Mauled cabbie won’t file case vs TV host

Daniel Marsh and taxi driver Edward Villanueva reconciling in Wanted sa Radyo. Photo from Lionheartv.net

Daniel Marsh and taxi driver Edward Villanueva reconciling in Wanted sa Radyo.Photo from Lionheartv.net



By ELLEN TORDESILLAS, VERA Files

The taxi driver mauled by a TV5 host has decided not to press charges after the latter apologized.

TJ Ballega Villanueva, son of cabbie Edward Villanueva, 49, of World Taxi, said his father and Irish-Filipino Daniel Marsh, one of the hosts of TV5’s documentary-style reality show “Juan Direction,” met on Monday at Raffy Tulfo’s “Wanted sa Radyo” program.

The young Villanueva said in a text message that they went to TV 5 on Monday after the network asked them to give a statement.

“Sa ‘Wanted sa Radyo,’ humarap po sa amin si Daniel. On air o ay hindi siya totally nag-sorry kay Papa, pero off- the- air po ay niyakap at naghingi ng ‘Sorry’ kay Papa. Humingi din po siya ng paumanhin sa akin bilang anak ni Papa sa ginawa niya (In ‘Wanted sa Radyo’ Daniel faced us. On air, he did not exactly say ‘sorry’ to my father, but off-the–air, he embraced my father and apologized. He also apologized to me for what he did).”

After guesting in ‘Wanted sa Radyo,’TJ posted in Facebook that the family, on the advice of friends and the church, decided not to file a case against Marsh and to leave everything to God.

TJ said his father is a lay minister in their parish church.

“Hindi po makayanan na nag lilingkod po sya sasimbahan at nag bibigay communion sa mga tao na meron syang kalaban (It would be incompatible for one who serves God and give communion),” his post read.

The Villanuevas also decided not to seek payment for damages Marsh caused to the vehicle “to prove that we are not after money as he earlier alleged.”

“We just hope that Daniel learned a lesson from the incident,” TJ said.

The younger Villanueva said they learned that Marsh’s father is in the hospital.

“Isa din po akong anak at isa din pong ama ang Papa ko kaya hindi namin kayang matiis na makita ang tatay na may sakit at mawawalan pa ng trabaho ang anak (I’m a son as well and my Papa is a father. We can’t bear it to see his father sick and he losing his job),” he said.

The older Villanueva said Marsh mauled him and kicked his cab in front of the Tivoli Garden Residences in Mandaluyong at a little past 5 a.m on July 23 after he insisted that the TV host pay the P78.50 fare registered in the taximeter.

Villanueva said Marsh claimed to have lost his wallet at the Prive Club at the Fort Taguig, where he had flagged down the cab, and wanted the ride to be free.

Marsh also reportedly threw P100 at the taxi driver after the mauling.

Marsh said in an TV interview, however, that Villanueva was charging him P500.

When the Villanuevas first sought the help of TV5, they were allegedly told to just file a case in court.

(VERA Files is put out by veteran journalists taking a deeper look at current issues. Vera is Latin for “true.”)

TV host mauls taxi driver; no money for P78 fare


By Ellen T. Tordesillas, VERA Files

Daniel Marsh

Daniel Marsh

A TV show host, who said he had no money to pay the P78.50 fare, mauled a taxi driver Wednesday morning in front of a Mandaluyong condominium.

Cabbie Edward Villanueva, 49, of World Taxi, said Daniel Marsh, one of the hosts of “Juan Direction,” a weekly documentary-style reality show, mauled him and damaged his cab when he insisted that the host pay the P78.50 fare reflected in the taximeter.

VERA Files tried to get Marsh side by text and call, but he did not reply.

http://www.abs-cbn.com/updates/072414-VIDEO-Daniel-Marsh-ng-Juan-Direction-inereklamo-ng-isang-taxi-driver-ng-pambubulabog?scid=40DF3254-B345-493F-BD71-9E9EF5B27C9E

Villanueva said Marsh got into his cab a little past 5 a.m. outside the Prive Luxury Club at The Fort in Taguig and directed him to go to the Tivoli Garden Residences in Mandaluyong.

On their way to Tivoli, the driver said Marsh, who was tipsy, was complaining that he lost his wallet at the club.

“I lost my wallet, my cash, my ATM, everything,” Villanueva quoted the Irish-Filipino TV host as saying.
Upon arriving at Tivoli, Marsh just stepped out of the cab and declared “I’m free,” the driver said.

The driver said he called out, “No, Sir.”

Marsh, the driver said, insisted, “I’m free. I’m not joking.”

The driver said Marsh kicked his cab when he insisted on being paid.

Taxi driver Edward Villanueva. Screengrab from ABS-CBN TV Patrol.

Taxi driver Edward Villanueva. Screengrab from ABS-CBN TV Patrol.

Villanueva said he got out of the car and Marsh mauled him. “He hurt me with a head butt,” he said.

The driver said before Marsh went up, he threw him a P100 bill at him.

An eyewitness, who asked not to be named, related what she saw: “A taxi stopped in front of Heliconia Tower. I heard loud bangings and saw a foreign-looking young man, cursing, kicking, banging the taxi he alighted from.

When the driver stepped out of the car, he punched him, cursed, shouting invectives, ‘You’re trying to rip me off. Who are you? You’re nothing, you don’t know me, don’t fuck with me!’”

The eyewitness further said: “(The) poor driver was beaten and his taxi’s window was broken. I told the security guards to call the police. The foreign-looking guy happens to be a resident of Heliconia 806, and a member of Juan Direction, according to the guard. He went up to his unit, with the poor driver left below.

After 10 minutes or more the barangay police arrived, but the Tivoli guards cannot make its tenant go down and face the authorities.”

“All those things happened for at least 10 to 15 minutes, with school children picked up by their service, witnessed and heard the violence and the cursing. Tivoli guards cannot control its tenant. In fact, one guard said, this young man is so abusive that he kicks on the elevator, or punches the wall, whenever he is drunk, but ‘mabait’ naman daw pag di nakainom (he’s ‘nice’ when he’s sober).”

Villanueva said he has reported the incident to Barangay Hulo in Mandaluyong. He has gone to a barangay clinic and the health workers there advised him to subject his injured nose to an X-ray procedure.

He said Marsh also has not talked with him. As of press time, Villanueva was at TV5 trying to seek help from TV executives.

(VERA Files is put out by veteran journalists taking a deeper look at current issues. Vera is Latin for “true.”)