I salute and praise the municipal government of Cainta, Rizal,—where I once lived in a bungalow—led by its good Mayor Johnielle Keith Nieto, for giving cash and lot rewards to Jecenth Mateo, that braveheart biker who for a once-damsel-in-distress in uniform he came to the rescue.
As netizens would care to remember, Mateo, an endangered species to me—was a fellow on his way to work as a ‘lowly’ laborer, when he chanced upon that incident where an accosted motorist on motorbike knocked down a female traffic enforcer.
The motorist, a nocturnal agent of call center, desperately wanted to evade a possible issuance of violation ticket so after the enforcer simply ignored him when he introduced himself as a police officer, he deemed it proper to bump and run her over.
Jecenth Mateo, no home to call his own, became a knight in shining armor though in rusty bike I suppose. He abandoned that bike in quick abandon and ran towards the fleeing motorist like a chasing goose. And the rest is history. One that is exemplary.
Giving of due reward to a heroic act should be an important policy and practice by a local government. This way, the heroism naturally present in every man, but buried by indifference, would come to life again.
I am sorry but I felt guilty and ashamed upon my very first viewing of this viral video about the incident. Why? It’s because my first reaction was I nearly called Mateo stupid for leaving his bike along the pavement.
I thought if Salisi Gang is lightning-quick to grab an opportunity even when witnesses abound, how much more if valuables like that modest bike are left behind by the owner who went around?
This only goes to show that heroes are sometimes not found in those who have vast powers and resources, but in simple and ordinary creatures who also struggle so much in their daily lives to make both ends meet.
They are they who’re willing to risk life and limbs further, and bike furthermore, in aid of total strangers in dire need of succor. Knowing that giving total strangers a helping hand anytime is becoming someone Whom Jesus explained as that stranger’s neighbor (Luke 10:25-37).
That miserable man referred to by Jesus Christ Himself who was waylaid on his way to Jericho and had been left half-dead received compassion and aid. But those things came neither from the Levite nor the priest, men of cloth and religious belief who in helping others were supposed to be taking the lead. Of all people, the needed help came from a Samaritan though, an inferior group who were at loggerheads with a Jew.
The Lord wanted to convey a message, that, to help, just help, especially if we perceived that someone would really need it. As the Scriptures have said, “Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thine hand to do it” (Proverbs 3:27).
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