On my way home on December 23 I saw thousands of people helplessly waiting for rides. Some were carrying electric fans, tampipi, siguro they would bring those home to the province. Some have boxes of grocery items. May mga labit-labit. Syempre pasalubong, regalo, dahil pasko.
Some probably have given up the long wait. They were slumped on the sidewalk. I’ve seen some lying down on the pavement but they were dressed nicely. Hindi sila taong kalye.
They all looked weary, worried, confused. How would they reach their destination in time for Christmas?
I just couldn’t sit comfortably in my van and do nothing. I myself felt weary, sad, helpless. I wanted to do something but what and how?
Some were craning their necks trying to see if there’s another bus coming. Meron but no more available seats. People were hanging by the estribo.
I just couldn’t take it anymore. I just opened my door and offered a free ride. I took the risk na baka dumugin ako ng tao. Tapos ako ang mawalan ng upuan. Maiwan ako.
There was a couple with a baby, they were first. They said they were going to Guiginto, Bulacan.
There were two women with a girl, probably 5 years old.
There was a lola with two children in tow but unfortunately my van could only accommodate four extra people, eh nauna na sa loob yung 4. There was no more seat unless I give up mine. Believe it, it actually crossed my mind. Naawa talaga ako but there’s no more space. I apologized to her “pasensya na po, hindi na ho kasya”.
I had to close the door because more people noticed that I was giving a free ride. Baka magkagulo, ako ay maitulak at maiwan ako sa bangketa.
My van has lesser seats because Edmund had it reconfigured. He replaced the bench seats that could supposedly accommodate 10 more px, to have 4 bucket seats that fully recline. Para kasi for the four of us. Kaso pag merong dagdag na sakay, hindi na kasya.
The two women with a young girl were supposedly attending a Christmas party somewhere in Greenhills. They were meeting up with her sister.
The sister kept calling asking for their whereabouts.
Woman——“Alas dos nga kami umalis sa Taguig. Kanina pa kami walang masakyan, may nagmagandang loob nga lang, traffic nga.
Maya-maya the sister was calling again.
Woman——“Traffic nga, hindi tumatakbo. Hindi mo naman sinabi na dapat kahapon pa kami umalis sa Taguig”.
I told the mom of this baby that she was lucky, meron na syang free ride, meron pa syang free yaya. Her baby was so behaved, hindi nangingilala. She didn’t cry. I wanted to offer to the parents to leave her with me na lang while they travel to Bulacan.
I forgot her name.
I got off at Rustan’s in Shang while my driver dropped the two women and one girl at Robinson’s Galleria, while the couple with a baby got off at the corner of EDSA and White Plains Avenue. They would walk to Cubao hopefully to catch a bus to Bulacan. That’s tough.
An efficient, comfortable, reliable public transportation is a MUST. This must be of utmost priority. It breaks my heart to see hapless individuals queuing up for hours at the MRT station, people waiting for bus rides. We Filipinos deserve to have a life better than this.
That was really nice of you. It’s hard to find people like you these days who would go out of their way to help people. God bless!!!
Thank you Andy.
So generous and kind of u to give them free rides.. God bless ur kind and generous heart, Ms Annie.. 😉
Thank you Pam. See you on Thursday at 7 pm.
Bless your heart Miss Annie. One of my early childhood recollections were of me and my mother standing in the dark in the pouring rain somewhere along Crossing in Edsa waiting for a passenger jeepney bound for Pasig. A car stopped, opened its doors and gave us a free ride home. I will never forget that stranger’s gesture of kindness towards my mother and I. I must had been 7 or 8 yrs old at the time.