Arbet,

    Ah, happened to me more than once. Had to walk to the MRT even under strong rain. Pagdating ko sa Shangri-La mall pa lang para na akong basang sisiw. People were looking at me weird when I got into the MRT!

    I believe that the implementation of the LRT2 is a step forward, at least, from both the LRT1 and the MRT3. It’s an incremental improvement, but an improvement nonetheless. It took New York 80 years to perfect the subway anyhow.

    Arbet, Sparks,

    Now, I might sound stupid but: what did Argentina do?

    benign0,

    I will be very, very happy to see a jeepless metro, but I am afraid that tricycles might just replace them instead.

    Higher capacity electric minibuses, anyone?

  14. cvj on July 10th, 2008 6:14 pm

    I think street-level electric trams would be good. Government lays down the infrastructure (rails and electric cables) and then private firms or individuals can fund the carriages. More than the jeeps, we should aim to phase out gasoline and diesel powered private vehicles. SUV’s should be banned outright.

  15. cocoy on July 10th, 2008 8:02 pm

    A tip is always something you give, willingly. if someone gives good service. i don’t if they give bad service. screw whatever mandatory thing is imposed.

    that said, you don’t have to take a cab, if you’re not wiling to pay the fare. or the bus. or the jeep. or the mrt. or fuel up a car to drive it to wherever. no one forces us to buy anything, if we don’t want to. in this time when disposable income is far less than it was a few years back, people take care of their own.

    free country, you know?

  16. Marck on July 10th, 2008 8:03 pm

    Jon:

    I believe Argentina refused to pay its debts, but that’s a quick way to put it.

    Arbet:

    Doing the Argentina (although that strikes me as synonymous with “Macarena” and “Lambada…” stupid joke) is a nice solution: I have absolutely no idea why we should pay debt in a global crisis situation.

  17. redpill on July 12th, 2008 3:26 am

    I am willing to give tips to good service considering that is how they earn their living, but the minute they ask for a tip, nawawala ako ng gana…

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