Wednesday, October 18, 2006 4,000 cab drivers to attend seminar
SOME 4,000 taxi drivers in Cebu are set to undergo a seminar to get themselves ready for the thousands of foreigners who will be coming to Cebu for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) summit in December.
A total of 1,274 hotel rooms in Cebu have already been booked by foreign businessmen and journalists who will attend the gathering.
Department of Tourism (DOT) Undersecretary Phineas Alburo said the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) has approved the franchises for 200 additional sedans and air-conditioned buses to ensure that there will be enough taxis and buses during the summit on Dec. 11-14.
He said that while the transportation for the heads of state and their official delegation is already arranged, the members of the international media and other foreign visitors will surely avail themselves of public transportation during their stay in Cebu.
Alburo, head of the transportation and accommodation committees of the Cebu organizing committee for the summit, discussed their preparations in yesterday’s 888 News Forum at the Parklane Hotel.
The DOT and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda), in coordination with LTFRB, have already trained 2,000 taxi drivers, so far, on values, hygiene, basic courtesy and road regulations.
DOT was recently told that taxi drivers in Cebu have reached 6,000 but for now their available budget for the seminar is good only for 4,000 individuals.
Alburo said the taxi operators will be required to let their drivers wear uniforms and its implementation will start during the summit.
Those who have completed the government-sponsored seminar will be issued a certification and only those who have such certifications will be allowed to pick up passengers in hotels.
Deal
Alburo said they will also try to negotiate with the management of shopping centers so the same arrangement can be implemented in the malls.
This will be a continuing program for cab drivers that will be implemented in Cebu even after the summit, “as a service to the Cebuanos and the Filipinos.”
Alburo said they even intend to replicate the program in the other parts of the country as well.
They are also preparing a database of the taxi drivers and a copy will be given to the summit’s security group.
This way, it would be easy to trace and track down drivers reported to have duped or tried to dupe passengers, said Alburo. The tourism official clarified that the seminar, including the snacks, is given for free.
However, Alburo explained that there were previous instances where the participants were asked to pay for the snacks served because, at that time, their budget had not yet been released.
He assured, though, that they will be reimbursed later for their payments upon presentation of receipts.
They made an agreement with the taxicab drivers and operators’ association that only those units in better shape and condition will be fielded, at least for the duration of the summit.
As for the accommodation, Alburo said 699 hotel rooms have confirmed reservations for foreign journalists.
Some 575 hotel rooms got confirmed bookings for private businessmen who will also be joining the Asean business and investment summit from Dec. 7 to 10.
These consist of various room accommodations from de luxe, AAA, first class and unclassified hotels in Cebu City and Lapu-Lapu City.
Rooms
Alburo said there are still 2,474 available rooms and even if 2,000 rooms will be taken by the heads of state and their official delegation, there will still be more than 400 available rooms.
He said they have set a cut-off date on Oct. 31 for hotel bookings and they have informed the foreign embassies about this.
DOT also has 150 student volunteers and four of them will be assigned to man the assistance desks in 37 hotels and to attend to the needs of the foreign visitors.
“Oftentimes, small things matter the most,” said Alburo.
DOT is also asking six travel agencies to prepare tour packages.
Meanwhile, Cebu City Hall information officer Nagiel Bañacia said they have two teams that will conduct sanitary and building inspections on all the hotels, restaurants, bars and nightspots in the city starting next week.
City Hall wants to ensure that establishments comply with all the requirements for sanitation and building safety. (ROV)
