Miracles in Ka Marlon’s life, a GrabTaxi driver’s tale

May 26, 2018 Headlines

He was the shortest among the six Baguio delegates that were sent to the first ever Grab Drivers’ Academy on June 2016 at Grab’s Manila office. He was even mischievously called by his colleagues as “bunso” because of his height. But for Marlon Almodovar or Ka Marlon, height does not matter. What is important to him is his dedication to his family, profession and to his church.
Standing just five foot and two inches, the 58-year old driver started driving taxis in Baguio City as a full-time profession way back in the late 70s. Since then, this has provided him with the livelihood to support his growing family. His wife Juliet, a real estate agent, manages the Almodovar household.
His only son Rex (33) is a skilled auto mechanic and now works for a private company in Kuwait. Her daughter Marjoy (30) is working as an engineer for a company located at Cavite EPZA while her other daughter Roma (27) is also fully employed at a manufacturing company in Baguio City. All his three children are still single. For Ka Marlon, among his life’s rewards is to see his children become successful in their chosen careers.
But this was not the case when Marlon started his family. Initially living in a one-bedroom shanty with rickety old woods as walls and located at the heart of Baguio City back in 1984, the newly married Marlon and Juliet painfully tried to make both ends meet. He was a young taxi driver while his better half was a full-time housewife.
Their simple abode was standing in a lot not owned by them. They paid no rent because they were appointed as a caretaker of the said property. The original owner is based in the US and only goes home to Baguio from time to time. A prayerful man, Marlon considered this as a blessing and a miracle for him and his family back then. Another miracle happened in year 2010 when the owner officially awarded them a modest 40 square meters of the 300-square meter lot.
Being a taxi driver is no safe job. Way back in March 2000, Marlon nearly lost his life to three armed robbers who held him up. After intentionally hitting his taxi at a nearby wall, he engaged the robbers in a scuffle inside the vehicle. One suspect fired his gun directed at his head but he escaped unscathed when he opened the door on the driver side and let his body fall to the ground. He vividly remembered that he saw the bullet grazed past near his head but acknowledges God for saving him from certain death. He attributed this as another miracle of his life.
In 2007, his children asked him to stop driving taxis and just take things a bit easier but instead of enjoying his rest, he developed a mild stroke that left half of his body paralyzed. Then another miracle happened. After several months in this condition, he was able to move normally again and the symptoms of the stroke disappeared just like that.
And the miracles did not stop there. He considers joining Grab back in June 2015 as another form of a miracle. He said Grab made it easier for him to fulfill his dream of building his own house a bit faster. He already has a piece of lot but his hut is still a crudely built one as the income of a regular taxi driver is barely enough to sustain a family and extra money is hard to come by.
Since joining Grab, he is earning enough extra cash and incentives to allow him to buy the various house parts on a piece by piece basis. In fact, two of the doors on the second floor and several other construction materials came from cash incentives given by Grab. Being a consistent top driver allowed him to qualify for the various awards and incentives. This keeps him motivated to continue to pick-up Grab passengers and provide them with exceptional service.
He has amassed numerous certificates of commendation from Grab indicating he is always hitting the target rides per month. This persistence and determination also allowed him to be included as one of the six Grab Baguio drivers to be invited in the first Drivers’ Academy held at Manila back in June 2016. He considers this as an experience of a lifetime because he was able to meet other Grab drivers and learn new knowledge as well.
“Driving and life are both adventures that we must enjoy,” Marlon said.
Looking back he summed up all the blessings that he received. Inspiring his family to dream and achieve more and allowed him to become a better husband to his wife and a better father to his kids. Persistence in his work allowed his passengers to be more comfortable during the ride and allowed his fellow taxi drivers to respect him and emulate what he does. And dedication to his church allowed him to become a better servant of God, volunteering tirelessly to spread the good news of the Holy Bible. This has definitely changed the future of the people he came in contact with and further improved how Grab operates in the City of Pines, one Grab driver at a time. ROBERTO I. BELDA, PR / ABN