source: Dharel Placido | abs-cbnNEWS.com

MANILA, Philippines – Even for a day, taxi driver Ariel Dalangin felt like the prince in "Cinderella" story as he returned the lost shoes of actress-host Ruffa Gutierrez on Wednesday.

Gutierrez met the honest driver on DZMM’s "Aksyon Ngayon" program after learning that he turned over her shoes in the same radio program on Tuesday.

To express her deep gratitude for the kind act, the actress hugged and then kissed Dalangin on the cheek, a promise she made on her official account in the microblogging site Twitter.

“Lorraine and Venice, this is a friendly hug, this is a friendly kiss,” she said to her two daughters while hugging and then kissing Dalangin on his cheek.

"Sana lahat ng mga taxi drivers kasing honest niya, na talagang nagsasauli," she added.

She also gave Dalangin money but decided not to disclose the amount.

The 6 pairs of custom-made Allan Chan shoes from Hong Kong, which the actress’ assistant Jimmy left on Monday inside Dalangin’s cab, were said to be valued at 4,000 US dollars or more than 170, 000 pesos (about 28,500 pesos each).



According to Gutierrez, she had the shoes picked up by Jimmy in San Juan in time for her pictorial.

She said as a woman and an artist, shoes are very important part of her well-being.

“I really invest in shoes and in what I wear,” she said.

Dalangin, meanwhile, said he thought the shoes belonged to the female passenger who boarded his taxi before Jimmy.

“Bago siya [Jimmy] sumakay, may babae akong pasahero, kaya hindi ko malaman kung sa babae ba,” said Dalangin.

But thanks to his wife who brought the shoes to DZMM, Gutierrez has been reunited with her shoes.

Gutierrez, who was a former star of ABS-CBN, said she was also happy to be back at the network premises after 16 months.

“I’m very happy na nakapunta ako dito ngayon, first time ko sa ABS-CBN after 16 months,” she said.