Cabbie lies low after passenger controversy

A DAY after being fined P1,000 for cursing and demanding P2,000 from a female passenger, taxi driver Bebiano Dapal, Jr. stayed with in-laws in Toledo City.

Dapal has recovered his license and paid his P1,000 fine. His employer,  Prelyn Intervencion of Catz Taxi, also paid P5,000 at the Land Transportation Office (LTO) regional office last Wednesday.

“Ako lang hinay hinayon ug bayad ang company nga nag gasto sa akong penalty didto sa LTO (I’ll just slowly repay the company for paying my penalty at the LTO),” he said.

He said he will lie low for a while in Toledo City.

“There are still a lot of people bashing me on the Internet,” he said.

Dapal said the operator assured that he can still work for the company after he admitted the accusations hurled at him by the 26-year old female complainant.

With no regular income yet, Dapal’s five-year old child has stopped studying in a day care center.

His wife is also unemployed. The couple was forced to wean their three-month-old baby from drinking milk.

“Amo nalang gipasugod ug pakaon ug lugaw. Wala koy kwarta ikapalit na ug gatas (We started to feed the baby congee. I don’t have money to buy milk),” he said. The Dapal couple has three children.

“Other jobs I know are in labor and construction. I know fishing but I live in a mountain area here in Toledo City,” he said.

Dapal helps his mother-in-law sell firewood for P5 per bundle.

He said he’s not sure when he will return to Cebu City, where he worked as taxi driver for three years.

In last Tuesday’s inquiry, Intervencion said it was the first time he received a complaint against Dapal.

The female passenger said Dapal got angry after her one-year-old nephew vomited inside his taxi.

She said Dapal also cursed her mother and demanded P2,000 for the mess that her nephew made inside his taxi, which she tried to clean up with towels.

The complainant posted her experience and photos of the driver and the cab on her Facebook account.

It had more than 1,000 shares on Facebook in just 24 hours.

Dapal was found guilty of overcharging, discourteous behavior and arrogance in violation of Joint Administrative Order (JAO) 2014-01 issued by the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC).