Why viral lolo put ‘pambili ng gamot’ sign on his vegetables for sale

A 63-year-old man went viral online after a netizen spotted him selling vegetables in Taytay, Rizal, so he could buy maintenance medicines for himself.

In Cedric Castillo’s report on “24 Oras” Thursday, Roldan DC, the netizen who took Aris del Rosario’s photo, shared that he saw him sitting on the ground with his vegetables in front of him.

A note that said, “Pambili ng Gamot (Maintenance)” was on top of his goods.

“Napansin ko po siya dahil sa kanyang edad na rin, sa kanyang tinitinda,” Roldan said. “Sa mga katabi niya doon, siya po ’yung hindi masyadong mabenta, wala masyadong bumibili sa kanya.”

Since posting Tatay Aris’ photo online, the post has garnered over 6,000 shares.

Tatay Aris said he wasn’t always like this. In 2017, he had to undergo surgery due to excess fluid in his lungs. He said he used to earn a decent amount of money as a vendor in Divisoria, but things changed when the lockdown was imposed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“Wala po kaming trabaho. Pare-pareho eh kasi hindi makapuntang Divisoria,” said Tatay Aris. “’Yung anak ko wala pang trabaho.”

He added: “Every six months bago mag-lockdown nagpupunta ako sa Taytay Emergency Hospital. Mayroon akong executive checkup. 24 hours yun. Mga gamot binibigay nila. Eh ngayon po dahil naglockdown, hindi na po ako makapunta.”

Because he lacked funds for his maintenance medicines and his family needed money to survive, Tatay Aris decided to use the Php3,000 cash assistance from the government to buy vegetables and sell it.

“Kaya naman po ako naglagay ng ‘Pambili ng gamot’ dahil ang dami po namin nagtitinda. Ang dami namin,” he said. “Eh hindi po ako nilalapitan. Wala pong benta halos. Nung nilagay ko ’yun naisip ko lang po na bumili naman kayo para may pambili ako ng gamot.”

He eventually ran out of funds, but because of his photo that went viral, Tatay Aris soon received help from several people.

“Sobrang naawa ako kasi ganito sitwasyon natin may pandemic, may virus, nasa labas siya ng bahay para maghanapbuhay. Hiling ko kay tatay sana gumaling siya at sana malagpasan niya kinakaharap niyang problema,” said netizen Ryan Cuenca.

Through the generosity of donors, Tatay Aris received over Php 32,000.

Tatay Aris couldn’t help but be happy and thankful for the help he received. “Maraming maraming salamat sa tulong na in-extend nila para umahon po kami sa buhay namin,” he said. – Kaela Malig/RC, GMA News