It was noon on EDSA and the traffic was moving at a snail’s pace. Everyone was nervous, especially the motorists who had been soaking in the sun for a while. In the midst of this chaos, an ambulance honked. It was screaming, asking for a way out, but it was so crowded and there was no way to get through.

Inside the ambulance was five-year-old Mik-mik, who was dying from a severe asthma attack. With him was his mother, Aling Nena, who was almost unconscious from crying. “Hurry up! My child can’t breathe anymore!” Aling Nena shouted to the ambulance driver, Caloy. Caloy had just started work and was clearly panicking about the situation. He didn’t know which lane to turn into because everything was full.

Not far away, stood Mang Berting, a veteran traffic enforcer known for being strict. When he saw the ambulance stuck between the buses, he immediately whistled loudly and blocked the middle of the road.

Everyone thought he would clear the way. But the onlookers were shocked when Mang Berting signaled the ambulance to stop.

“What is that! It’s an emergency!” shouted a jeepney driver.

“That enforcer has no heart! The passenger is dying, he even stopped him!” shouted a bus passenger who immediately took out his cellphone to video the incident. He intended to post it on social media to embarrass the enforcer.

Mang Berting approached the driver’s side of the ambulance. Caloy angrily opened the window. “Sir! This is an emergency! My patient is going to die!”

Instead of answering or issuing a ticket, Mang Berting suddenly opened the driver’s door. “Get out of there!” he shouted.

Caloy and Aling Nena were shocked. “What are you doing?! Are you going to kill my child?!” Aling Nena shouted from behind. The people around started honking and cursing at Mang Berting. They thought it was just power-tripping.

Mang Berting pulled Caloy out of the driver’s seat. Out of shock and fear, Caloy followed and moved to the passenger seat. Mang Berting immediately climbed on the steering wheel. “Hold on tight!” he shouted.

Instead of going straight to EDSA where the traffic was going, Mang Berting suddenly swerved the ambulance to the right, into a small and dark alley that seemed like the vehicle wouldn’t fit.

“This is wrong! We’re going to St. Luke’s! Why are we going into the courtyard?!” Caloy shouted.

Mang Berting didn’t answer. He drove the ambulance through the crowded residential area. He knew every bend, every hump, and every corner. They almost crashed into parked tricycles a few times, but Mang Berting was a great driver. He looked like an action star driving in a movie.

The people in the video that went viral were furious in the comments section. “Take that guy out of service!” “The Philippines is hopeless because of people like him!” They didn’t know what was happening inside the ambulance.

“We’re almost there, mom! Don’t let go, kid!” Mang Berting shouted as he looked in the rearview mirror. He saw Mik-mik turning black.

They exited through a gate that not many people knew was open. Suddenly, they appeared at the back of the hospital, away from the traffic of the main entrance. Less than ten minutes after he grabbed the steering wheel, they were in front of the Emergency Room.

The nurses and doctors immediately rushed Mik-mik. Aling Nena sat on the floor, shaking and crying. Caloy, on the other hand, was still stunned by the speed of the incident.

Mang Berting got out of the ambulance, adjusted his uniform, and walked away quietly to return to his post on EDSA. He didn’t wait for a thank you.

An hour later, the doctor came out. “Wife, your son is safe. If you had been five minutes late, he might not have made it. You brought him in so quickly.”

That’s when Aling Nena came to her senses. She looked for the enforcer but he was gone.

Page: SAY – Story Around You | Original story

The next day, the news was all over the news about the “Abusive Enforcer” who had hijacked the ambulance. He was summoned to the municipal office to be fired. Mang Berting appeared before the Mayor, ready to be fired. He didn’t have a video to defend himself.

But before he could be fired, the office door suddenly opened. Aling Nena entered with Caloy.

“Don’t fire him!” Aling Nena shouted. “He saved my child!”

Caloy explained everything. “Mayor, I am a novice. If it weren’t for him, we would have been stuck in traffic on EDSA. He knows the shortcut that no one else does. He is the hero, not a criminal.”

The hospital’s CCTV was also shown where Mang Berting was seen carrying the child to the ER before leaving.

The wind changed on social media. Those who were angry apologized. Everyone learned that Mang Berting was a former ambulance driver.

river before becoming an enforcer, so he took every twist and turn in the city lightly and knew how precious every second was.

Aling Nena hugged Mang Berting. “Thank you. I thought you were bad, but you are the angel God sent to us.”

The old enforcer burst into tears. “That’s just my job, Mrs. As long as the child is safe, I’m fine.”

From then on, whenever people saw Mang Berting on the street, they no longer greeted him with angry honks, but with waves of respect and gratitude.