Presumptive President Duterte wants taxi drivers to give exact change

Presumptive President Rodrigo Duterte used the motto “change is coming” during his campaign period, but who knew that this could be specifically apply to taxi drivers?

In his first post-election press conference held on May 16 (Monday), Duterte warned taxi drivers that refusing to give “exact” or “loose” change to passengers is a criminal offense.

“It is extortion or illegal exaction. Iyung mga taxi both dito sa Davao at Maynila, alam mo, kapag kinuha mo iyung (pera) kasi wala kang sinsilyo (panukli) at hindi mo talaga ibinalik, that is estafa. That is not a simple violation, I already told the drivers here. It is not your money and you go away with it,” said by presumptive President Duterte.

“It is extortion or illegal exaction. The taxis both in Davao and in Manila, for your information, if you take the money because you don’t have change and you don’t return it, that is estafa. That is not a simple violation, I already told the drivers here. It is not your money and you go away with it,” Duterte said.

The presumptive Philippine President reminded and warned the taxi drivers to not go out to work if they don’t have loose change.

“It behooves upon the taxi company now to provide the drivers with loose change at the start of the day,” he added.

He also added if drivers don’t have loose change, then they can simply go to a nearby store and have their paper bills changed. The presumptive President also reminded commuters to estimate their fare and give the exact amount.

“Try to figure out the amount that you would have to pay to reach your destination.”