A Commuter Promised a Habal-Habal Rider P400, But Only Paid Him P150 When He Got Home. Who's the Asshole?

Commuter horror stories in the city are a dime-a-dozen, especially during the holidays. Maybe it’s you or someone you know, but getting from one point in the city to another is extra difficult when public transport isn’t always reliable, there’s a very limited supply of ride-sharing cars and motorcycles, and you’re competing with hundreds, even thousands of other commuters. Add unpredictable weather and hellish traffic and you’ve got the recipe for total chaos out on the roads. 

On Reddit, a user posted a transport-related question that’s gotten vitriolic responses. User extrasensory_11 said it happened to a friend of his who wanted to get home from SM North EDSA in Quezon City and had been trying to book a ride for hours.

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“Pauwi galing ng SM North yung friend ko,” the OP said. “Ilang oras siyang naghintay pero wala daw talaga siyang ma book. What he did was he approached yung mga Habal na Angkas Riders. Ang singil sa kanya was almost 3x ng fare doon sa Angkas at Joyride. Since halos 3 hours na yata siyang naghihintay, pinatulan niya na. Nasa P150 yata ang fare, pero P400 ang singil sa kanya. Nag-agree sila at nag proceed.

According to extrasensory_11, when his friend got home, he only paid the rider P150, which was the original price on the app.

“What he did was, he intimidated the Rider,” the OP said. “Hindi naman makapalag si Rider kasi nasa lugar siya ni Friend at may nag-iinuman pang mga kakilala niya. Pinagsesermunan niya raw yung Rider, told him na gahaman sila, mga mapagsamantala, at kung anu ano pa., minura then, pinalayas niya pagkatapos.”

OP’s friend tried to rationalize the situation by saying the rider was being too greedy and that, because Angkas is not getting a share of the fare, the entire P150 would’ve gone to the rider anyway.

OP, who insisted that it wasn’t him in the story because he was too cowardly and non-confrontational, then asked the r/Philippines community if he thought his friend was the asshole for what he did. The responses he got, as expected, were varied and passionate. 

“Kupal yung friend mo, he already agreed to pay P400 tapos babayaran nya ng 150,” said one commenter. “I agree mapagmantala yung Habal, but they could haggle and meet in between. Kung nagbayad sya ng 300 instead of 400 maybe I could've sided with your friend. Pero I'm rooting for the rider in this case. Walang palabra de honor yang friend mo.”

“Pareho sila mali pero i’m rooting for your friend,” said another. “Kupal ng mga habal habal. Taking advantage na.”

“Dapat matakot yang "friend" mong kupal kasi alam ng rider address niya, if incase gusto siya balikan ng rider at gripuhan goodluck nalang talaga sa friend mong walang isang salita.”

“Everyone's an asshole in the story, pero mas malaki asshole ni tropa mo. ehhrmm malaking asshole.”

“GAGO ANG KAIBIGAN MO,” said one user emphatically. “The rider may have taken advantage but there's always a proper way to handling things like this. Hindi 'yong ipapahiya mo sya just because alam mong may backup ka. Duwag moves. (Just) because you can you should.”

“I'm for your friend, pero degrading the person is unnecessary,” said one other user. “Pwede niyang sabihin lang na 150 lang naman talaga, at buong 150 na yung kanya, be reasonable lang. Pero still rooting for your friend.”

“Definitely, they had an upfront agreement sa price,” said one levelheaded user. “While sobrang mapanlamang nung singil, what your friend could've done was haggle and siguro dagdagan na lang ng 50 yung 150. Hindi yung papayag na lang with the hopes na maintimidate yung rider later. Minura pa at pinagsasabihan ng kung ano ano, eh siya yung pumayag sa 400. Sana kinausap na lang yung rider at tinawaran kung ayaw talagang magbayad ng malaki. What you pay for isn't always what you get, even sa hospitality industry may mga overpriced foods and menu but you can't complain if you agreed to pay for it.”

Last month, Metro Manila’s public transportation system was ranked one of the worst in the world by the 2022 Urban Mobility Readiness Index, a joint study conducted by think tank Oliver Wyman Forum and the University of California. Of 60 cities included in the rankings based on the quality of the public transit systems and factors such as commute speed, affordability, and waiting time, the Philippine capital ranked 58th in urban mobility readiness, 48th in Sustainable Mobility, and 56th in Public Transit. 

"Several modes of transportation are available in Manila, including jeepneys and some metro lines,” the study said. “Linkages to active mobility are provided by permissive transit rules towards bikes, as well as significant cycling infrastructure. Despite these multimodal strengths, Manila's public transit system has room for improvement in speed, wait times, station density and affordability.”

What do you think?

Read the entire Reddit thread here: