Making rounds on social media are photos of what they call a “garden taxi.”
The taxi is filled with flowers (though artificial), which make the car look like a garden driven around the metro.
The photos posted by Clarisse come with the following story.
BEWARE!
Sigurado akong sa mga segundo na binabasa mo ang mga salitang ‘to (kasama ng pahapyaw mong tingin sa mga larawan) e may judgment ka na agad na naiisip. Yes, beware. This post might change your mind sa kung paano mo tingnan ang mga taxi drivers.
Background: Last week, nataga ako ng isang taxi driver papuntang SM Aura. Oo na, tanga na. I know. Kaya prior to this experience, may nega vibes ako pagcommute by taxi.
Meet Kuya Richard Bulaclac. Driver ng kaisa-isang garden taxi sa Metro Manila. Pagsakay ko pa lang, napa-whoa na ako sa loob ng taxi n’ya. Flowers, although plastic, pero sa isang umaga na galing ka sa LRT at apat na oras lang ang tulog, malaking bagay na ito ang sasalubong sa’yo. “Flowers? Okay, cool. So what?” Yep, medyo nasabi ko rin ‘yan. Until he told me his story.
I’m going to do this in bullet form dahil alam kong malapit ka na mabore sa pagbabasa. Lol
*Mag-isa lang s’ya sa Manila at ang pamilya n’ya nasa Davao.
*Pinag-aaral n’ya ang tatlo n’yang anak. Dalawang engineering students, isang high school student.
*Nakapagbalik na s’ya ng cellphone sa pasahero. At laptop. At pera worth 10 thousand pesos.
*Once, may tinulungan s’yang pamilya na makauwi ng Tarlac. Hinatid n’ya sa istasyon ng bus. Sagot n’ya pati tickets nila.
*Nalaman kong nangongolekta sya sa mga karenderyang kinakainan n’ya ng recyclable materials and ginagawa n’yang wallets para ibenta sa mga pasahero n’ya para may extra s’yang kita. Sabi n’ya, “Maniningil ako ng doble sa pasaherong inosente para sa extrang kita? Hindi na ako taxi driver no’n. Magnanakaw na ako. Na may taxi.” (Preaaach manong!)
*Nag-ooffer s’ya ng LIBRENG SAKAY every first at last Mondays ng buwan sa unang pasahero n’ya. Oo, libreng sakay to anywhere. (Habang tinatype ko ‘to hindi pa rin ako makapaniwala na ginagawa n’ya ‘yon regularly)
Na-feature na s’ya once sa isang blog and sa Saksi. But I felt that’s not enough. Kailangan malaman ng maraming tao ang kwento n’ya. Sa bansang umaapaw ng kontrobersya, at malapit nang maubusan ng tiwala ang lahat sa lahat, someone is trying to change the game. Kulang ang espasyo dito para ipaalam sa inyo kung gaano ka-inspiring ang buhay n’ya.
Nagtratrabaho ako sa isang kompanyang inaasahan ng lahat na magsabi ng katotohanan. But sa panahon kasi ngayon, we all have this idea na ang katotohanan, madalas, masamang bagay. Truth always hurt. Truth is exposing bad realities. Pero hindi laging gano’n. ‘Yan ang narealize ko ngayong araw.
Yes, ang page-exist ni Kuya Richard ay hindi makakapagalis ng problema ng bansa, ng mga masasamang tao sa mundo, pero hindi masamang itabi natin sa isang bahagi ng utak natin ang kwento ng mga katulad n’ya. Para sa mga araw na bugnot tayo sa mundo, wala tayong tulog, dinedma tayo ng iniirog natin, natalo team mo sa PBA, may isang katotohanan na magpapa-alala sa’tin na everything is not yet hopeless. Na uso pa rin gumawa ng mabuti sa kapwa.
Hindi ako nagdalawang isip na ipost ‘to. Nadadalian ako mag-share ng mga nakakatawang videos or pictures, magposts ng fictions, and I don’t think letting people know about him and his wonderful tale is a hard thing to do.
Sanay tayo sa “Beware! Walang pusong driver!” “Beware! Maraming holdaper d’yan” “Beware! Kuta ng snatcher ‘yan!”
This time around, I say, “Be aware! Sa Maynila, may gumagalang mabuting puso.”
Feel free to also share this post para malaman din ng mga friends n’yo ang kwento n’ya.
PS
His Facebook account was hacked and someone posted indecent things (probably para siraan sya) He told me hindi s’ya marunong mag-login sa kahit na anong social media sites kahit magbrowse sa net.
A few important points about the taxi and the driver:
Meet Kuya Richard Bulaclac. He is the driver of the only garden taxi in Metro Manila. When I got in the taxi, I said “whoa!”. Flowers, although plastic, but on a morning coming from LRT and only having four hours of sleep, it’s a big deal if something like this greets you. “Flowers? Okay, cool. So what?” I also told myself that until he told me his story.
I’m going to do this in bullet form so you won’t get bored reading.
– He lives alone in Manila and his family is in Davao.
– He supports the studies of his three children: two engineering students and one high school student.
– He returned a cellphone before to a passenger. And laptop. And money worth PhP 10,000.
– Once, he helped a family go home to Tarlac. He brought them to the bus station and even paid for their tickets.
– I found out that he collects recyclable materials from places he eats and makes them into wallets so he can sell them to his passengers for extra income. He said, “Why would I charge double to an innocent passenger for extra money? That doesn’t make me a taxi driver. That makes me a thief, with a taxi.”
– He offers free ride every first and last Monday to his first passenger.
Awesome, right?
Have you taken a ride on this garden taxi?
How was it?
Share your experiences with us!
