Filipino Cab Driver Gets Surprise of a Lifetime For One Simple Act of Honesty

January 24, 2017

An honest taxi driver from the Philippines received a humbling reward after simply returning the belongings of his foreign passenger.

Thirty-year-old taxi Reggie Cabututan is a taxi driver from Baguio City, Philippines. Although he is originally from La Union, which is more than an hour away from Baguio, he travels to the tourist destination everyday as a cab driver in order to support his wife and four children.

According to ABS CBN News, the taxi driver dropped off Trent Shields, an Australian businessman who seemed to be in a hurry to get to the Calle Uno building in Baguio on January 17.

Thirty minutes after being dropped off, Shields realized that he forgot his bag in the cab with valuables in it worth about $20,000. Unfortunately for him, the only thing he could remember about his ride was that it was a “white” car.

But just as Shields, together with his friend Ace Estrada II, president of BPO training company Vivixx Academy, were about to leave to file a report at the police station, a familiar taxi pulled in.

“All I did was go back and return [Shields’] belongings when I realized he left them at the back seat of the taxi cab,” said Cabututan.

The honest cabbie drove back to when he dropped Shields to give the Australian what he forgot inside his vehicle.

As a reward for his honesty, the taxi driver was given a certificate of commendation by the government of Baguio on Monday and another unexpected surprise that could possibly be the start of a new and rewarding career for him, Inquirer noted.

Cabututan was awarded a certificate of scholarship by Vivixx Academy and Coder Factory Academy of Australia roughly worth around $4,400 for a Coding Boot Camp taking place in June.

The scholarship will eventually lead to an internship at an Australian company and if all turns out great, it could land him a job with a starting salary of $34,000.

The honest taxi driver’s full story was narrated by Estrada via Facebook where he wrote:

“Mr. Reggie Cabututan, driver of Dustin Brant Taxi, you are the finest of your tribe. I have never felt more proud to be Filipino than today.”

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