MMDA chief: Not true we impounded Uber car

MANILA, Philippines–The chief of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA), who earlier expressed support for the mobile car-booking service Uber, strongly denied reports that his people had impounded a vehicle hired through the company’s app.

MMDA chair Francis Tolentino said the Twitter posts about the supposed apprehension, coming from a certain Sean Dalawampu, were not true. He stressed that he had not given any instruction to go after Uber cars for being “colorum” or for operating illegally as public transport.

“I think there is someone who is just spreading rumors on social media to destroy the agency, but we deny that vehemently,” Tolentino said Sunday on MMDA’s weekly radio program.

Meanwhile, Uber Manila operations and logistics manager Mikel Wigel-Canete also maintained that none of its vehicles had been apprehended and impounded by MMDA men for being colorum.

The tweets claimed that a Mitsubishi Mirage carrying Dalawampu was flagged down by two MMDA traffic marshals for a red light violation at the intersection of Edsa and Ayala Avenue in Makati City around 1 a.m. Saturday.

When one of the MMDA marshals found out that it was an Uber vehicle, he told the driver that he had impounded similar vehicles earlier for being colorum, he said. “I don’t know what they talked about since the enforcer asked the driver to step out. Driver just told me it would get impounded,” Dalawampu said on his Twitter posts, which included replies to the MMDA account.

He said there were two enforcers who flagged down the vehicle and one was referred to as “hepe” (chief).

Asked by the MMDA via Twitter if there was any violation receipt issued, Dalawampu said he could not tell because he got off the vehicle and left as the driver and the marshals talked. He also couldn’t remember the vehicle’s plate number.

The MMDA chief on Thursday urged the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) to find ways to “reasonably assist” Uber instead of cracking down on its operations for being a supposed conduit for colorum vehicles.

This was a day after the LTFRB, acting on a complaint from legitimate taxi operators, entrapped an Uber driver in Quezon City, seized his license and vehicle, and penalized him with a P200,000 fine for servicing a paying rider without a franchise.

Expressing disappointment, Uber general manager for Southeast Asia and Australia Mike Brown said his company was determined to challenge “outdated regulations” and noted the Filipinos’ demand for “safe, reliable and convenient transportation options.”

But LTFRB chair Winston Ginez maintained that the apprehension of colorum Uber vehicles would continue, saying the government “would not have any way of protecting individuals” who use vehicles not registered with the board.

Ginez also noted that other car-booking services using mobile apps—Easy Taxi and Grab a Taxi—offer franchised cabs, and that his agency was open to a dialogue with Uber on the ways it could operate “within the bounds of the law.”