A ranking government official is threatening to press charges against an Uber driver who allegedly harassed his daughter during a ride in Quezon City.
Assistant Secretary Rommel Abesamis of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) vented his anger in a press conference on Friday, a day after his 20-year-old daughter鈥檚 alleged ordeal.
According to Abesamis, he booked his daughter with Uber around 1 p.m. on Thursday and she was later picked up by a silver Mitsubishi Mirage along Mindanao Avenue. Both he and his daughter, however, could only identify the driver as 鈥淛uanito.鈥�
Too personal
Later that afternoon, Abesamis said, his daughter complained to him that the driver kept asking her questions and 鈥済ot too personal鈥� during the ride.
Juanito, he said, asked about her family and where she studies, and even wondered if he could apply as their family driver, all while munching peanuts and offering her some.
鈥淗e also asked my daughter out on a movie (date) and told her that a beauty like her should make a lot of babies,鈥� Abesamis told reporters.
Abesamis said that should he fail to get Uber鈥檚 鈥渃ooperation鈥� on the matter, he would ask the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) to revoke the franchise it granted to the transport network company.
Joining Abesamis in the press briefing, Ariel Inton, a former LTFRB board member and founder of the group Lawyers for Commuters鈥� Safety and Protection, said that when Abesamis managed to contact Juanito on Thursday afternoon, the driver already apologized for what he did.
Driver changes tone
But when a son of Abesamis called the driver again on Friday, the driver changed his tone, threatened to 鈥渃onfront鈥� them and even challenged them to sue him.
Inton said they would ask the Land Transportation Office to revoke the driver鈥檚 license聽 and also the LTFRB to check if the driver met the requirements to operate as an Uber partner.
They would also file criminal charges against the driver for violating a Quezon City ordinance against harassing women, he added.
Inton said this was the 10th complaint he had encountered concerning an Uber driver.