Lito and Inday: Couple who Toils Every Precious Minute of the Day
Posted on Wednesday 20 April 2016
Lito
and Inday: Couple Who
Toils
Every Precious Minute of the Day
by Apolinario Villalobos
Lito and Inday Balanay who have two
beautiful daughters, are a typical couple who literally makes use of every
precious minute of the day to earn an honest living. They start their struggle
as early as 5AM. A mug of coffee for each, serves as breakfast. Whatever solid
food they take becomes their “brunch” for the day. Inday, using a “traysikad”,
pedals her way to the bakery in the neighboring subdivision, a kilometer away
from their home, while Lito uses a bike…both, to pick up their respective stock
of pan de sal (bread of salt), a popular breakfast staple of Filipinos.
Starting their rounds at 6AM, they are finally through peddling at about
7AM. After turning over their earnings
to the owner of the bakery, out of which they get their meager “commission” for
the day, they go on their separate way back home.
As soon as she has arrived home, Inday
prepares her wares for her sidewalk ambulant store, still using her “traysikad”.
She positions herself for this other endeavor in front of a big and popular
grocery, one kilometer from their home. Her clients consist of drivers who buy
sticks of cigarettes, biscuits, and candies. Lito, on the other hand, prepares
his tools for his sideline – scheduled minor repair jobs of homes around the
subdivision. Meanwhile, their two daughters are left in the care of a trusted
niece. Sometimes, the two girls provide their mother company, as she sells her
wares on the sidewalk.
The couple confided that they have to
double their effort in earning for the future of their daughters, as the eldest,
Kristine, is already nine years old and the youngest, going seven years old.
They are lucky to have found a vacant lot which they are renting at Php1,500.00
per month, and on which they built a shack using junk materials, some of which
were given by friends. Only half of their home’s floor has been cemented thinly,
and the rest of the painstakingly leveled ground is covered with a junk sheet
of linoleum. Despite the inadequacies for a comfortable life, the family is a
picture of contentment.
Lito and Inday, both in their early 40’s, are
“Bisaya”, with the former being a “Waray” and the latter, a Surigaonon. The
Bisayans are known for their resourcefulness and diligence. When asked what she
wishes for to make their life more comfortable, Inday, who refers to their home
as “bahay ng kalapati” (pigeon hole or cubicle), replied, “a cooking gas tank”,
while letting out a hearty and crisp laugh. Although, they already have a
single-burner stove with a gas tank, she wants a standby one, in view of the
fluctuating price of this basic commodity. Besides, Inday also plans to cook
rice cakes, hoping that she could earn more. As for Lito, he would like to have
more tools to help him in his trade. Meanwhile, the two girls just want
umbrella.
While the family of Lito and Inday are
happy in their rickety home assembled from junks and with their wishes that
they treat as just such – wishes, other families who live in air-conditioned
homes can’t seem to find contentment and happiness if they have not capped
their summer with their regular jaunts - weeks in Disneyland (America),
shopping in Hongkong, or sunbathing in Boracay, or they don’t have the latest
gadgets that their kids could boast to their playmates.
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