At the hotel where I usually spend the night in Manila (before, and hopefully again after the coronavirus disease 2019 or Covid-19 crisis), a Grab is booked if I ask for a taxi. It is by no means an indication that it is a discount hotel, but Grab is simply considered as the best “taxi solution.”

Grab is a big Far Eastern competitor to Uber, and if I insist, I can get the hotel staff to find a taxi on the street, but it’s challenging and a long wait, as Manila is a busy metropolitan area. It is possible to call the taxi company, though it never really led to getting hold of a taxi. It is simply easier to book a car on Grab’s app, that is built on the same principles as the Uber app, with a submission of the pick up address and final the destination, after which, the price appears on the screen for approval — now investors will probably soon also have to order Grab for their stock portfolio, which is quite interesting, and perhaps in that connection, a healthy discussion arises about what a tech stock really is.

Premium + Digital Edition

Ad-free access


P 80 per month
(billed annually at P 960)
  • Unlimited ad-free access to website articles
  • Limited offer: Subscribe today and get digital edition access for free (accessible with up to 3 devices)

TRY FREE FOR 14 DAYS
See details
See details