A CHILDLESS widow, 101 years old, sleeps alone. She sells newspapers, candies, cigarettes, and horse-race programs on the sidewalk of a commercial building near Santa Cruz church in Manila.
Herminia P. Rodriguez, fondly called Mamang by people in the area who know her, has been in the streets for about half of her life.
Born in Angeles City, Pampanga, on May 7, 1914, she was only 6 when her parents migrated to Manila in search of the proverbial greener pasture.
They settled in Sampaloc after her father found work as a firefighter. Her mother chose to remain a housewife to take care of the children.
Out of 15 siblings, only she and her 83-year-old sister, who lives today in Barangay Payatas in Quezon City, are still alive.”
Her husband was a police officer who died over a decade ago. Their union was not fortunate. They grew old without children.
Selling newspapers, candies, cigarettes, horse race program has been Mamang’s source of living for roughly 50 years now.
With the modest amount she earned, she was able to help her siblings educate about 10 of their grandchildren.
Today, she sleeps on a pane of cheap wood, mounted on wooden legs that serve as a stand during the day to display her merchandise.
Large umbrellas serve as her covering against the rain. “She has been sleeping here for over 40 years now,” said Mansueta de la Serna, a 76-year-old distant relative and retired teacher.
Mamang makes P2 for a copy of the tabloids sold, P5 for the broadsheets, and P2 for the horse-race program.
Today she grosses about P200 daily.
“I make a meager amount daily,” she said in Filipino. “Just enough for my food. Sometimes I save P10 in a day.”
In the past years, she could sell as much as P1,000. Then, she sold soft drinks and watched over cars on hazard parking at Plaza Santa Cruz.
“I got paid P10 a car,” she said.
Today, she can hardly sell two packs of a particular brand of cigarette a day. Same with candies. She barely gets a glimpse from passersby.
For her food, she buys a cup of boiled rice for P10 and an order of viand for P35.
She has never been a vegetarian. She loves pork and chicken. Today she eats cabbage and beans, both cooked with ground pork.
Mamang had collapsed twice. It was due to fatigue, her doctor said.
The centenarian is fortunate for some storekeepers hand her food occasionally, de la Serna said. One of the stores in area, even allows her to use its toilet, Mamang said.
The guard at a nearby fast-food outlet keeps an eye on her at night, because despite her obvious poverty, she has been robbed twice, de la Serna said.
In one of those thefts, she lost her savings amounting to P2,500 and the silver spoon from her mother that she treasured.
On Saturday nights, Mamang enjoys a sleep at her sister’s house, where her laundry is washed.
On Sunday afternoons, she returns to Plaza Santa Cruz, vending her merchandise and living on the street again for the week.
“I will not retire as long as I am able,” she said. “If I stop doing this, I will have nothing to eat.”
Mamang has dreamt of someday becoming a physician and despite her years on the street, her demeanor and speech remained untouched by the coarseness of the streets.
She speaks of no bitterness, embraces challenges, and accepts life as a treasure.
She dreams of earning more money so she could help her grandnephews and grandnieces grow up healthy.