Showing posts with label tondo. Show all posts

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TONDO

Posted on Wednesday, 11 October 2017

TONDO
Ni Apolinario Villalobos

Tambakan daw ng mga patapon
Pugad ng mga kapuspalad
Hangganan ng pangarap –
Ng mga taong
Madilim ang hinaharap.

Marami na ang sumumpa
Na sa Tondo’y hindi babalik
Nguni’t iba ang tawag
At hila ng ugat
Pilit nagpapaliwanag.

Tondo, oh, bakit ba?
Naturingan ka
Na pugad ng dalamhati
Pinagkaitan ng saya
Ng ngiti at ng ganda.

Ang lahat ay may pagbabago
Kung may araw, mayroon ding gabi.
Kung may lamig, mayroon ding init
Tulad ng Tondo
Gumaganda, dati’y pangit.

Ngayon, iba na siya
Unti-unting nagbabago
Nasisinagan ng pag-asa
Na ang dulot
Ay bagong buhay

At may ligaya!

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Cristina Toledo Cabanayan Packs Food for Prison Inmates

Posted on Monday, 1 February 2016

Cristina Toledo Cabanayan
Packs Food for Prison Inmates
By Apolinario Villalobos

I came to learn of the advocacy of Cristina Toledo Cabanayan when I took my brunch in their roadside food stall along Camba St. in Divisoria….she packs food for some inmates in Manila City Jail. It all started when her son (name withheld upon request) who was detained asked her to include his newly found friends, in the lunch pack that she prepares for him during visitation days. Her son found out that his friends have not been receiving visitors for a very long time, hence, depended on the meager and strictly- budgeted meals served by the jail administration.



Soonest as she heard their stories, she did not hesitate to pack meals taken from what she sells along Camba St. of Divisoria district for her son and his friends. The pack meals are brought by her grandsons to their father who is thirty six years old. The day I took my brunch, a Saturday, was a visitation day for the Manila City Jail inmates.

I learned, too, that Cristina’s altruism also benefited Lagring, who was adopted by her family when she found her living in the area alone, after having been abandoned by her family. Cristina nurtured Lagring back to her health, and today she helps in the operation of the roadside eatery by taking charge of everything that needs to be washed – eating utensils, pots, pans, etc. Though she is still noticeably skinny, she is back to her former spritely self. I found her washing pots and plates when I dropped by the food stall.



The husband of Cristina is a retiree with a frail health, making it necessary for him to stay at home, where he does the easy chores while the rest of the members are doing their share in the food stall. Miracle, Cristina’s daughter, though with a family of her own, helps her mother run the small business. The cooperation among the family members spared Cristina from hiring extra hands which is what food stall owners normally do.




The food stall is the source of the family’s livelihood, the blessing from which they also share with others in the best way that they can afford, but despite such, they are able to make both ends meet, as a proverb goes. They do not even know for how long they can hold on to their roadside space that accommodates their pushcart laden with foods. Despite such apprehension, Cristina, a typical Filipino, is fatalistic though in a positive way. She grew up in the same area and had her own share of ordeals that made her tough as a person.    

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Anna Bermudo: Kindness Behind A Pretty Face

Posted on Sunday, 31 January 2016

Anna Bermudo: Kindness Behind A Pretty Face
By Apolinario Villalobos

When I took a respite at a Jollibee joint in Divisoria, particularly, corner of Sto. Cristo St., due to my heavy packs, I found out that I needed a separate bag for some items intended to be given to one of my friends in Baseco. It was then, that I noticed one of the crew who was cleaning tables. I told her my problem, without much ado, she left and when she came back, she had a paper bag which was just what I needed. Her prompt assistance impressed me, despite her doing something else during the time. She practically dropped everything and attended to me, although, customers were beginning to crowd the room.



