Pure Heart

When I hear the name Philippines, what comes first in my mind is poverty. It is the most endemic problem that our country is facing every year. Decades have passed but still majority of the Filipinos are in the poverty line. People are considered poor if they cannot provide health care, 3 times a day food consumption, resources, shelter, decent clothing, and most especially education. In short, they are not financially stable. They are the less fortunate people. Sad to say, it is the reality. Most of us are skulking for progression due to lack of financial security but there are others who are living with wealth and luxuries in life with many opportunities waiting for them because they earn more money. After all, either rich or poor rather aim a better life than having difficult time fighting for hunger and survival in life’s jungle.

Maybe some of us who are lucky enough to live a prosperous and happy life have no idea what it is like living in a “Barong-barong” suffering extreme poverty. We feel the heat as the Sun rises early in the morning with an alarm clock ringing with the smell of delicious breakfast being cooked by your parents from downstairs. Some may even be washing in their Jacuzzis and all they think about is wanting to choose what to wear from their expensive shirts, pants and shoes. Did we ever think of our “kapit-bahay” living next door? They are our neighbor who has no money, no expensive clothing, no food to be served in the table, and crawls to be augmented with their education.

Living a life wherein you are to find money every day in order for your family to provide their basic needs is not a joke. There are also others who really strive hard to pursue their dreams that seem impossible to attain. As a graduating student of Bachelor of Science in Marine Engineering at DMMA College of Southern Philippines, it is my desperation and intention to write this article before I will conquer the rough seas and oceans. I currently reside in a dorm at Panorama Homes Subdivision, Buhangin, Davao City with other residents from our institution. I have met a lot of people from all walks of life. While trudging along the road of the Subdivision, a young boy never fails to catch my attention every morning. His voice serves as my alarm clock for me to wake up from my bed.

The young boy is just thirteen years old selling Pandesal early in the morning and Butchi in the afternoon. All throughout the array of houses in Panorama, his exhilarating and exciting loud voice to sell his products Pandesal and Butchi echoes every day. I, together with other people buy his products. Despite his young age, he was able to endure the prickling and scorching hot weather, and ignores all the things that may come in his way as long as he can sell his products to help his parents, I supposed.

To my mind, I had always this plan to interview the boy and ask what are his reasons for selling Pandesal and Butchi. It tickled the slightest curiosity out of me to know more about this child because conventionally, children of his age would be hooked into playing PSP and online games with their friends, shopping with their parents and getting whatever they want; but that young boy had the very opposite daily routine and hobby among young Filipino children in this new generation. Thus, I interviewed him with the eagerness to know what answer he would give me. It is vividly ringing in my ear when he said, “Para makatabang sa akong mga ginikanan ug manghod.”

Right after our talk, I learned that his mother is the helper in our dorm, maintaining the cleanliness of our surroundings while his father is a driver. As much as his parents would like to provide their children with their necessities, their combined earnings will never be enough to feed the young boy and his five little siblings.

This amazing young soul, who inspire me and touched my heart, is Ricardo E. Estrera also known by many as Jay-R. With his pure and innocent heart, all he ever desires is to uplift his family from poverty through his simple little way of selling Pandesal and Butchi. He dreams to be a manager someday. I fervently hope that he can fulfill his dreams and may inspire students. I consider him as a role model to younger generation.

The simple logic is that, a lot of families in the Philippines are like Jay-R’s family in their verge of dealing with poverty. There are others who are silent but needy, voices of scarcity; the voices that have never lived comfortably. These silent voices belong to the children of poverty. They are the unheard voices of youth. It is just one of the usual story of poor Filipinos, typical but deadly. This problem should be prioritized in the maximum level of the next President of the Republic of the Philippines. It is just a mirror of our own self and our country. This simply means, we should sacrifice in everything that we do. Can you imagine what people do in order to survive? We are indeed blessed not to experience what Jay-R is experiencing right now. We must value our time in doing good and meaningful things; not wasting any of our efforts in taking for granted the things we think are useless. (Earlvin Joshua S. Ortega)