On Monday, University of the Philippines Los Baños graduate Glaidale Hibaya shared a photo of the dashboard of her father’s cab, which displays her graduation picture. She narrated her father’s recent encounter with a passenger who failed to pay the P400 fare after being driven to Alabang in Muntinlupa City.
Hibaya wrote, “Naabutan ko si daddy na kakauwi lang mula sa 15 hours na pasada. Nagkuwento siya na ‘yong isa niyang pasahero na nagpahatid pa sa Alabang na may metrong pumatak ng 400php ay hindi nagbayad. Yung reason? Wala raw pambayad eh.” (I came upon my father who had just come home from his 15-hour driving duty. He told me that a passenger he had driven to Alabang and whose metered fare reached 400 pesos did not pay. The reason? The passenger said he had no money.)
In the end, her father, Marcos Hibaya, 52, a cab driver for 25 years, had no choice but to leave without being paid, noting that her father believes in “good and bad karma”. His father, who victimized several times by previous passengers. gave an answer that left Hibaya hurt and exasperated.
“Pero yung pinaka nagtrigger sa akin kung bakit ko pinost ito ay nung sinabi ng daddy ko na ganun talaga eh, mababa kasi tingin nila [mga pasahero] samin[g] [mga taxi drayber] (But what triggered me to post this was what my father said, ‘That’s how it is, passengers look down at taxi drivers like us’).”
Hibaya said that P400 may be a small amount for well-off Filipinos, but that for her and her father, it is already huge.
“Yes, maliit na halaga para sa [i]ilan pero malaki na ‘yun para sa tulad naming hindi ganun kagaanan ang buhay. Sana naisip yun nung pasaherong ‘yun (Yes, it is a small amount for some, but for the less financially endowed people like us, that is big. I hope that passenger thought of that),” she said.
Moreover, she also recalled her father’s sacrifices to finance her studies.
She said, “Iyang naka-sablay sa larawan, ako ‘yan. Nilagay ‘yan ng tatay ko d’yan para naman daw mas ma-inspire pa sya magtrabaho. Para maalala niya na dahil sa paghahatid niya ng mga pasahero, may napatapos siya sa kolehiyo. (That one wearing a graduation sash in the photo is me. My father placed it there to be inspired at work and remember that by driving passengers, he was able to let his child finish college.)
After what happened to his father, Hibaya stressed that commuters should be more responsible and be held accountable for their actions.
“Sana maging responsableng commuters tayo (I hope we will be responsible passengers),” she added. “Hindi lang basta nagmamaneho at nag-aaksaya ng gasolina yang mga tsuper na yan mga besh. May mga pamilya yang binubuhay. May kinabukasan yang pilit na itinataguyod. (These drivers are not driving to waste time and gasoline. They have families to support and a future to build.)
With 26,000 likes and 3,400 shares as of Friday, Hibaya admitted that she never expected to be popular on social media for her heartwarming story. She said in an interview, “I honestly did not expect nag-vaviral yung post ko kasi iilan lang naman din yung FB friends ko. Pero ayun, doon ko na-prove how powerful social media is (I honestly did not expect that my post will be viral because I have only a few friends on Facebook. But because of this, I proved how powerful social media is.) Gianna Francesca Catolico
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