A 23-year-old fashion designer from Laguna paid tribute to her late dad, a tricycle driver, after a vlogger named Buknoy insinuated that those working as such have no ambition in life.
Jan Marini Capacio posted photos over the weekend which showed herself and her father Nomeriano Capacio celebrating her graduation day.
The young businesswoman penned a letter addressed to Buknoy, who ended up deleting his viral video due to the backlash it caused.
“Here’s the dream that was fulfilled by my tricycle driver father…I used to have a bone tumor. My dad paid for my treatment as well as my education. There were three of us whom he was able to send to college. There were times when he would fail to go home because he was busy working on the road,” Jan said in her post, which has been shared almost 42,000 times.
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“You do not know how hard they have to work each day underneath the sun while inhaling the dust from the roads. They have dreams which they fulfill, Buknoy. You should continue with your education; you have more to learn,” she added.
In an interview chat with Coconuts Manila, Jan said she wrote the post after feeling hurt over what Buknoy, AKA Andrew Lapid, said about tricycle drivers.
“I was sad when Buknoy said that about tricycle drivers,” Jan said in English and Filipino. “I wanted to show him and other people that tricycle drivers have also fulfilled their dreams, like my father, [through us].”
Aside from paying for her treatments, Nomeriano also paid for his wife’s hospitalization when she had a stroke. He also sent Jan and her brothers Joemerson Capacio, 26, and Jethroi Capacio, 25, to college. All of them have already graduated from school.
Nomeriano passed away in November at 61 years old due to a heart attack. Jan feels sad that he hasn’t seen her completely fulfill her dreams.
“I’m a seamstress and I also design gowns. I had a brand launch in February. It was supposed to be my surprise for my father but he didn’t make it,” she said.
In light of Buknoy’s insult, she encourages everyone to respect tricycle drivers.
“It’s not right to belittle tricycle drivers. Drivers have a huge role to play in our society; they have respectable jobs, just like my father did,” she advised.
Have you heard of other inspiring stories about Filipinos paying tribute to their parents? Tell us by leaving a comment below or tweeting to @CoconutsManila.
