Mad at bus driver, traffic aide throws own shirt, helmet, bike

Screen grab from YouTube

MANILA, Philippines—On a busy street in Calamba City, a traffic enforcer took off his shirt, threw his helmet, and pushed his motorcycle to the ground.

It wasn’t for a show.

Melchor Caballes of the Calamba City Traffic Management Office went berserk after bus driver Rolando Fadrigalan refused to surrender his driver’s license and be slapped with a fine for traffic obstruction.

The incident was caught on an amateur video taken on August 18 and uploaded on video-sharing site YouTube. It has since been going viral on social networking sites.

Caballes, already half-naked, was ordering the driver to get off the bus. Fadrigalan refused.

Then expletives flew.

“Pu _ _ng-ina mo a,” the agitated Caballes shouted.

“Pu _ _ng-ina mo rin. G_ go ka,” Fadrigalan, who remained in the driver’s seat, yelled back.

Caballes then headed for the bus’s door and nervous passengers could be heard frantically telling Fadrigalan, “Close the door! Close the door!”

Finally a man arrived, who Fadrigalan said is a police officer. He was in civilian clothes. “Off-duty, maybe,” a passenger surmised.

“Anong nangyari (What happened)?” the policeman asked Fadrigalan who finally got off his bus.

Fadrigalan replied: “E ayan ho nanggugulo. May sira yata ‘yan e (He’s making trouble. Maybe there’s something wrong with his head).”

“Ang yabang-yabang e. Pinipilit akong tiketan ay nasa tabi ako (He’s so arrogant. He insisted on issuing me a ticket but I’m just staying at the side),” he added.

“Bakit ka tinitiketan (Why are you being given a citation ticket)?” the policeman asked.

“Ay awan ko naman d’yan (I really don’t know),” Fadrigalan replied, adding the traffic enforcer wanted to get his driver’s license.

Fadrigalan was then seen getting near Caballes.

“Ay amoy alak ‘yan o (Oh he’s reeking of liquor),” Fadrigalan said of the traffic enforcer.

A passenger quipped: “Baka kulang ang pang-inom n’ya (Maybe he needs more liquor money).”

“Isumbong mo kay Tulfo (Tell it to Tulfo),” his companion inside the bus said. They burst into laughter.

Later, Caballes gathered everything he had tossed. He put on his shirt, wore his helmet and picked up his motorbike.

Then he sped away.

Originally posted: 4:08 pm | Sunday, August 26th, 2012