Ever since it was diagnosed that I am having a possible heart
enlargement in the last APE, I have exerted more effort to do physical
exercises.

I do jogging during week days and do long - ride mountain biking
every Sunday.

But this Sunday is a special Sunday to me. While I was on my way
to the mountains of Busay ( Cebu ) hoping to strengthened my heart by this
exercise, instead, I personally encountered a heart-breaking scene that
changed me.

I already passed by the Marc o Polo Plaza (formerly Cebu Plaza
Hotel) when I decided to stop to buy bananas at a small carenderia
located along the road. I haven’t taken any solid food that morning so I
need fruits to have the needed energy to get to my destination - the
mountain top.

I am almost done eating with the second banana when I noticed
two children across the street busily searching the garbage area.
"Basureros" I said to myself and quickly turn my attention away from
them to sip a small amount of water. I cared less for these kind of
children actually; to make it straight, I do not like them, and I do not
trust them even more.
var AdBrite_Title_Color = ‘0000FF’; var AdBrite_Text_Color = ‘000000′; var AdBrite_Background_Color = ‘FFFFFF’; var AdBrite_Border_Color = ‘CCCCCC’; var AdBrite_URL_Color = ‘008000′;
You see, several times I have been a victim to these kind of
children who are pretending to be basureros looking for empty bottles
and cans when in fact the ‘plangganas’ , ‘kalderos’, and ‘hinayhays’ are
their favorites.

I remember one afternoon while I was watching a Mike Tyson fight
when I noticed that the TV screen suddenly became blurred. I checked
outside and saw two young basureros running away with my newly installed
antenna.

Hatred may be a little bit stronger word to describe my feeling
towards these basureros, but I do not like them honestly not till I met
these three children.

I was about to embark on my bike again when I heard one of the
two children, a girl of about 7 or 8 of age saying aloud to the other, a
12-yr old boy, "kuya si dodong kunin mo kasi tumitingin sa mga kumain,
nakakahiya, only then that I noticed a small boy standing near to me
biting slightly his finger. He’s a few inches shorter if compared to my
5 years old son (but I knew later that he’s also 5 yrs. Old).

Though he did not asked for food to anyone in the carenderia,
the way he looked at the customers who were eating , enough to convinced
me that he intensely craving for it. The older boy then quickly crossed
the street and gently pulled out the little one who politely obeyed. As
I watched the two crossing back the street to the garbage area, I heard
the tindera saying "kawawa naman yung mga batang yun mababait pa naman
I learned further from the carenderia owner that the children are from a
good family , both parents were working before, and that their father
got a stroke 3 years ago and became partially paralized and their mother
died of heart attack while their father was still confined at the
hospital. The parents were still in their early forties when the
catastrophe happened, and the children became basureros since then to
meet their daily needs and for their father’s medication.

Deeply moved by what I heard, I went to a nearby bakery and
bought 20 pesos worth of bread and gave it to the children who initially
refused including the little boy. "Sige lang po, salamat na lang, bibili
na lang po kami mamaya kung makabenta na kami, the young girl said to
me.

I explained that they need to go home because it started to
rain. "Nasanay na po kami, the girl answered again. Again, I explained
that the rain can make them sick and if they’ll become sick there’s no
one to take care of their father. Upon mentioning their father, they
nodded and accept the bread but I noticed that the older boy did not
eat.

When I asked him if he does not like the kind of bread I bought
for them he smiled but as he’s about to explain, the little girl, who is
the more talker of them interrupted, "Linggo po kasi ngayon, pag sabado
at linggo hapon lang po sya kumakain, kami lang po ang kumakain ng
agahan pero di na po kami kakain pagdating ng hapon si kuya lang po.
Pero pag lunes hanggang biyernes, kasi may pasok, si kuya lang po
nag-aagahan, kami hapunan lang pero kung marami kaming benta, kami pong
lahat (kumakain) she continued. "bakit kung kumain kayong lahat,
hati-hatiin nyo na lang kahit kunti lang ang pagkain? I countered. The
young girl reasoned out that their father wanted that her older brother
to come to school with full stomachs so he can easily catch up the
teacher’s lessons. "Pag nagkatrabaho si kuya, hihinto kami sa
pamamasura, first honor kasi sya, the little boy added proudly. Maybe I
was caught by surprise or I am just overly emotional that my tears
started to fall. I then quickly turned my back from them to hide my
tears and pretended to pick up my bike from the carenderia where I left
it. I don’t know how many seconds or minutes I spent just to compose
myself; pretending again this time that I was mending by bike.

Finally I get on to my bike and approached the three children to
bid goodbye to them who in turn cast their grateful smiles at me. I then
took a good look at all of them specially to the small boy and pat his
head with a pinch in my heart. Though I believe that their positive look
at life can easily change their present situation, there is one thing
that they can never change; that is , their being motherless. That
little boy can no longer taste the sweet embrace, care, and most of all
, the love of his mother forever. Nobody can refill the empty gap
created by that sudden and untimely death of their mother. Every big
events that will happen to their lives will only remind them and make
them wish of their mother’s presence.

I reached to my pocket and handed to them my last 100 peso bill
which I reserved for our department’s bowling tournament. This time they
refused strongly but I jokingly said to the girl, "suntukin kita pag
hindi mo tinanggap yan. She smiled as she extended her hand to take the
money. "Salamat po, makakabili na kami ng gamot ni papa, she uttered. I
then turned to the small boy and though he’s a few feet away from me, I
still noticed that while his right hand was holding the half - filled
sack , his left hand was holding a toy ? a worn out toy car. I waved my
hands and said bye bye to him as I drove towards the mountains again.
Did he just found the toy in the garbage area or the toy was originally
his - when the misfortune did not took place yet? - I did not bother to
ask. But one thing is crystal clear to me, that inspite of the boy’s
abnormal life, he has not given up his childhood completely. I can sense
it by the way he held and stared at his toy.

My meeting with that young basureros made me poorer by 100
pesos. But they changed me and made me richer as to lessons of life.

In them, I learned that life can change suddenly and may caught
me flat footed. In them, I’ve learned that even the darkest side of
life, cannot change the beauty of one’s heart. Those three children, who
sometimes cannot eat three times a day, were still able to hold on to
what they believe was right. And what a contrast to most of us who are
quick to point out to our misfortunes. In them, I’ve learned to hope for
things when things seem to go the other way.