Erring taxi drivers may soon find themselves unemployed as the Association of Taxi Operators in Panay (ATOP) will evaluate all their members amid recent crime incidents involving them.

ATOP president Perfecto Yap said part of the recommendation made after their dialogue with Iloilo City Police Office director Marrieto Valerio is the establishment of a general clearing house for ATOP members to evaluate their members.

Yap noted that every company member of the ATOP recognizes the importance of having a clear system of hiring their personnel because those who have crime records also put their companies' names in bad light.

"We will look into this problem involving our drivers," he said.

He also added that prior to the meeting with ATOP members today, they already conducted individual consultation with the members.

Yap said part of the normal process of hiring drivers is requiring records of the applicants such as clearances from the barangay, Philippine National Police and National Bureau of Investigation to check their criminal records.

With the recent signing of the memorandum of agreement with the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), Yap said driver applicants are also required to submit PDEA clearance and to have regular drug tests.

If found to have criminal records, Yap said drivers should already be blacklisted.

Meanwhile, Yap asked the support of the Land Transportation Office (LTO) and the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) in ensuring the safety of the riding public.

Yap noted that LTO should be involved in giving disciplinary action for erring drivers while the LTFRB should provide the basic information about the drivers.

Among the drivers tagged as accomplice in the recent robbery case in the city were William Cordova and Raymund Ngirngir.

Cordova was tagged as an alleged accomplice of the four suspects who robbed Steel Gold Construction Supply in Molo district on November 12 while Ngirngir, president of the Iloilo United Taxi Drivers Association was tagged in the King's Oil robbery case in Pavia, Iloilo.*