My appreciation for such kind act, made me ask her permission if I can share it with friends. She shyly hesitated, but I had my chance to take her photo quickly, when she began to clean my table. She thought I was joking when I aimed my cellphone/camera for a quick shot. I found the photo to be hazy when I checked it at Baseco, so I came back to the burger joint. Luckily, I found her having a late breakfast in a sidewalk food stall near Jollibee. I practically begged her to allow me to take a clearer photo, explaining to her that what I am doing is for the benefit of others who might be inspired by people like her. Fortunately, she conceded and even cooperated by giving information about herself.



Although merely, a high school graduate, she courageously left her hometown in Zamboanga to seek a “greener pasture” in Manila several years ago. She had no chance of pursuing her studies, as she had been helping her family by sending whatever amount she could afford from her wage when she found a job. I could see that her right attitude has earned her a well-deserved job in the world-renown Filipino burger outfit which is also acknowledged for its fairness in dealing with employees.

Anna is pretty, an attribute that could land her a much better-paying job in cafes that could be double or triple compared to what she is earning in Jollibee. But I could surmise that despite temptations from friends, that always happen to pretty girls from the countryside, she opted to work in a family-oriented establishment. Her clean and smooth face is not covered even by a thin swipe of rouge, and she wears no jewelry, not even a single stainless ring. Her simplicity has accentuated her pretty face…. that veils an innate kindness.






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The Spirited Anna....with sightless left eye and dimming right one

Posted on Wednesday, 27 January 2016

The Spirited Anna…with sightless left eye
and dimming right one
by Apolinario Villalobos

I thought the woman whose name I learned was Anna,  and who was sitting on the pushcart was just too trusting by not counting the money that I gave her for the items that I chose from among her “buraot” items, until she told me that her right eye can barely see while her left eye was totally useless. Her sight had been defective since she was a girl. While growing up, she was desperate and a loner because of her deficiency until she met her husband who took good care of her.

Anna and her husband had been selling junk items for more than five years. They would spread their items on a piece of tarpaulin as early as six in the morning along the old railroad track now covered with pavement as early as six in the morning, just when the vegetable wholesalers are packing up. An hour later they would transfer to the corner of the Sto. Cristo St. where I found her. With their four children in tow, her husband would leave her to clean their other “buraot” items in the railroad track.

She smilingly told me that she and her husband have been setting aside money for their children from the meager daily earnings. Just like most of the hardworking scavengers of Divisoria, they live on the pushcart…or rather, beside their pushcart that are heaped with their junks at the end of the day. Their children are aged nine, seven, four and three years. Just before noon, she told me that they, already with lunch bought from a makeshift sidewalk eatery, would join her.

Our amiable conversation was cut short by a sudden and steady drizzle. I had to help Anna gather her items on their pushcart and cover them with two pieces of tarp that I brought with me, intended to be given to the vendors like her. We stayed on the covered sidewalk, and it was at this time that Anna got worried for her husband and children.  Not long afterward, a guy carrying two children, and two girls huffily came running and joined us.


As the pushcart was securely covered, I invited Anna and her family to the Jollibee outlet a few steps away. The eldest girl jumped and gleefully shouted when she heard the name. When we entered, other customers threw us inquisitive stares as the husband of Anna and the kids were dripping wet. It was their first time to enter the establishment and even taste its cheapest Yummy sandwich, but for such a happy occasion, I ordered the regular burger and spaghetti for each of them. While they were enjoying their sandwich, spaghetti, and Coke, they strike a picture of a happy family…of contentment, a far cry from many families that are virtually swimming in affluence, yet, not satisfied a bit. As a practice, I did not take their picture while enjoying their Jollibee meal, for I do not want the photo opportunity to come out as one done in exchange for something. So as not to instigate Anna and her husband to ask questions about me, I stopped asking more questions about their life….that way, I was happy not to be asked for my name, though, before we parted ways, I told them that the snacks were courtesy of a certain “Perla”. I was resolved, however, to see them again.


