Fixed pay planned for cab drivers, too

By Elias O. Baquero

Monday, January 9, 2012

TAXI operators may be asked to hire drivers as regular employees who get monthly pay, instead of having them work 24-hour shifts just to make enough for the car’s rent.

After issuing a memorandum circular ordering bus companies and operators to grant salaries and benefits to their drivers, effective Jan. 16, the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) is also reviewing the compensation scheme for taxi drivers, an official said.

LTFRB Board Member Manuel Iway said the number one problem in taxi operations is that owners use a boundary system, where drivers work 24 hours straight to make the rent, pegged at P1,000 or more per day.

Iway said the board has received reports some taxi drivers take illegal drugs to stay awake longer and work more hours.

Consultations in Metro Manila showed most taxi drivers want a monthly salary, Iway also said, because under the present system, they end up with nothing if they don’t drive enough passengers to meet the boundary or daily rental.

In Metro Manila, the minimum wage is P389 to P426 per day. It is P305 in Metro Cebu, as ordered last year by the regional wage board.

The LTFRB is not only requiring bus and taxi companies to give salaries to their drivers, but also to pay their membership premiums with the Social Security System, Home Mutual Development Fund (Pag-ibig Fund) and the Philippine Health Insurance Corp.
The recent LTFRB circular also limits bus drivers’ workdays to eight hours.

In the present system, bus and taxi drivers have no employee-employer relationship with the operators, do not get a pension when they retire, and can’t avail of Pag-ibig housing loans or health insurance coverage.

In previous years, some groups of taxi drivers in Cebu urged LTFRB to create a sharing scheme where the drivers will receive 20 percent of their day’s earnings, while 80 percent will go to the operators, who will also pay for fuel.

The LTFRB at that time rejected the suggestion because there was no basis for computing the sharing scheme.

But now that taxis use meters that can issue receipts, Iway said, there’s enough data to decide on an earnings sharing scheme.

Richard Cabucos, president of the Metro Cebu Taxi Operators Association, could not be contacted for comment as of press time.

Richard Corominas, president of the Cebu Provincial Bus Operators Association, said that as per their initial consultations, bus operators are open to giving their drivers a monthly pay. But the drivers themselves worry that they might end up earning less.

Published in the Sun.Star Cebu newspaper on January 09, 2012.