Police asked to act on ‘taxi boys’

By Aileen P. Refuerzo
BAGUIO CITY – The days of the ‘taxi’ boys – children milling in front of business establishments jostling for position to hail taxicabs for passengers during rush hours unmindful of the danger of being bumped or sideswiped by the vehicles – are numbered.

The city council last Monday approved a resolution asking the city police chief through the traffic division to implement the necessary measures to protect the interest of the children and the taxi commuters, and to coordinate with the City Social Welfare And Development Office for appropriate intervention programs for the so called “taxi boys” found along the central business district here.

Councilor Betty Lourdes Tabanda, proponent of the measure, said, “it has been observed that several groups of children and teenage boys have strategically positioned themselves outside business establishments located at the CBD ‘assisting’ customers in getting a taxi and loading their baggage in exchange for a voluntary amount.”

Tabanda said this practice “inconveniences the unwilling shoppers who sometimes are forced to shell out money for services they never asked for.”

“This also creates traffic congestion and chaos as these boys race against each other, disregarding traffic regulations and warnings,” Tabanda noted.

“Because of this practice, these groups of boys are constantly exposed to danger as they run the risk of being run over.”

Tabanda said the Children’s Welfare and Protection Code of Baguio City (Ord. 74, series of 2009) provided mechanisms to protect the children from circumstances which gravely threaten or endanger their survival and normal development.

She said the city police should coordinate with the OCSWADO which is the lead agency in the implementation of programs and services that cater to the needs of children needing special intervention.

The said offices were also asked to submit a report on any action conducted on said concern.

Mayor Mauricio Domogan through the Alay sa Kalinisan last year called for the investigation of the activities of said children hailing taxicabs for passengers for a fee which was suspected to be part of the activities of a syndicate.

Coordination was eventually done with the parents of said children resulting to the temporary stoppage of the activity. But the children went back to the streets eventually.