Passenger gets discriminated for his religion, sexuality by ride-hailing driver: 'Masaya ka sa maling pamumuhay?'
Ride-sharing services aim to provide comfort and security for passengers, but that was not the case for a JoyRide passenger who experienced discrimination for his religion and sexuality by his driver.
On TikTok, Kim Ezekiel shared a recording of his "uncomfortable" experience with his driver who he had booked to attend a graduation ceremony that he was running late for.
In the video, Ezekiel, who was in feminine clothing and makeup, captioned the post, "I'm calling out JoyRide for this driver, making me uncomfy the whole trip just because I'm being myself."
In the clip, the driver was interrogating whether he was "happy" about his "wrong lifestyle."
"Masaya ka sa ganyan? Masaya ka? Masaya ka? Sa maling pamumuhay?" the driver asked. "Alam mo ang tama at mali. Masaya ka?"
Visibly disturbed at the question, Ezekiel was forced to answer, "Hindi po."
"Hindi ka pwedeng iligtas ng Diyos kung ayaw mo. Be honest lang. Binabalik kita sa normal," the driver said before telling Ezekiel, "I'm not condemning you. Ako'y walang karapatang humusga dahil kung alam mo lang ang buhay ko, masahol pa ako sa'yo."
"Hindi ka Niya pwedeng tanggapin. Kahit ako hindi ako pwedeng tanggapin kung 'di ako aamin ng kasalanan ko," he continued. "Pero tandaan mo, ang buhay ay isa lang. Sa judgment day, kapag hindi ka tumalima kay Hesus, kasama ako."
@pvtoseko i booked a Joyride taxi kaninang umaga to attend and event kasi late na ako, and this happened. I'm kinda offended sa mga sinasabi nya, first is tinanong nya ako if I'm reading the bible and sabi ko "No po kasi muslim both parents ko" and he replied "e ikaw ano ka?" I'm really not sharing my real info sa ganong bagay kaya sabi ko "hindi ko po alam" and then eto na nangyare, pinagbasa nya rin ako ng bible even tho sinabi ko sakanya na my parents was muslim. #fyp ♬ original sound - IG:izzy.kiell
PhilSTAR L!fe reached out to Ezekiel to know more about what led to this conversation with his driver. According to him, as soon as he entered the car, the man asked him if he was going to attend an event somewhere.
"Akala ko normal conversation lang siya until tinanong niya kung ano religion ko. Sabi ko both of my parents are Muslims and ang response niya, 'Eh ikaw, ano ka?'" he recounted.
"Hindi ako pala-share ng info sa strangers basta basta, so ang sinabi ko po is 'Hindi ko po alam.' Then tinanong niya if nagbabasa po ako ng Bible, then sumagot po ako nicely, 'Hindi po kasi Muslim po parents ko, Qur'an po yung Bible namin,'" he continued.
It was at this point that Ezekiel started to record their conversation as he was beginning to get uncomfortable with the driver's inquiries about his lifestyle.
"Pinapamukha niya talaga sa'kin na may mali sa ginagawa ko just because I'm expressing myself. May part na tinanong nya ako, 'Lalaki ka ba or babae?' And hindi ko po sinagot agad kasi it's so awkward to answer that kasi naka-makeup and nakaayos ako as feminine pero sa pang third na question na sumagot na ako, 'Lalaki po,' and ang response niya 'Oh alam mo pala eh,'" Ezekiel said.
"Hindi ko na-video 'yung part na 'yun kasi I thought bababa na ako kaso hindi pa pala, binasbasan niya ako before bumaba," he shared.
In a statement sent to L!fe regarding the incident, JoyRide Philippines said that they had dealt with the driver and deactivated him from the JoyRide Superapp platform after an internal investigation.
"JoyRide Philippines strongly condemns the act of one of our JoyRide Car Driver-Partners in connection with a complaint of one JoyRide Car passenger regarding gender identity and sexual orientation," the ride-hailing and delivery service stated.
They stressed that they do not "condone nor tolerate such unprofessional, inappropriate and insensitive actuations of our JoyRide Car Driver-Partner," they added.
According to the company, the driver has also issued his own personal apology letter to Ezekiel for the incident
"We assure the riding public, particularly the LGBTQIA+ community that JoyRide continues to support and respect their rights and beliefs and shall render the same kind of quality and efficient service that JoyRide has been known for to all," they underscored.