Great Man Part I: Mang Mando

In connection to the not-so-recent Father’s day, I felt the need to write a two-part blog about two great men. These men I admire to the highest level, more than any rocking band.

First is Mang Mando. He is the old man, about 60 to 65, who live with his wife in Bulacan. He owns a store along the highway which served as a stopover to travelers or like us who work in Manila and from time to time go home to the province. We were among Mang Mando’s suki. He has the best buko juice and the tastiest barbeques. I’m so glad he’s fond of me, and though he knows my name, he still calls me bunso. He opens up his store early in the morning, neatly arranging all his merchandise (patis, chicharon, chichirya, suka, etc.) outside and again one by one returning it inside the store before closing at night. It’s sad that I don’t get to pass by his store as often as I did before because most of the time I do not take the car home (you know, rising gas prices and the expensive toll fee). Whenever he sees me, and my family, his face lights up and immediately gives me buko juice and refills it whenever I empty the cup (which, by the way are, free of charge). He gives me chicharon and saves me the effort of opening it by opening the plastic himself. He sits beside me and say, “bunso, kamusta na sila daddy mo? kamusta na ang sakit niya?” I would gladly inform him that the whole family is okay. Then he would go outside the store, talk to his neighbor, and then come back with huge green mangoes. I didn’t know that he asked his neighbor to get the fruits for me. Sobrang nakakahiya na, but I can see that he’s happy giving to people. The only thing I can do is to buy something that he would let me pay, that is, if I insist hard.

He’s a very hardworking man, and though he really does not need to work since all his children have their own family and living a good life, he still continued selling those buko juice he make. At first, I do not understand why he had to work at his age, carrying some heavy stuff for his tindahan while his wife mind the cashier. He had already worked most his life (he used to be a San Miguel employee), having to raise all his younger siblings and his own kids. I felt that he should retire. But I guess some people really had that hardworking bone in them, those who just couldn’t stop working (I wish I had half of his attitude). Also, I could not understand why he and his wife are living alone. We, Filipinos, are used to having a close-knit, extended family. But in one conversation I had with him, I understood. When I asked him how was his sister who was a policewoman in Chicago, he said she was doing good and wanted to visit him again. He told her that earning money is really hard, even for her, so he does not want her to go home. He added that when her sister goes home, she would spend a lot of money and bring him and the other relatives to places. Her sister wants him and the rest of the family to experience luxury, even if only when she visits the country. But Mang Mando insisted, “Keep your money, you also worked hard for it. Do not mind me. I am happy here, I can take care of myself. Just take care of yourself there.” For someone who spent his youthful days trying to have his siblings finish college, he is a very selfless man. Unlike most people, he never asked, and never will ask, for someone to repay him. I think he decided to be alone with his wife and feel that his children have their own family now, that he has finished his obligation to them, and that they have no obligation to him. A call or a visit would suffice. I think Mang Mando would never ask anything from someone, but would rather give everything he can. Mang Mando truly is a great father, a selfless man.