Many Dumaguete tricycle drivers are arrogant. They don’t even look at you to say they won’t take you to where you are going–they simply press on the gas and go their own way. They overcharge passengers. They violate traffic rules and are the cause of traffic congestion in Dumaguete City.
The list could go on and on. But it certainly is a breath of fresh air to read of the story of Miller Rio Janayan.
Janayan, driver of tricycle no. 1026, returned a cellular phone which he found in his tricycle last Thursday. As it turned out, the Blackberry cellphone was owned by a top official of the National Historical Commission of the Philippines who was visiting Dumaguete City. The owner was so happy that before leaving back for Manila last Friday, she left a P1,000 reward for the honest driver.
What Janayan accomplished by impulsively returning the expensive phone was to show that there are gentle people among the ranks of Dumaguete’s tricycle drivers, whose honesty and goodness come naturally.
Janayan also made a good impression for Dumaguete City in the eyes of a visitor from Manila, who would definitely have nothing but good stories to tell of the honest people she met in her short stay in our City.
Mayor Manuel Sagarbarria, on the other hand, said that by that singular deed, Janayan proved that ordinary people are capable of doing extraordinary deeds for the betterment of society.
Yes, Dumaguete is a better place because Miller Rio Janayan is one of its 2,500 tricycle drivers. Don’t you wish all tricyle drives were like him?