KORONADAL CITY (MindaNews / 26 March) – A young businesswoman in South Cotabato is gaining admiration for giving out free gasoline to hundreds of tricycle and habal-habal (motorcycle taxi) drivers in the towns of Surallah and T’boli amid the skyrocketing fuel prices due to the Middle East war.
Rice trader Christine Mae Meekers has gone viral for her kindness, which benefited at least 300 drivers in the two upper valley towns of South Cotabato.
Each driver received two free liters of gasoline out of her heart’s kindness.
Last March 20, Meekers announced in a Facebook post that she would be giving out free gasoline the next day for 100 drivers each in Surallah and T’boli towns, out of compassion for the added hardships brought about by skyrocketing gasoline prices.
More than two hundred drivers turned out in two gasoline stations but Meekers did not turn them away. Three hundred seventeen drivers ended up getting free fuel with gasoline prices in the area costing between P84 to P86 per liter.
“Thank you so much for the blessings, Lord! Hindi kuni ma himo kung hindi tungod sa imo (I would not have done this if not for you),” she wrote in a post accompanied by a video at 7:51 p.m. on March 21.
The post has generated 5.9k reactions, 481 comments, 578 shares and 175k views as of 11:09 a.m. Thursday.
Meekers said helping others in dire situations has been part of their business’s social responsibility.
Netizens hailed Meekers for her generosity.
“Nakaka bilib talaga sa hirap ng buhay ngayon may mabubuting puso na handang tumulong sa kapwa. God bless you more and more,” Facebook user Nene Dally commented.
In an interview with Max FM Surallah, the rice trader said that public utility drivers are among the worst hit by the fuel price increases, noting that her “heart bleeds for them.”
“Just continue the diligence. Almost everybody is trying to be diligent these days. The situation now really bites with the high cost of fuel,” she said in Ilonggo.
The fuel price surge was triggered by the air strikes launched by the United States and Israel against Iran last February 28.
The war in the Middle East continues to rage, impacting the transport of fuel products to states sourcing their supplies from the region.
Last Tuesday, March 24, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. declared a state of national energy emergency.
On Wednesday, he signed Republic Act 12316, which authorizes him to suspend or reduce excise tax on petroleum products. (Bong S. Sarmiento / MindaNews)
