My throat is parched from holding my annoyance at the taxi driver who charged me P100 from the centennial airport to the Cebu Pacific terminal. It is a short and traffic-free distance but Manila taxi drivers being that they are, have no concept of proximity.

I had the driver flag down the meter. He spoke to me in English and, upon reaching the domestic terminal, gave me directions on where to cross and queue without being asked. He couldn’t place my origin when I spoke to him in my Cebuano-intoned Tagalog because a 7:30 a.m. Davao-Manila flight has made me look more Chinese than Filipino. When I got off, the meter read P42.50. I never got any change for my P100.

And so here I am at the domestic airport thinking about what I would have paid if I were physically handicapped or at least 60 years old and riding an aircon taxi in Davao.

In Davao, differently abled passengers get P12.50 off from their taxi fare and senior citizens get 20 per cent discount. This is one privilege I wish single people who are completely abled get before they reach 60.

In Cebu, other than getting seated beside the driver, the differently abled or the senior citizen pays the full amount on the meter. In Manila, the driver collects more than what is registered, whether the passenger has only one leg or is Dolphy-old.

On our way from the Davao airport to the hotel where I usually stay, I asked the taxi driver how the discount is granted since a handicap may not be always visible. He said the discount lies in the beholder. If the driver doesn’t see any disability, then the passenger pays the full fare. And for the senior citizen, it’s no ID, no 20.

And the discount is given only if he’s a solo passenger. If he has a companion, the full fare is collected. But if he is riding with someone below 15 years old, he gets the discount. And if the passenger doesn’t ask for it, none is given and the driver doesn’t insist.

I told the driver that if I run short of money for taxi fare, I would just have to cut off a leg or an arm so I could pay less. He brought me to my hotel in no time and gave me my full change.

I don’t know if he had the interpretation of the Senior Citizens Act and the Magna Carta for Disabled Persons right. My apologies but I haven’t read these laws in their entirety so for all I know, he could be correct.

I couldn’t invoke either of these laws to the Manila taxi driver. I am not anywhere near 60 and except for the recurring back pains that I have two doctors treat somewhat expensively, I am as abled as any eathlete in training.

And so these thoughts on taxis run through my head as I wait for the boarding call. The early morning flight from Davao has made my thirst unquenchable and I’ve already spent P100 on bottled water.

In Davao, people have no qualms about drinking tap water. There is no water station at the Sun.Star Davao newsroom. Editor-in-chief Stella Estremera says this is because everyone drinks water from the tap and it’s the one in the CR.

“You can’t do that in Cebu,” she said. I couldn’t challenge her on that.