Thursday, ACTS Office. Break time.
The office door opened so slowly like someone would like to sneak in. It stayed ajar motionless, as if telling everyone inside that the unexpected guest was hesitant to come in. Then she shoved her head like a peeking imp between the door and the jamb, scanned the office, smiled and entered.
“Sampaguita, anyone? Buy sampaguita from me.” She said in a tone that was more of an order than beg when she fully exposed herself to everyone, raising a bunch of stringed Sampaguita leis in her hand. She approached everyone at their respective tables and said confidently, “C’mon, you buy sampaguita from me!”
Like a shrewd businessman at an early age, Eloisa Yaguno, 8, started elbowing everyone with words to buy her fragrant leis, like a survivor attuned to adult hardships. She was out in the streets selling leis when she should be attending classes at Koronadal Central Elementary School as Grade Two.
“Why do you do this?” asked an employee. “You should be in school!” said another office worker. To these motherly concerns, Eloisa could only smile and say “I don’t like school! I’d rather help my parents find money.”
Eloisa is the fourth daughter among six children of Lito and Helen Yaguno who work in Golden Valley Memorial Garden in Matulas, Bgy. Paraiso, City of Koronadal. “My father works as a grave digger and my mother is a utility aide there, too.”
“We live across the street from the Bishop’s Palace,” she said. Across the street from the gate of the Bishop’s palace is a squatter’s area called Purok Langitnon. Most adult male and female residents living in that area usually find work in the garbage dumpsite almost a kilometre away, as scavengers or as garbage men in contract as casual employees of the city working in the landfill. Eloisa’s parents may have been blessed to have a decent job, at least, as graveyard helpers.
Purok Langitnon is also a place where teen-age marriage is rampant that couples as young as fifteen years of age already support their own families of one or two children. Work for them coincides with the schedule of garbage collection and dumping to scavenge for recyclable materials such as plastics, damaged electronics,…yes, even jewelleries and cell phones to sell.
Young as she is, Eloisa knew that scavenging is a stinky, dirty job. She chose to sell fragrant sampaguita leis even if it requires almost a four-kilometre walk from her house to Bgy. Sto. Nino where she gets stringed sampaguita from a certain Philip, her supplier.
“So, how much do you earn from this?” another motherly employee asked.
“If everything I sell is bought, then I earn fifty pesos. Yesterday I earned nothing because I started selling late. Only few were bought,” she lamented.
Eloisa’s deal meant fifty pesos, a “suhol” or token from Philip once her leis are sold out at 400 pesos, her quota. Below that, she receives nothing because “Philip profits nothing” if she doesn’t sell out.
“As in nothing?” confirmed another employee.
“Yes,” Eloisa replied curtly. “I just walk home empty handed.” Today, she earned twenty pesos from the employees.
A few minutes after Eloisa went out of ACTS Office, another ambulant vendor came in with stacks of boxes in his hands.
“Buko pie, sir? Maam? Buy one, take one offer!” he said in a jolly mood.
Ramil Años, 35, travelled all the way from Polomolok, about 50 kilometers from Koronadal, to sell home-made buko pie and pizza.
His offer of buy one - take one could be the customer’s choice of either a buko pie and pizza or 2 buko pies or 2 pizzas. However you want it, the package price of a pair is 130 pesos.
A father of three boys, Jemel 4, Meljan, 2, and Jerelin, 1 month old, Ramil travels around South Cotabato and General Santos City to sell boxed snacks.
“That could be very expensive,” I told him, “paying for your fare everyday!”
“Except for the food, sir, my boss gives me transportation allowance” he said. “Meals are at personal expense,” he clarified.
Rico Sayson, Ramil’s boss, owns a ten hectare-coconut farm in Polomolok, South Cotabato and started this food peddling business two years ago.
“I am a daily wage earner plus 5% commission from sales, sir!” Ramil narrated. “I can dispose 60 pairs a day and with my earnings I feel blessed, I can well support my family even if I started peddling just in August of last year. With the commission, I am inspired to double my efforts. In Gensan, I can dispose 140 pairs in just one day!”
Having paid for a pair of buko pies, Ramil hastened to leave for a ride to yet another destination, wherever it is, he is assured of his daily wage and food on his family’s table.
In contrast, Eloisa could still be walking by now for her P50....or nothing!
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