VIRAL: Driver goes berserk after kid throws up in his cab

Manuel posted the cab’s license plate. Photo via her Facebook.
Manuel posted the cab’s license plate. Photo via her Facebook.

Looks like someone needs some anger management.

Last Friday, a Facebook user by the name of Stein Manuel wrote an experience that would make anyone think twice about taking a cab. Manuel and her family said they were subjected to a series of abusive comments by their cab driver, who thought that her child threw up all over the back seat of his car.

Manuel said the incident occurred on the evening of July 19, past 6pm. She, her sister, and her 4-year-old child took a cab from Shopwise in Cubao, Quezon City to go home to Antipolo.

Her Facebook post has gone viral, with more than 37,300 shares as of today.

Stein Manuel’s post part 1
Stein Manuel’s post part 2

Before accepting their trip, the driver asked them for an additional PHP100 (US$1.87) which Manuel and her sister agreed to.

In the Philippines, cab drivers are not allowed to choose their passengers and neither are they allowed to ask for more than what is specified in the meter. Still, many drivers still do both those things.

“When we arrived in Marikina, my child said he was feeling nauseous, so I asked the driver if we could open the window for a bit because my child would feel better if he gets some fresh air,” wrote Manuel on Facebook.

The request angered the driver, who reportedly said: “That’s what I was thinking. When I saw you guys with a child, I didn’t want to accept you. I drove around the whole day and I didn’t accept anyone with kids.”

Manuel wrote that the driver kept talking and that he was increasingly becoming hostile.

Her child started to feel that he/she was about to throw up, so Manuel and her sister decided to use a plastic bag as a barf bag, making the driver furious.

She wrote: “My child did not throw up in the seats but the driver kept ranting non-stop and he even started cussing.”

Manuel then told the driver to stop screaming. What happened next made Manuel and her family terrified.

“He (the driver) suddenly screamed. We were so surprised that my child held on to me. He wanted to drop us off in the middle of the road in spite of the downpour and he wanted us to pay the amount on the meter,” she wrote.

Naturally, she didn’t want to pay the cab driver because they were still far from home.

Manuel managed to shoot a video of their exchange with the driver. It showed the man who was visibly angry, saying in Filipino: “We will not fight. We will separate. Don’t pay me the additional PHP100 (US$1.87), just pay the meter.”

When they refused,  he said, “Don’t f*ck with me. I’m paying for gasoline. Don’t quarrel with me. I’m the one who will have a hard time. After you threw up there, and you just said ‘sorry.'”

After they insisted that the seats were left clean, the driver continued, “Don’t scream at me! In my experience, no one cleaned my taxi! It’s my right to tell you that! Let’s separate here if I don’t have the right [to tell you that]. It’s my cab.”

When he was told that there was a child on board, he said: “I don’t care. That’s not my child!”

This did not sit well with netizens who saw Manuel’s post.

The terrifying exchange pretty much confirmed Rose Acero’s beliefs about cab drivers.

She wrote: “A lot of cab drivers are really like that. That’s why I prefer to take the jeepney. I hope you get what’s due to you and that driver is given a lesson.”

Merlie Carlos asked: “Don’t you have a child, Mr. Driver?”

Christina Kluska said the driver’s license should be “revoke[d].”

Ato Hibaler wrote: “His license should be revoked. He doesn’t know how to respect passengers. People are asking you Land Transportation Office to do something.”

Coconuts Manila got in touch with Manuel for more details about the incident, but she has not replied as of this writing.

Have you had any similar experiences? Tell us in the comments below or by tweeting @CoconutsManila.



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