‘IT WAS YOU’ MMDA traffic constable Ronald Perez covers his face as he points an accusing finger at cab driver Ramon Talan during their confrontation at the LTFRB main office in Quezon City on Tuesday. Talan, however, insists that authorities summoned the wrong driver. GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE
‘‘I BEGGED you to stop.’’
This was how traffic constable Ronald Perez recalled his encounter with a taxi driver who suddenly drove off and bumped him after being flagged down for a violation.
The next scene was virtually a clip from an action film: Perez ended up clinging onto the vehicle’s hood, holding on for dear life as the cab went zigzagging, apparently to throw him off. When Perez eventually lost his grip and fell on the pavement, the cab ran over his left foot.
His dangerous “stunt” caught on camera, Perez became the latest traffic constable to be assaulted by motorists defying or bullying the civilian personnel of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA).
The incident happened around 6:20 a.m. on Monday on the westbound lane of the Commonwealth Avenue flyover (going to Philcoa) in Quezon City. It was recorded by an MMDA street camera and allegedly involved a white taxi cab with license plate TXW-775.
But when summoned by the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board on Tuesday, cab driver Ramon Talan of Joannian Transport Inc. maintained that the LTFRB got the wrong man.
Talan insisted he was not driving his cab in Quezon City at the time. He said he left the taxi garage in Marikina City at 5:30 a.m. and his first passenger asked to be brought to Shaw Boulevard in Mandaluyong City.
Also appearing at the LTFRB, Lyn Calindas, liaison officer of Joannian Transport, explained that the company had a unit with plate TXW-775 but that it was a Nissan Sentra—not a Toyota, as shown in the video.
Calindas said it was possible that the cab encountered by Perez had a “kambal-plaka”—a duplicate or fake plate.
Still, the LTFRB ordered the operator of Joannian Transport to explain why its franchise should not be canceled since one of its drivers allegedly committed reckless driving.
Board member Ariel Inton said the passenger of the cab involved in the incident would soon surface to shed light on what happened. A hearing is set for March 15.
Despite Talan’s denial and alibi, Perez said he and his fellow MMDA personnel could never be wrong. ‘’I begged you to stop,’’ he told Talan during their confrontation at the LTFRB.
Perez said he and three other constables were trying to accost Talan for suddenly “cutting into the lane ” approaching the flyover.
But instead of stopping as Perez blocked its path, the cab accelerated and it was too late for him to get out of the way.
The vehicle kept going after throwing off Perez, who had to be carried after injuring his leg.