Meet the Taho Vendor Millionaire!

I AM INSPIRED. Who would dare to believe that a 24-year-old man who just finished Grade 4 is earning more or less a hundred thousand a month just by selling taho? What? Earning thousands just by selling taho? Yes! You’ve read it right. To my surprise, he's earning millions in a year! Unbelievable as it may seem, it came to pass in the life of Nelson Dugayo.

To a man who was tall and skinny when he was young, he didn’t have the courage to study again. “Sobrang mahiyain ko talaga noong bata ako. Sobrang payat ko at ang tangkad ko pa, kaya palagi akong binubully ng mga tao. Kaya hindi na ako nag-aral ulit kasi sobrang nahihiya ako,” Nelson recalled.

Despite being shy, he started working at an early age. At 15, he already worked in a canteen, and at 17, he worked as a waiter in a catering where he had the chance to roam around different places in the metro, meeting different people. That’s when he learned to face life boldly.

It was in 2007 when Nelson embraced the profession of selling taho. He used to sell in the streets of Makati, particularly in Rockwell, enduring the weather uncertainties and the ups and downs of his earnings, until a day came when his hard work was finally paid off more than what he had expected.

It was just a usual day then, when someone bought taho from him and asked if his business was going well. “Ok na ok po! Ang laki po ng benta ko eh,” Nelson replied happily. To his amazement, he was just talking to Mr. Nestor Padilla, the president of Rockwell.

“Gusto mo bang magtinda dito?” These were the words that turned his life around. Nelson didn’t even have a vision of how his profession would level up to its exceptionality, of where it could take him. “Eh, para pong imposible naman po ‘yon, kasi iba ‘yung level ng tao dito, nanliliit ako na taho lang ‘yung dala ko. Nanliliit ako kasi, puro artista pa ang nakikita ko, tsaka mayayaman talaga. Parang imposible naman po,” he admits.

“Pero gusto mo?” Upon receiving these words, a new hope began to leap off his heart. And that was it! At 2009, he moved inside the Power Plant Mall surrounded by fine dining restaurants, leaving a new attraction to the elite people that were able to rekindle the childhood in them.

Nelson’s Taho is no extraordinary. It’s the same taho that we used to love. Wondering what makes it different? This time, it’s his taho that is being ran after and craved for, even by prominent people.

Lovi Poe, Vicky Morales, Alan Peter Cayetano, and Cesar Montano? Well, they are just some of his loyal buyers. Well, there’s no automatic. There was even no magic, just passion and hard work.

Nelson remains his feet on the ground, just enjoying the success that God has placed on his hands, and living a simple life with his wife and two kids.

This taho vendor is just one of the living testimonies that it’s not about where you’ve been; it’s about where you’re going. It’s not about what you’ve accomplished; it’s about where your hard work will take you.

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Try Kuya Nelson's Taho located in Power Plant Mall, Rockwell, Makati! Ang sarap, nainspire na ako, nalibre pa ako ng tahooooooooo! :D

Revolution Not Rebellion

Written Aug. 26, 2013

The time has come, once again, for the Filipinos to rise up.

One by one, little by little, from People Power to EDSA Revolution, the different faces of corruption in the Philippines slowly unfold. The pretensions hidden in the dark are undeniably being revealed now in the light. Very true it is that you cannot really run away from the truth; it will always haunt you. It’s either it will free you or kill you.

On one of the most remembered days in the country, the National Heroes’ Day every 26th of August, the Filipinos made history again. A “Million People March” was pushed through by the netizens in the social media to protest about the Pork Barrel Scam and has come to its actuality this year in Manila.

President Benigno Aquino III earlier declared that he is going to abolish the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) upon receiving a lot of protests. Netizens, however, did not stop and still want to see the President’s word come to flesh.

The pork barrel, that is alloted to the congressmen, is supposed to finance their proposed or ongoing projects in their respective communities. Unfortunately, it often slides directly from their hands to their big big pockets.

Thousands to a million Filipinos, then, from different walks of life, all joined the march in Luneta, as one. Everyone was waived from their upbringing and status in life and started voicing out their stand to abolish pork barrel, punish the sinner, and have transparency in the country. There is only one common in them: they are Filipinos who hunger for righteousness and thirst not just for good but Godly governance.

The Million People March is just the beginning of the awakening in the Philippines.

Other people may call this rebellion, maybe they’re right. But to know that the Filipinos have been sleeping in silence for so long about the things that they should fight for? Maybe they’re wrong. It’s just high time for every Juan dela Cruz to keep ranks and cry for change.

Indeed, this is the start of a revolution.