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Maynila...sa mata ng Bagong Salta

Posted on Thursday, 9 October 2014



Maynila…sa mata ng bagong salta
ni Apolinario B Villalobos


Hindi ko na maalala pa
Ang ibang yugto ng aking buhay
Mula’t sapul nang ako ay lumisan
Sa aking sinilangang bayan
Kung saan ang nakagisnang pagdarahop
Ay bahagi na ng buhay
Ng mga taong kakambal ay hirap
Nguni’t hindi nagsisisihang magkakapitbahay.

Musmos na isip at murang katawan
Ang nagpati-anod sa tawag ng pangako
Kumukulo ang tiyan sa kawalan ng laman
Dahil iilang pirasong barya
Hindi magasta-gasta
Sa pag-aalala   na kapag mga ito’y nawala sa bulsa
Sa laot ng buhay na malupit pala
Ay lalo akong magmumukhang kawawa.

Puyat at pagod ay di ko inalintana
Sa pag-aakalang bukas ako’y may pera na
Kaya halos hilahin ko ang araw
Sa kanyang pagbaba doon sa  kanluran
Para mapadali ang pagdatal ng kinabukasan
At mga ilang araw pa nga ang nagdaan
Narating ko ang Maynila
Lunsod ng iba’t- ibang kulay at mukha.

Hindi ko mawari ang unang naramdaman
Nang ako ay unang tumapak sa pantalan
Para pa rin akong namamalikmata
Sa aking mga narinig at nakita-
Walang kapatirang daloy ng tao
Ingay ng nagtatawanan at naglalako
Kaya’t ang dating masaya
Kagya’t na pumalit ay takot
Nabahid sa aking mukha…
Sa sarili, nasabi ko na lang -
“Ah, ito pala ang Maynila”.

(Batay sa kuwento ni Ramon na taga-Calbayog, Samar…namulot ng plastik at lata, pati tirang pagkain sa mga burgeran upang ilutong batsoy, may makain lang ang asawa at anak. Tumira  sa Baseco Compound, Tondo, nguni’t bumalik sa probinsiya pagkalibing ng anak na namatay sa dengue, noong huling linggo ng Setyembre 2014.)



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Maynila...sa mata ng bagong salta

Posted on Wednesday, 30 July 2014



Maynila…sa mata ng bagong salta
ni Apolinario B Villalobos


Hindi ko na maalala pa
Ang ibang yugto ng aking buhay
Mula’t sapul nang ako ay lumisan
Sa aking sinilangang bayan
Kung saan ang nakagisnang pagdarahop
Ay bahagi na ng buhay
Ng mga taong kakambal ay hirap
Nguni’t hindi nagsisisihang magkakapitbahay.

Musmos na isip at murang katawan
Ang nagpatianod sa tawag ng pangako
Kumukulo ang tiyan sa kawalan ng laman
Dahil iilang pirasong barya
Hindi magasta-gasta
Sa pag-aalala   na kapag mga ito’y nawala sa bulsa
Sa laot ng buhay na malupit pala
Ay lalo akong magmumukhang kawawa.

Puyat at pagod ay di ko inalintana
Sa pag-aakalang bukas ako’y may pera na
Kaya halos hilahin ko ang araw
Sa kanyang pagbaba doon sa  kanluran
Para mapadali ang pagdatal ng kinabukasan
At mga ilang araw pa nga ang nagdaan
Narating ko ang Maynila
Lunsod ng iba’t ibang kulay at mukha.

Hindi ko mawari ang unang naramdaman
Nang ako ay unang tumapak sa pantalan
Para pa rin akong namamalikmata
Sa aking mga narinig at nakita-
Walang kapatirang daloy ng tao
Ingay ng nagtatawanan at naglalako
Kaya’t ang dating masaya
Kagya’t na pumalit ay takot
Nabahid sa aking mukha…
Sa sarili, nasabi ko na lang -
“Ah, ito pala ang Maynila”.