Poverty is a big issue in the Philippines. In the hierarchy, the Filipino families who suffers from poverty is said to be almost half of the total population of the country. People in the uplands of the Cordillera Valleys and on Mindanao Island are among the poorest in the country.
September 1, 2011 . Its heavily raining and the people are rushing going back home. I am standing over the floods waiting for a jeepney to come. Almost quarter of an hour before I had the chance to take a ride to a jeepney via for San Miguel - St. Mary, where my lodging house is located. The rain haven't stopped yet, I am 45% wet. The jeepney stopped and a 3 passengers sit beside me, an average of 50 yr. old Lady and 2 young boys all wet going to a not so distant - not so mall. It's still traffic, The Old lady asked the two boys lots of question and some of those questions caught my attention.
Old Lady: Taga - asa diay mo Dong? nagskwela pamo?
( Where are you from? Are you still attending school? )
Boy 1: Taga roosevelt, Oo, nagskwela pami.
(Where from roosevelt, yes, we are still attending.)
Old Lady: So, unsang orasa man mo mamaligya sa inyong baligya? Manguli pamo gikan skwela o mamaligya namo?
( So, what are the usual times that you sell your Cellophane Bags? Do you go home first before selling or straight on selling?)
Boy 1: Mga alas kwatro paghuman sa klase. Manguli pa te daun mamalit pami ug mga selopin balig P10 didto ayha mi mamaligya sa kilid kilid dapit sa palao market.
( At around 4 PM after our class we go home first, buy some P10 bags out there then we sell them at the streets near Palao Market.)
Old Lady: Tagpila pud ninyo pagpalit ang mga selopin? Tagpila man inyong baligya human? Mamiliti Pamo padung Palao, pila pud?
(How much is the cellophane Bags when you bought it? How much when you resell it? So, do you need to take a ride going to palao, how much then?)
Boy 1: Tag piso pagpalit dayon tag dos namo pagbaligya. Oo, ang pamasahi namu kay tag sais ming duha.
(One peso when we bought then when we resell it for two pesos. Yes, our fare is Six Pesos.)
Old Lady
*Laughing out loud*
Me
... chuckled
Old Lady: Na gansi namu ana, kwatro ra diay inyoa? asa diay imong mama ug papa, unsay trabaho nila?
(ohm so its lost, you only get 4 Peso? So, where are you're parents, what's their job?)
When this question is asked, the two boys are so quiet seemingly upset.
Boy 1: Si mama kay naa ra sa balay, si papa kay namasada ug sikad padung roosevelt.
(Our mama is just in our home and papa is at roosevelt having his TRISIKAD.(a tri-wheeled transportation medium-wagon and a bicycle))
Old Lady: Unya unsa naman mo na grado ug pila namay edad ninyo? Pagtinarung jud mo ug skwela kay mao ra nay makatabang sa inyong pamilya puhon.
(What grade and How old are you both? You better be good at school because that's the only way you can help you're family in the future.)
Boy 2: 8 yrs old te... grade 2
(I'm 8 yrs. old, Grade 2)
Boy 1: 12 yrs. old ko te, daun grade 4 pako kay nakaundang man kog duha ka tuig grade 6 na tana ko.
(I'm 12 yrs. old, then I'm still grade 4 because I've stopped for two years,so, I'm supposedly Grade 6.)
Then we are near the mall and then moved out. The Boys carrying both there two bags about 5 kilos each.
At that point I empathized on them. Because, I know the feeling of being on their stage. I admit, We are also poor. I can still remember in my elementary years that I always sells flakes, yema and sometimes fruit ice candies or salads. I know how it feels to be poor. I know how it feels to earned money and shared it to your family. It hurts when you need to buy what you need but due to lack of resources you cant have it. I hope this will enlightened the people to treasure what they have. To whether kick of their wants and prioritized the needs. To be humble on what you have and not to boast on what you don't have.
