Voices from the frontline: The volunteer driver giving free rides to stranded medical workers

He doesn’t have to wake up this early.

Hardly anyone does anymore, really. In this world usurped by COVID-19, what used to be a worker’s fantasy – to stay home and never have to come to work for an indefinite period of time – is now a government-mandated policy, with life-threatening consequences if you choose to defy it.

This parallel universe that looks a lot like ours, but is nothing like it anymore, has taken an employee’s innocent daydream and transformed it into its vilest form. All we used to wish for was a break, instead what we got was a full stop, engines off. Now trapped in a twisted version of our dream, we long to work again, not for the toil but for the food it brings to the table.

He doesn’t have to, but Deo chooses to wake up early and face this world everyday. Like all of us, his world has stopped turning. But every night, he sets the alarm earlier than most of us ever had. And every morning before dawn, he gets up, puts on his mask, and drives.
Deo gets up because hidden in the dark streets, there are other people who are awake, too, and needing help as they proceed – on foot – to the center of the fight against COVID-19.

He is one of many citizens who have volunteered to drive stranded health workers to work and back home.

“Although may mga ruta naman yung mga bus, at saka yung mga truck, malayo pa rin yun sa kung saan sila nanggagaling,” Deo says, explaining the need for drivers that emerged quite organically. “Kung EDSA man ang ruta, it will still take them an hour to actually get to EDSA. Yung maliliit na ruta, hindi nadadaanan. Problema pa rin nila paano pupunta mula sa bahay nila hanggang doon sa pickup point.

“Nandoon din yung marami sila sa isang istasyon. Dahil sa social distancing, limited lang ang capacity ng isang truck o bus, hindi naman sila maisakay lahat.”

Because of this gap, citizens got together on Facebook and formed groups of volunteer drivers offering free rides to health workers who choose to go to work in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Naghahanap ako kung saan kaya ako pwedeng mag-contribute sa mga panahon na ‘to,” says Deo. “Mayro’n lang isang group na gumawa ng Facebook page, nagtanong lang na, Uy, baka may gustong mag-volunteer dyan, mayroong mga nurses na stranded sa ganitong lugar, may mga nurses na hindi makauwi kasi walang masakyan.”

Realizing he had a car, money for fuel, and a lot of time on his hands, Deo signed up as a volunteer driver.

“Magre-reply ka doon sa Facebook message, sasabihing Ako, pwede ako, saan sila pupunta? And then magtetext na kayo, at commitment niyo na yun sa isa’t isa.”

This short story takes us inside Deo’s car as he shuttles hero-strangers across the city. The camera — mounted on his dashboard — does not interrupt their conversation, and instead listens in on what goes through different healthworkers’ minds as they go risk their life for yet another day. Their simple conversations reveal the much larger issues of safety, family, fear and dedication. The air of uncertainty is palpable as well.