"Nine Stars" & "Sturdy"
Last night Niben (my DOTA buddy and housemate)and I went out with a friend and her friend (Chelsea and Deborah) to have them roam places here in Manila for they are just having a visit here. So went to Eastwood City in Libis to show them around and there were live bands there. We saw Barbi Almalbis and Maegan Aguilar perform there.
As we went home we've decided to go with them in Deborah's place and we rode a taxi named MGE. This is one of the most dominant taxis here in Manila and its color is white and green. I would suggest tourist to opt for this taxi for they have a communication radio which gives help be it in traffic and safety. These taxis are known for their correct and precise taxi meters.
As we were arriving in in Deborah's place she slipped to utter a bicolano word (our dialect) telling the driver to stop. The driver responded in the same dialect and there we knew that the driver also came from the Bicol Region (Region V in the Philippines).
After dropping to Deborah's place, we heeded to our place in Mandaluyong and decided to have a chat with the driver of the taxi who is a fellow Bicolano. I told him that most of the taxi drivers that we've riden are fellow Bicolano's also. He said he knows that, they say that operators and passengers prefer Bicolano drivers for they are careful on the wheels and on the road. I said that MGE is a good taxi. I asked him the operator of the taxi and said to us that it is owned and operated by Teofilo Enriquez from Macabebe, Pampanga. Then we went on talking about taxi operations and stuff.
Mario Leosala who hails from Sorsogon shared to me that taxis here in Manila are operated by one family, the Enriquez. It all started with their father who had a bus operations named "La Mallorca" but went bankrupt and corverted into a taxi business named as "R&E". It was passed on to Teofilo's brother and after that the other siblings followed to build "MGE", "Sturdy", "Nine Stars", "EFE" and "EMP". We also learned that "EMP" is owned by Teofilo's son. Drivers in these companies have all the benefits (SSS, Pag-ibig, Philhealth, etc.). He also shared that MGE have some 700 taxis operated and only 500 plus runs on the road in a day because of coding. Coding day for the taxi is also the day off of the drivers. This day alos serve as the maintenance for the taxi if needed. Assuming that 500 runs in a day with a boundary of P1860 pesos, that is equal to 930, 000 pesos a day. They could even buy two cars in a day. What a business! That is MGE alone, sister companies not included. I also learned from the driver that the MGE taxis use LPG as gas. You'll notice that LPG taxis are cheaper when it comes to gas and cheaper also for taxi fares.
I suggest that tourists should prefer these taxis for drivers there are very well versed when it comes to route and traffic for their companies conduct seminars for their drivers and the screening for their drivers are very tough. You can be assured that these drivers are not reckless. I hoped I've shared a bit of information for tourists.
8 comments:
thanks for the tip, pamps. i'll make sure to look for that kind of taxi next time around.
have a good day
goog info yan pamps...ok have a happy day
you forgot to mention that this company also maltreats their drivers charging them everyday 10 pesos for sampaguita, 20 pesos for their rag, 30 for car wash, 30 for their back rest and yeah they have to pay for their boundary even they cant make it to work.
Nice insights. It certainly is a business for the 'E's but hard as hell for the drivers who have limited career options. I wrote my thoughts on my blog on this and also shared some more facts and tips. http://pudpodnatsinelas.blogspot.com/2009/07/tksi.html
Cheers!
There's apparently a way to order taxis online now as well. Not sure if it's related to the aforementioned taxi companies. Anyway the site is http://www.mataxi.ph. I'm bad at memorizing numbers and waiting for phone lines to become available so I think this is a welcome addition.
i agree with anonymous... add the coffee too its 10 pesos.there's also union fee that you dont know who really benefits...and as for the sss that remains to be double checked if they really remit it.A friend who worked at MGE as taxi driver complained that even when his unit conked out 3 times in one day and had to be repaired during the day he still had to pay the whole boundary even if he barely had time to look for passengers kasi nga nagloloko yung unit na binigay sa kanya.He ended up borrowing from a loan shark just to pay for the balance of the boundary. The boundary at MGE is quite high considering that these drivers work for 24 hours, no differential pay, no xmas bonus, no 13th mo. pay. Ask a taxi driver how long they have worked with the company they are driving and if they have received any xmas bonus or holiday pay.
I owned a driving school in the UK and in my 9 yrs here i have only ever ONCE had a driver that could drive at an acceptable level of competence - and I use taxis daily!!!
I still have his number.
Yes! These are reliable taxis in metro manila! Stay away from those white taxis because once you accidentally left your belongings inside white taxis, they are nowhere to be found not unlike this well established companies and most of the white taxis are colorum.
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