Diva Divo Drivers

Celerium John is gone. He quit because he had a tampuhan with Pentium V Tony.

Friday night he told me “Ay mam, wala ako bukas Sinabi ko na kay Tony, sya ang duty bukas”.
Me——- Ang alam ko dyan two weeks ago pa nagfile ng leave si Tony dahil may lakad sya bukas.
John—– Hindi mam, nag-usap kami kanina, siya raw ang papasok bukas.
Me——- Wala syang sinabi na ganun, siguraduhin mo lang.

When we got home, I texted Tony, and true enough, the college graduate tony responded
Tony—— Mam, I am leave tomorrow will bring my mother to———–

I messaged John to tell him that Tony would be on leave the next day as he had planned.
So nagtampuhan na sila, nagsisihian kung sino ang sinungaling.

John——- Mam, hindi na ho ako papasok, ayaw ko ng makatrabaho si Tony, sinungaling sya.

Last Thursday, I interviewed a driver applicant named Jovany, nicknamed Ching. Mukhang mabait naman, magalang, his previous employers the past 5 years were Korean expats. He had nice stories a la Robin Padilla about how he averted a planned robbery of the armored vehicle he’s driving that time at the entrance of Robinsons in Malate. According to me, he noticed two motorcycles with one passenger each, making signals to two men on the ground standing in front of the armored vehicle. Jovany said got off the armored van, got the M16 rifle and guns for his fellow guards, wore his jacket, and positioned himself at the entrance of the bank teller who collected money from the stores.

Naisip ko, hoholdapin na sila, nagsuot pa sya ng jacket. Hindi naman ito bullet proof.
When I looked at his biodata, I asked the agency, “Sinong nag-fill-up ng bio data nya”
Jovany answered “Ako mam”. He wrote down Sex__________ “Female”.

Jovany has a 45 caliber gun, trained in combat, siblings are in the military and police, etc. He’s not female.

Anyway, Jovany drove for me last friday so I could observe his driving. Parang okay naman although he almost hit an oncoming black Mercedez Benz inside the village because he was running in the middle of the road. Bigla nyang kinabig ang manubela to the right to avoid the Benz, he almost hit a parked BMW car. He apologized.

Drivers who worked as bodyguards or back-up drivers have that driving style, they stay in between lanes para walang makaovertake sa kanila, for security reasons. Kaya lang maiinis yung mga kasunod at kasalubong.

I told him to come back the following monday, officially his first day of work. The employment agency who brought him came last tuesday afternoon for the contract and fees. We paid 20% of Jovany’s one month salary to them aside from the agency fees, etc. Jovany’s 20% is his payment to the agency for helping him find an employer.

Last tuesday we went to Binondo. When we came home that night, the maids said he didn’t want to eat and wanted to speak to me. He was carrying his clothes when I went down to the garage.
Aalis na daw sya. Reason? He didn’t want the other guy telling him what to do, where to go. Kasi while he was driving to Binondo, Tony kept on saying, ikanan mo dyan, ikaliwa mo, diretso, bakit dyan ka dadaan, etc. Nakulitan.
I explained to him that Tony had good intentions, and I would tell Tony not to do that anymore.

I told Tony not to be a front seat driver to Jovany at nakukulitan sa kanya. Nagtampo naman si Tony, “Mam, I will extend my leave, I want to rest”.
Me———— What dates? So I know the schedules.
Tony———- I don’t know dates.
Me———– Kailangan sure yung dates. do you want to file an indefinite leave of absence?
He never replied.

Back to Jovany, he complained nag-abono daw sya sa pagkain nya. I gave him P200 extra for his food that day. I apologized if the maids forgot to give him lunch.
Ibinalik nya yung mga damit nya ulit sa kwarto.
He’s sensitive, so 6 pm pa lang I always made sure that he had money for his supper. I always asked him kung kumain na sya.

Yesterday afternoon while I was on my way to Robinsons Magnolia to attend a cocktails event, he told me “Mam, sino ba ang magpapasweldo sa akin? SAbi nung babae dun, wala daw pa kayong inuutos.
He’s supposed to receive his salary next week pa kasi nga we paid the agency his 20% advance. I explained to him but I told him I would give him half so he would have some money. I offered to give him half of what he’s expecting.

Last night, when we got home, he told me I should pay him a flat rate for 7 whole days and not only for the days he’s worked. I said, “bakit kita suswelduhan nung sabado at linggo? eh lunes ka lang nagsimula?”
The other fellows were alertly watching us. Siguro to defend me if ever Jovany grabbed me. Mabait naman si Jovany, sensitive lang.
Anyway, he left last night. I offered to give him money, ayaw nya kasi gusto nyo swelduhan ko sya ng 7 days buo. Nagmamadali syang umalis, I distributed very nice men’s clothes from Edmund’s and Nyke’s donation box. Clothes that were still generally new and some were unused. Sayang.

I’ve been thinking, was I at fault? I should just have given him what he was expecting. But the other guys would know and they would expect the same thing. They would expect to be paid for the days that they weren’t here either.