A photo that changed the way I see cyberworld nowadays...
This is a touching post
from Ms. Jhaquee Asistio that went viral over social networking sites and poured a lot of heart-felt emotions among netizens all over the land.
"si lolo balot.. i tried asking help from wish ko
lang for him through their email, pero siguro sa dami ng mga humihingi ng
tulong hindi sya napansin. sya ang suki kong magbabalot. 83 yrs old balo at
walang anak. nakatira sya sa isang papag sa harapan ng pinagkukuhaan nya ng
balot. sa kwento nya sa akin 15 pesos isang araw at 5 pesos araw araw sa tubig.
umulan, bumagyo, madilim man o maliwanag ang buwan gabi gabi kong naririnig ang
boses nya sa pagsigaw ng balot.. minsan nakita ko sya pauwi ako galing opisina
may hawak ng sirang payong at lulugo lugo. tinanong ko sya bakit di pa sya
umuuwi ang lakas ng ulan. kailangan pa daw nya ubusin ang natirang 15 pirasong
balot nya para may mairemit sa kinukuhaan nya para bigyan pa ulit sya
kinabukasan. sabi ko ala pa po ba kayo benta? meron daw pero hinarang daw sya
ng tatlong kabataan malapit sa lugar nmin kinuha daw ang mahigit 150 pesos na
benta nya kwento nya havang umiiyak. niyaya ko syang maupo kami sa harapan ng isang
karideryang sarado na. sabi ko sa kanya "nasan ho ba mga kamag anak
ninyo?". "nasa leyte mga kapatid ko gusto ko na sana umuwi nalang
doon kasi napakahirap dito naghahanap buhay ako pero mapagkakatuwaan pa. may
labing dalawang taon na akong di nakakauwi hindi ko alam kung meron pa ako
babalikan. sana bago ako mawalan ng hininga makita ko na hindi pala ako mag
isa. nagkukuwento sya habang lumuluha samantalang ako humahagulgol na.
tiningnan ko sya sa mata kita ko kung gano na sya katanda at alam kong kinakapa
na lang ng malabo nyang mga mata ang daang kailangan nya daanan para mabuhay
ang sarili niya. sabi ko tay tara na po bigyan ko kayu pang kuha nyo ng balot
bukas at pang remit nyo ngayun. uwi n po kayo mag alas dose na po wala ng tao
sa daan. inabutan ko sya ng 600 na tag iisang daan. binalik nya sa akin ang 200
sabi nya pwede naman daw may return. at bago kami mghiwalay sabi nya "anak
salamat ha, babayadan kita pangako". ngumiti lang ako. kinabukasan mas
maaga ako umuwi, dumaan pala sya sa bahay namin at nagbilin sa mga anak ko.
nagabot ng 100 hulog daw nya sa utang nya. pinopost ko po ito para po ilapit po
sya sa inyo na sana po matulungan syang makauwi at makasama ang mga kamag anak
nya sa leyte, habang hindi pa po huli ang lahat. sana po makapa natin sa mga
puso natin ang pagtulong sa kanya. maraming salamat po. Please pa share po."
We, Filipinos are known for our family-oriented attitude and naturally kind-hearted
people. When we see someone who died right before our very eyes, we tremble in
fear. When we watch telenovelas and see the casts experience hardships, we watch
in tears. When we see older people especially relatives suffer in pain, we feel
it and easily gets emotional. In the US, Home for the aged is almost in all
places but here in the Philippines you rarely see old people being neglected.
And unsurprisingly, when this link from a Facebook user who was touched by this
83-year old balot vendor’s story went viral, Filipinos came to action like
rain in heavens sending pledges of help and words of sympathy.
This story truly snuffled my heart. I was crying reading the post from
my FB wall I can hardly go on with my work the entire day. And up to this
moment, whenever I see videos of Lolo when he was still selling ballot, I just
can’t help my tears from falling! And I think that was what happened to
thousands of Filipinos being touched by LOLO.
MR. EMILIANO D. DALA, an 83-year old homeless balot vendor touched the
heart of many by his story. He doesn’t have any relatives here in Manila and does not like the idea of being a burden to his relatives in Leyte that’s why he is
struggling to survive here in Manila particularly at Sauyo, Novaliches. He
sleeps in a bamboo couch in front of the house where he gets his balot to sell
every day. He was found by a certain MS. JHAQUEE ASISTIO, a modern Samaritan
who asked him how come he still sells ballot in the middle of the night while
raining cats and dogs in the whole city. Lolo Balot then confessed he has to
earn enough money so he can remit to balot owner thus, he can get balot to
sell the next day because his sales that night were stolen by kids who bullied him
and snatch his P150 earnings for that day.
He also said he wanted to go home because life here in Manila is so
hard, much more because he’s living alone. Ms. Asistio cried while hearing this
poor man’s story that’s why she decided to took a picture of him and post it in
Facebook, hoping people can see the story and help the old balot vendor. The
said post became viral, with thousands of shares and millions of comments from
around the globe. This is one perfect instance where we find good things in
social networking sites. Ms Asistio only intends to impart to her not-so-many friends
in FB what she saw that night, but now even media can’t help but reach out to him,
to her and to the whole story that moved each and everyone’s heart…
As of this moment while I was writing this, he’s already in Samar, Leyte
accompanied by Ms. Jhaquee and the “Wish ko lang” staff of GMA7. We were all
very happy with the outcome of this story and I am very hopeful that a lot more
like this will eventually ensues every now and then. This is a good start for
all of us to extend our hands to our fellow Filipinos in need.
Truly, a very inspiring tale from two major casts of this present life
story starring Mr. Emiliano Dala a.k.a Lolo Balot as the poor but pure-hearted
man seeking space in the heart of people he happens to meet while doing his
not-so-easy job, and of course, Ms Jhaquee Asistio who played as an instrument
of God’s love as an angel here on earth.
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