It’s a trick of the trade, yes, but can’t these thugs be more subtle? Like, why don’t they just step on the gas pedal and take me for a ride (pun intended) rather than ask me with a question that rubs in the fact that Manila’s geography is simply beyond the promdi me.
Taxi drivers are stereotyped as wily, and stereotypes are called stereotypes because they carry with them a degree of truth. This is the reason why every time I go to Manila, I get a taxi that makes me pay a fixed amount at the airport. It’s way too expensive, true, but at least you don’t have the gnawing feeling that the taxi driver is fleecing you by driving in circles before heading for you destination.
This doesn't happen in Davao, which makes me love Davao with a passion. Taxi drivers in Davao ask their passengers only one question, Where to?, and then they drive away. Just like that!
Another thing: On the taxi’s dashboard is written a hotline---I was told that the number is actually Mayor Duterte’s---that passengers can call should the driver give them a raw deal. I don't care if it's just a psy-war, what matters is that it works.
On my return trip to Tago via Davao last Monday, I was again pleasantly surprised. As I was about to get inside the taxi, the security guard handed me a sheet of paper. At first I thought I needed to pay something, but when I looked at it, this was what I saw:

Now, that’s what good governance is all about. No wonder Davao has an ever increasing rate of tourist arrival.