A netizen recently went viral on social media after she shared a story of a man who was handing out free origami flowers in Mandaluyong City.
Uploader Janimae Julia Jeremias said that she would see Tatay Ronel David make origami flowers on the sidewalks almost every day.
“Parang one week ko siya nakikita halos every day. Nung kada daan namin sa kanya nahihiya pa ako mag approach kasi hindi ko nga alam kasi wala namang price na nakalagay. Naging observant muna ako sa una and then lagi siyang naka-smile. Like every time na dadaan kami lagi siyang nakatawa kaya sabi ko gusto kong tulungan ‘to hanggang sa kung anong makakaya ko,” Janimae told The Philippine STAR.
On May 14, 2023, she decided to talk to him after she went grocery shopping.
“Binilhan ko siya ng drinks and snacks and then nilapitan namin siya, we asked if magkano ‘yung flowers na binebenta niya kasi ‘yun sana ‘yung plan namin ibigay for Mother’s Day. Tapos sabi niya hindi daw po niya ‘yun binebenta. Parang if natutuwa daw po ‘yung mga tao sa kanya or nagbibigay sa kanya ng any amount or anything na parang appreciation lang kay tatay,” she recalled.
Janimae then had a chance to learn more about Tatay Ronel’s life.
“Sinabi niya po kasi sa’kin for the meantime, ‘yun daw po muna kaya niyang gawin kasi hindi daw po siya nakakapasok sa trabaho. Pero iniisip ko nga bakit hindi niya na lang ibenta? Pero sabi niya, mas preferred niya daw po ibigay kasi marami daw po ang natutuwa sa ginagawa niya,” she added.
Janimae said that she was touched with Tatay Ronel’s dedication to continue life despite hardships.
With Tatay Ronel’s approval, she uploaded a video on TikTok to share his story on social media.
“Sabi ko, I’ll just use TikTok kasi marami akong mari-reach out na tao na pwedeng maka-help din kay Tatay. Sabi ko, “can you repost this video kasi gusto ko talagang matulungan si Tatay na makahanap ng work,” she said.
Surprisingly, her post went viral on social media with more than 2.2 million views and 300,000 likes.
“Nabigla ako nasa two million views na. Pero at the end of the day sabi niya rin po baka matulungan daw po siya makahanap ng work after po mag viral nung video,” Janimae said.
Janimae received around P8,000 from generous individuals.
“[Nag] grocery [kami] and nagdagdag din po ako dun sa cash. ‘Yung mga friends ko po nagbigay din ng cash kay Tatay, pang-araw-araw na lang daw po muna nila Tatay since wala pa po siyang work,” she noted.
Tatay Ronel expressed gratitude to Janimae and to all the netizens who reached out to help him.
“Super thankful po siya sa lahat daw po ng tumulong. The main thing na gustong-gusto ko about him, kahit hindi niya pinapakita na pagod siya, lagi siyang nakatawa,” she stressed.
“The main purpose of that video po is, gusto ko makita ng mga tao na may lumalaban nang patas. Hindi naman natin kailangan ng pera or kayamanan para makatulong sa iba. Kasi if we [want] to, we would,” she added.
