Commuter’s Ordinary Bus Ride Turns Into a Modern-Day Bayanihan Experience

MANILA, Philippines- A bus passenger didn’t expect that her ordinary afternoon commute from Taguig to San Pedro, Laguna will become one of her most memorable experiences in riding a bus.

Veron Mendoza shared her one-of-a-kind experience through a lengthy Facebook post.

Apparently, one of her fellow passengers unexpectedly gave birth inside the bus. Instead of causing chaos in the commuter bus, Mendoza was surprised to see her fellow passengers come together to help the woman.

With the help of a passenger nurse, the baby was safely delivered inside the moving bus.

Moreover, other passengers did their part to help the woman.

“The driver started to honk the horn to signal that we’re having an emergency. Passengers including me, gave kuya driver (bus conductor) directions to Asian Hospital. Passenger mommies had this brilliant thought to use the curtain in the bus as blanket to cover the pregnant woman, while delivering. Passenger fathers initiated to help kuya kundoktor (bus conductor). Never would i imagine in a real emergency pala Tatays (fathers) could use their voices as a Siren,” Mendoza wrote on her Facebook account.

When they reached Asian Hospital, doctors came to assist the woman and her newborn baby.

The heartwarming post has gone viral amassing almost 1,000 shares on Facebook.

Here’s the full story.


An ancient Filipino folk virtue, bayanihan  refers to the cooperative spirit of Filipino neighbors carrying a bahay kubo or nipa hut to a new location.

In an article by Manila Bulletin, bayanihan in modern day setting was described as the “selfless outpouring of community spirit by Filipinos, as a nation or as a people, to respond by giving financial or material assistance, or extend service to those in need without expecting anything in exchange.”

Through Presidential Proclamation No. 138, s. 1999, May 27 every year was declared as a national day to commemorate and propagate the bayanihan spirit.

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