GMA News reporter Saleema Rafran did not have to go too far to tell the struggles of people being insulted because of their weight.
On January 10, Saleema recalled her encounter with an Angkas rider while doing the story about the new weight policy.
Saleema said she was simply reporting on Angkas’ new policy which requires passengers to indicate their weight in compliance with government guidelines on motorcycle safety when the rider started to body shame her.
“Mataba, overweight, and obese,” these were the words used by the driver against her and even wanted to use her as an example of why smaller bikes cannot take bigger passengers.
The driver kept on laughing too about her weight.
“Opo, mataba ako pero hindi ako dapat pagtawanan. I have no issue with the policy as it is meant to partner passengers with riders using bigger bikes,” she told the driver.
Saleema stated that she has been struggling with her weight for the longest time.
“Pero hindi ko nga naman pwede sabihin kay kuya na I lost nearly 50lbs in the last 2 years. Only eating twice even once a day. Limiting my carbs. Going to the gym every week,” she added.
“May mga tao talaga kukutyain because they think being fat is a laughing matter,” she explained.
Saleema reminded riders not to insult the passengers because of their weight.
“‘Wag niyo naman po pagtawanan. Tao rin po kami.,” she added.
She said that the driver apologized for the incident but decided to interview other riders.
“Di ko na ininterview si Kuya. Mababait at matitino po ang mga rider na na-interview ko after,” she said.
