Gerardo Amolato Maquidato Jr., a
His death was brought to the public’s attention by his nephew, Rex Mer Solitario, through Facebook on Saturday morning, according to CNN Philippines.
“We mourn for the needless and untimely death of one of our best driver-partners, Mr. Gerardo Amolato Maquidato Jr. Grab is one with authorities in making sure that justice will be served and perpetrators will be put behind bars,” the ride-hailing and logistics services company wrote in its statement released on Saturday.
According to the police report, Maquidato was killed at 7:50 p.m. on Thursday. Witnesses at the scene of the crime reportedly heard a gunshot and saw a man being pushed outside of a Toyota Innova car that was driving along Bonanza Street in Pasay City, Manila.
In Grab’s statement, it was believed that the suspects who killed Maquidato also ran off with the victim’s silver Innova.
Maquidato’s heartwarming act of kindness went viral last year when Filipina netizen Divine Lactao Ornum shared the experience on her Facebook account in August, which received over 92,000 reactions and 16,000 shares on social media.
In her post, Ornum said that he picked her sister up who was out picking up the bags of blood that will be used for her dialysis. On their way, Maquidato noticed that Ornum’s sister was clearly ill and in a not so good condition. But despite all that, she still has a smile on her face as she joyfully sang along the tunes on the radio.
Her determination and jolly nature despite her illness brought joy inside Maquidato’s heart. So instead of charging them, he gave the woman a free ride out kindness.
One year later, Maquidato was recognized by the company as one of its driver awardees, CNN Philippines reported.
Featured images via Facebook / Rex Mer Solitario
