POLICE on Tuesday cleared the last three known passengers of a Grab taxi driver who was killed while on the job.
The three, all air-conditioning technicians, appeared before authorities and denied their involvement in the killing of Gerardo Maquidato Jr., said Supt. Gene Licud, Pasay police deputy chief for operations.
Surveillance footage also showed the three getting Last… off Maquidato’s Toyota Innova, Licud told dzMM radio.
“For now we can say they are negative for the incident,” he said.
Licud made his statement even as Senator Grace Poe on Tuesday reiterated her support for the plan to institutionalize in the system of Transportation Network Vehicle Service additional security measures that would help verify the identity of passengers, especially those contracting ride-hailing services at night.
“This should be done with the understanding that the information would be kept confidential,” said Poe, head of the Senate committee on public services.
As her committee drafts the law on app-based riding services, Poe said, they would take into account and include provisions that will not just ensure the safety of the riders but the drivers as well.
Poe said it was lamentable that in the past months, the TNVS community had become the target of lawless elements who victimize its driver-partners.
Licud earlier said the three passengers, who were tagged as persons of interest, booked a ride with Maquidato Jr. in San Juan on Thursday but did not get off at their supposed destination in Pasay.
Police were still investigating one to three other persons of interest, Licud said.
Maquidato’s car remains missing.
Maquidato’s death exposed the threat of criminals who prey on ride-sharing drivers by posing as passengers. Grab alone has recorded at least four robbery incidents this year and offered P100,000 for information on Maquidato’s case.
Maquidato case went viral last year after he rushed a sick passenger for free. The act of kindness also earned him recognition as one of Grab’s best driver-partners.