27/05/2026
The discourse around transport regulation is missing the most critical element: the drivers themselves.
We are seeing a cycle where regulators punish operators for 'viral' incidents, but this does nothing to solve the underlying problem. These incidents are almost exclusively caused by individuals—drivers—who have been conditioned by years of lax enforcement in the legacy transport system. When a company tries to discipline or fire an erring driver, that driver simply jumps to another operator. Because there is no centralized, government-monitored 'blacklisting' or performance record, these drivers continue their bad habits indefinitely.
Operators are being forced to play the role of 'traffic enforcer,' but we lack the legal authority to prevent these individuals from moving to our competitors. If the government truly wants to clean up the industry, they need to stop targeting the company names and start targeting the driver’s license.
We need a national, digitized record of driver conduct that follows the drivers, not the taxi. Until a driver’s history—including their record of overcharging, refusals, and violations—is permanently tied to their professional license, firing them from one company is just a 'reset' button for their bad behavior.
It’s time for the government to take the wheel on driver discipline, rather than leaving it to operators who have no real tools to stop the revolving door.
Three Green GSM incidents triggered national regulatory escalation within months.
Meanwhile, Metro Manila commuters experience daily violations from incumbent operators that rarely generate the same enforcement velocity.
The story is no longer just about one EV taxi operator.
It is about how Philippine transport regulation responds faster to viral visibility than to statistical risk.
The bigger signal is now structural:
new entrants absorb scrutiny immediately, while incumbents operate inside systems built around permanence.
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