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Friday, March 19, 2004
Micame: Abusive taxi drivers at airport
By Rel P. Micame
TERMINATION ORDERS. Two hundred and eighty-three employees of Sulpicio Shipping Lines who staged a five-day strike last week were served notices of termination from employment. Starting yesterday, those separated from the service joined the hordes of the unemployed in the country.
Who were at fault for losing their jobs at this time when work is hard to find? The employees themselves, for following the orders of the officers of the Unyon ng Mandaragat sa Sulpicio Solid (UMSS). The nine workers who heeded the order of the Department of Labor and Employment (Dole) to return to work are lucky. They were saved from separation.
Can the UMSS provide employment for the almost 300 who lost their jobs? I doubt it very much.
In the first place, the union shouldn’t have staged the strike.
ILL-ADVISED. The UMSS leaders knew that their union does not represent the labor force of the shipping company. The union has not been recognized by management. It is the other union affiliated with the Associated Labor Union (ALU) which has a collective bargaining agreement (CBA) with the management.
The UMSS has no right to demand for union recognition because it did not win the certification election. The union was ill-advised by their lawyers, if they had any, when they let their members go on strike.
GUARD WELL. The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) should secure the 60 drums of pseudo ephedrine, an ingredient in the manufacture of shabu, they seized at the Cebu International Port (CIP) together with the Bureau of Customs agents. The PDEA agents shouldn’t blink their eyes in guarding the valuable cargo containing 1,800 kilos of shabu ingredient which arrived from Taipei. The PDEA agents should not rely so much on Customs guards. A Mercedes Benz was spirited out of the CIP warehouse and could no longer be accounted for. How much more for the valuable shabu ingredient worth P3.65 billion? Always be on guard, PDEA agents.
LINUBAGAY. What’s this I hear that taxi drivers at the Mactan Cebu International Airport do not switch on their meters when a passenger who just get out of the arrival area flag a taxi? The linubagay or squeezing the neck of the passenger starts when the latter asks the driver to switch on the meter. The driver just answers the request with a question, ”Where’s your destination?” If the passenger answers, “Bring me to that hotel in Lahug.”
The driver tells his price, “Pay me P400.” Naturally, the passenger will retort back, “Just switch on the meter.” The driver answers, “If you don’t pay me my price, get another cab.”
If the passenger gets another cab, he will experience the same thing because the taxi drivers have already formed an association.
ELIMINATE. Mactan International airport authorities and tourism officials should join hands to eliminate this practice, the sooner the better. The practice will drive away tourists from coming to Cebu.
Tourism officials should educate the taxi drivers. They should teach drivers that self discipline and courtesy to passengers, especially tourists, will benefit the tourism industry. The more tourist arrivals, the better for everybody.
Singapore has a flourishing tourism industry because taxi drivers are well disciplined, honest, helpful and courteous. They make tourists feel that they are very important visitors in their country. I didn’t hear of any taxi driver in Singapore who mulcts his passenger.
SCRIPTURE READING. Suggested reading of the Holy Bible for today is found in the Gospel according to St. Luke 2:41-51 “The boy Jesus in the temple,” and for March 20—St. Luke 18:9-14 “The parable of the pharisee and the collector.” .
(e-mail: relmicame@ yahoo.com, call: (63-32) 423-9956, fax: (63-32) 423-9815, text: 09-18-4435044.)
(March 19, 2004 issue)
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