‘Oplan Isnabero’ vs abusive cab drivers revived

As passengers are expected to increase this holiday season, the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) reinstated its “Oplan Isnabero” against errant taxi drivers.

According to Joseph Morong’s report on “24 Oras” on Monday, the LTFRB encouraged the public to report taxi drivers who would snub or choose passengers.

Aside from its hotline, the agency adopted a QR-code that will be posted on public vehicles where the public could easily report erring drivers.

Taxi drivers that would be proven to snub/choose passenger will have the following fines:

• P5,000 for 1st offense
• P10,000 for 2nd offense and;
• 15,000 and possible revocation of the franchise unit for 3rd offense.

Meanwhile, Grab Philippines said that they have a shortage of units compared to the demand that has doubled this holiday season.

Since November 15, the number of bookings they had been able to respond to had decreased, particularly during the longer peak hours from 4 p.m. to 1 a.m.

Grab Senior Director for Strategy and Operations Ronald Roda said they are studying to have a cap on surge rates like what they implemented in 2019 when the maximum surge rate was 1.8x instead of 2x.

“We’re considering measures to make sure that fares do not go up too much,” Roda said.

According to Grab, they need 10,000 units of vehicles this December. However, LTFRB has suspended granting franchises for private vehicles that want to become Grab units.

The Manila International Airport Authority was also asking for up to 500 Grab units to be deployed at airports during rush hour.

“The board will consider any additional [units] depending upon kung ano talaga ‘yung performance right now of the TNVS at saka TNC operations… mabilis naman kasi may charter naman tayo that covers it eh,” said LTFRB officer-in-charge Engineer Riza Marie Pachez.

But Grab believed that additional units would not be ready this month as it would take a month to process an application.

Meanwhile, around 1.15 million passengers have availed of the Libreng Sakay program from December 1 to 4, data from the LTFRB revealed.

Around 100 buses are taking part in the 24/7 operating hours of the program, which will last until Dec. 31.

The P3 billion allocated by Congress for service contracting, such as free rides, and fuel subsidies for next year was said to be insufficient as P9 billion was needed for free rides, the report added. — Mel Matthew Doctor/DVM, GMA Integrated News