Call center agent has witness; LTFRB resets inquiry

HARD TIMES. Taxi driver Joel Ramos at the LTFRB hearing. (CDN PHOTO/LITO TECSON)

The call center agent who complained that he and his wife were threatened with a knife by an angry taxi driver last March 10 brought his witness, another call center agent, to the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB-7).

Dave Say Horca and his  witness had their statements taken on Wednesday but a brownout  hit before the forms could be printed out and signed.

A hearing was scheduled 2 p.m. yesterday but LTFRB had to reset it to next week.

Taxi driver Joel Ramos, who has denied harassing the passengers or overcharing them by P10,  showed up but  Horca was  unable to attend  due to an emergency. His  witness was also not available at the time.

BACK STORY: Threatened by cab driver

Horca sounded a bit exasperated at the pace of  the proceedings.

“The witness waited for for the update yesterday (Wednesday) regarding signing of the sworn affidavit but it was too late for her to cancel her commitment when my wife informed her of the update,” Horca said in a text to Emil Membrillas, LTFRB-7 public assistance desk officer.

Horca said he and his wife are going ahead with pressing  criminal and administrative charges against the driver.

He said this “requires our time too and is not within the scope of your support.”

“With all due respect, we are not robots and we don’t intend to dedicate all our time to this issue.  Besides we gave sufficient time already cooperating with your office.”

Witnesses

LTFRB hearing officer Edwin Antepuesto confirmed that Horca and his witness came to their office last Wednesday morning to issue sworn statements.

“We will just set another hearing next week asking both parties to come  and present their witnesses.”

The taxi drivershowed up  20 minutes early. He told Cebu Daily News he hasn’t been able to drive his taxi or earn ever sinsce since the operator suspended him following the March 10 incident.

Ramos said he is worried for his wife and his 16-year old daughter who will graduate this March 28.

He said  his family is  depending on their relatives in Consolacion town for financial assistance.

Ramosa said he has no witness to present to the  LTFRB-7 because the incident happened inside his taxi.

“I just want the close-circuit TV (CCTV) footage from the nearby building to be released. I’m not  afraid to appear in any hearings because I am not guilty. I am innocent,” he said in Cebuano.

Ramos said he waited for Horca outside the I3 building because he wanted to apologize for raising his voice.

He denied Horca’s allegations that he threw coins and pointed a knife at  the couple.

“I gave him the P10 discount. In fact, I gave him P32 change since the meter fare was P78 and the money that he gave to me was P100,” Ramos said.

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