"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.
