MetroBriefs

Taxi operator fined after driver kept overcharging

A TAXI unit was suspended by the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) because of the driver’s repeated failure to comply with the P10 provisional reduction in the flag-down rate. In a decision dated May 5, the LTFRB imposed a P10,000 fine on Babes Corpin, the operator of a BCBP Transport taxi (TXV 140), whose operation was also suspended for 30 days. The LTFRB also asked the Land Transportation Office to suspend the license of the driver, who was not identified in the order. Corpin did not attend attend the hearing called by the agency despite a notification. Board member Ariel Inton said the LTFRB, which encourages commuters to file complaints, had ruled on several cases of overcharging taxi drivers who did not deduct P10 from the total metered fare. In March, the LTFRB made permanent the P10 rollback on the taxi flag down rate, but the order was later deferred following protests from taxi groups who filed motions for reconsideration. Erika Sauler

Caloocan hospital patient falls to death

A 74-YEAR-OLD woman confined at a Caloocan City hospital died apparently after falling from the building’s fourth floor on Saturday morning, her family members told the police. The fatality was identified as Irma Cecilia Cruz, a resident of Malabon City and a pneumonia patient who was admitted to Manila Central University Hospital on May 5. According to her son, Eugene, Cruz went missing in her room around 4:30 a.m. after his brother Benjamin who was supposed to watch over her fell asleep. When Benjamin looked out the window, a lifeless Cruz was found lying face down on the roof one floor below. The family ruled out the possibility that Cruz committed suicide since she was neither depressed nor mentally disturbed. “We brought our mother to the hospital for her get well, but look at what happened,” Eugene told the Inquirer, noting that the hospital’s railings appeared “too low and unsafe even for children.” The ongoing investigation has taken note of a security camera footage showing Cruz leaving her hospital room around 4 a.m., according to SPO2 Frederick Manansala, the officer on the case. Senior Supt. Bartolome Bustamante, chief of the Caloocan City police, said the hospital may be held liable for negligence if investigators arrive at such findings. John Christian R. Alvariño