On Wednesday, Mar 12, YouScoop, the citizen journalism arm of GMA News published a photo taken by Mar Cheri Durante Galvez. She had taken the photo weeks ago. She explained, “I saw this scene at Tandang Sora U-turn on Commonwealth Avenue. A traffic officer was giving food to a little child who was begging for alms. I just really think it’s worth sharing.”
READ: VIRAL: Good traffic enforcer feeds homeless child
Soon enough, the snapshot went viral.
After Top Gear Philippines shared it on the Facebook wall, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) expressed its appreciation also on its Facebook wall. The MMDA posted a photo of Traffic Enforcer 1 Reynaldo Romano saying thank you to the citizen journalist who took a photo of him doing a good deed.
On the photo’s caption, the MMDA quoted Romano as saying, “May lumapit pong bata sa akin, nanghihingi ng pagkain. Tanong ko sa kanya, ‘3:30 na…bakit hindi ka pa kumakain?’ Sabi nya po hindi pa raw mula pa nung umaga. Kaya sinabihan ko po siya na mag-antay at ako na ang bibili ng pagkain. Eh may natitira po sa akin na kaunting pera noon kaya bumili po ako ng pansit, kanin at tubig. Tapos ‘yung kapatid po nya ang sabi nya po ay may sakit. Pinatawag ko po yung kapatid nya, at dalawa sila na pinakain ko. Naawa po ako kasi nakita ko na nanghihina sila (A child approached me asking for food. I told him, ‘It’s 3:30, how come you haven’t eaten?’ He told me he hadn’t eaten since that morning. So I told him to wait while I bought food. I had some money left that day so I bought pancit, rice, and water. The kid told me he had a sibling who was sick. I told him to call his sibling so they could both eat. I felt pity when I saw them looking so weak).”
Screengrab from MMDA’s Facebook page
