Like in Manila, there are a lot of cabs in Davao City. But Davao City is one of those places where you’ll see two types of cabs, aircon and non-aircon.

From what I have seen so far, there are 3 major taxi companies here: Holiday. Mabuhay, and Maligay (i’ll update this as soon as i get the verified info).

There are more non-air cabs. Their flag down rate is P26.00 and adds P1.00 every click of the meter. There are a lot of them here coz its cheaper than aircon cabs. But come 2009 (or is it 2008?), all non-air cabs shall be banned from the streets of Davao. This is a common knowledge of all cab drivers. So i guess we won’t be seeing demonstrations in the street saying that drivers and operators were not informed.

With lesser aircon cabs, you’ll mostly see them lined up at the Airport, hotels, malls, and gimmick destinations here in Davao. Flag down rate is P30.00 then adds P2.50 every click of the meter. When thinking of riding an aircon cab, I suggest you choose a chevy.. A chevy a taxi? YUP! You read it right.. a Chevrolet Aveo 5 is being used here as a taxi. Other nice model cars are the Kia Rio and Toyota Avanza (few).

And as you probably know, Davao is one of the safest cities here in the country. And yes, its safe to ride a cab here, unlike in Manila, where you’ll read or hear bad experiences while riding a cab. I have my share of bad memories starting from hailing a cab and when disembarking.

I haven’t experienced any problem when riding a cab- yet. All cab drivers have ID’s here. I heard that the City Mayor is hands-on when giving out ID’s to cab drivers. And people also know that the City Mayor gets furious over bad cab drivers. That’s why they behave.. or else! I haven’t experienced a case of “contracting passengers” either – where the cab driver will tell you a fixed amount for the ride and not use the taxi meter.

I hail a cab, i get in, tell where i am going. Simple.

Oh, its only here Davao where I experienced this… cab drivers giving exact change! And they’re even willing to charge you for less than the amount on the meter if they don’t have any coins! But i always give a tip. 10-20 pesos. My dad was once a cab driver. So i know how hard it is to earn money from driving a cab.

Another thing, cab drivers in Davao would say “Thank you” even if you give them a P1.00 tip. Its not the exxage thank you – yah know like the feeling that he could have received a P5.00 instead.

One negative remark: Cab driver hygiene. Most cab drivers (for non-air cabs) have bad odor. Maybe local government can give them a monthly supply of alcohol or cologne? Either free or discounted price.

Anyways, you can call the following numbers for your cab needs:

Holiday – 300.71.71
Mabuhay – 235.17.84 / 234.13.60
Maligaya – 299.11.11, 296.13.91/92

If you are using your cellphone, add 082 first before the number.

Tell the operator where you will be picked up and also what type of cab you want, air or non-air (short for non airconditioned).

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I forgot to mention, there are a number of cabs which uses LPG instead of the normal diesel or unleaded gasoline. If you ride one of these cabs, you would likely to smell like a walking LPG tank.