Food delivery riders get pranked on April Fools' Day, but it's not the bad kind

Even food delivery riders weren't able to escape April Fool's Day, but this time it's the good kind of prank.

Seeing that food riders often become victims of fake bookings, Vbernie Regalado told Katrina Son on Sunday's "24 Oras Weekend" that he thought of making them happy on April 1.

What he did was order from multiple restaurants and just before the riders were about to head to the drop off locations, Vbernie informed them that they should just take the food home.

"Instead na mag-book tayo ng [cash on delivery], what if we book na paid na siya tapos saka lang natin sabihin do’n sa delivery riders na, 'Sa inyo na po 'yan, sa pamilya niyo para merong pang-hapunan.'"

["Instead of booking cash on delivery, what if we book and already pay for the order then tell the delivery riders that, 'Take it home to your family so you can have dinner.'"]

One of the three riders who was lucky enough to be among Vbernie's beneficiaries was Mon Guttan, who even couldn't believe what just happened.

"Kala ko nagjo-joke lang. Marami po kasing fake bookings," Mon said. "S'yempre masaya kasi bihira po talaga na may nagbibigay ng gano'ng pagkain sa hirap ng buhay ngayon."

["I thought it was a joke because are so many fake bookings. I'm really happy because it's rare that someone will give you food in these difficult times."]

Vbernie himself received a gift with his kind deed. The last rider he "pranked" had the same name as his late mom.

"Nagulat lang ako nang nakita ko na Emily 'yung name niya so it really reminded me of my mom. Feeling ko it's mom's way of telling me na, 'Anak, you're doing a great job. Maganda 'yung ginagawa mo.'"

["I was surprised to see that her name is Emily so it really reminded me of my mom. I feel it's mom's way of telling me that, 'Son, you're doing a great job. You did a good deed.'"]

Vbernie earned a lot of praise from netizens online. According to him, he is happy to have served as an inspiration to keep on doing good things to others—no matter how small.

"Nakaka-overwhelm kasi hindi lang siya naging isang reminder para sa isang tao to be good but it really made people do the same thing," he said.

["It's overwhelming because it was not just a reminder to one person to be good but it really made people do the same thing."]

With the success of his April Fool's prank, he hopes that people would stop making fake food bookings.

"S'yempre nakaka-discourage 'yon para sa isang mamamayan na nagtatrabaho lang naman tapos inaagawan natin sila ng time and energy to do the jobs that they were meant to do."

["It's discouraging for a citizen who just does his job and we waste their time and energy to do the jobs they were meant to do."]

—Franchesca Viernes/MGP, GMA News