You hate it when you see yourself
Korean cat in Seoul cafe, June 2011. Photo by JZ.
We were in a taxi when the driver pointed to some Koreans coming out of a restaurant. “Mga Koreyano,” he growled. “Magugulang ang mga yan.” (Koreans are deceitful.)
“Bakit naman ho?” (Why do you say that?) we asked.
“Gusto akong dayain,” he replied. “Ihatid ko daw siya sa Laguna, tapos ime-metro? Hindi puede yon.” (One tried to cheat me. He said, Take me to Laguna but turn on the meter. That’s not right.)
We don’t know how taxis charge to drive passengers outside Metro Manila, so we assumed the kontrata system was in effect (They agree on a rate at the start of the trip).
“Magulang ang mga yan,” he repeated.
“Baka ho nagkataon lang,” we said. “Yung mga Koreyano ho sa Seoul mabait naman.” (Maybe it was just that guy. The Koreans we met in Seoul were quite nice.) The first time we tried to use the ticket machine at a Korean train station we must’ve looked so bewildered that someone came over to offer help. As he spoke no English we conversed in signs.)
“Hindi, madaya sila,” the cabbie insisted.
When we got to our destination the meter read 68 pesos. We didn’t have the exact change so we handed over 100 pesos.
“Wala akong barya,” he said peremptorily, showing a roll of P100 bills.
“Meron ho kayong P50?” We had a P20 peso bill.
“Wala, wala talaga.” What he meant was that we should give him the P100 and consider the change his tip.
We weren’t about to give this unpleasant man a P32 tip. A 47 percent gratuity, are we insane?
Fortunately we had a lot of loose change. We gave him the P20 bill and exactly P48 in 5 and 1-peso coins.
* * * * *
Thank you for the advice. Unlike you forward-thinking types we do not carry P68 in 25-centavo coins at all times, as they would tend to jangle.
However, in the dark days of martial law, some lawyers would pay their activist-clients’ bail in 25-centavo coins in order to tick off the authorities.
Answers to questions you might be asking, unless you wandered onto this site purely by accident >>>
April 5th, 2012 at 07:35
Manila cab drivers are always a horror for me every time i visit back home. Even the yellow airport cab cannot be trusted sometimes. It’s’very rare to find nice cab drivers in Manila. Meanwhile, the ones in Cebu are always the nicest, in my experience.
April 5th, 2012 at 09:59
ok, and the driver said that the koreans are magulang… manong, look into the mirror… :(
April 5th, 2012 at 12:05
Just saw this feature on Imbestigador on how a lot of taxis now are using “butingting”. Frustrating that you have no way of knowing they’re using it if you’re not a frequent taxi rider and you don’t know the usual rates.
Anyway, here’s a useful site: taxikick.com – report abusive taxis
April 5th, 2012 at 14:50
umi-style si manong…
by the way, you have an amazing blog stats when i came here today — 5,585,858 parang lucky number lang.
April 5th, 2012 at 18:34
this is how tricycle and pedicab drivers, and probably taxi drivers, justify a contract. if his route is from the barangay hall to the marketplace, he could find paying passengers at both ends. if he has to bring a passenger to an out-of-the-way place, after he brings the passenger to his destination, he would make the return trip, without a passenger, so no income on the return trip. he wants the passenger to pay for both ways.
i can understand where the driver is coming from. life is not easy, he could not afford to waste gasoline. if i were the driver, i’d explain to the korean passenger i would have to return to metro manila, and there won’t be a passenger and i’d have to pay for the gasoline. if the korean said no, then that’s too bad.
but i agree with you, some drivers take advantage of passengers. like during christmas, fare ups several times, specially on xmas day itself. when there is flood, that’s another opportunity to jack up fare. if the jeep’s route is a remote town, you have to pay as if you’re getting off in that remote town. the worse case i’ve heard (it was reported in tv news) is this jeepney driver who overcharged passengers who work in manila and live in rizal. the police arrested one driver who said he was not forcing anybody to ride his jeepney. if they didn’t want to pay his price, they could take another jeepney.
April 5th, 2012 at 19:22
ha! serves him right!
April 5th, 2012 at 23:56
haha naisahan nyo :)
i remember reading from one of your books that you sometimes don’t close the passenger door properly for annoying drivers..
pero giving the fare in barya will work too :)
April 6th, 2012 at 02:37
Mas masaya sana kung tig-bente-singko sentimos.
April 6th, 2012 at 19:21
galit si manong sa mga katulad nya. ehe.
April 7th, 2012 at 01:57
Oo nga, sana you paid your fare na lahat tig-25 centavos. I hate cabbies in general, except those in Baguio.