Taho street vendor “Mang Boyong” gives up income to feed checkpoint personnel

Street food vendor Mang Boyong at the Bulacan checkpoint offering his wares for free. Photo courtesy of Hannibal
Talete Facebook.

Mang Boyong, a street food vendor selling Taho, has given up his daily income and chose to give away the popular Filipino snack to feed checkpoint personnel along the Valenzuela-Meycauayan Bulacan boundary.

Mang Boyong was seen in netizen and news posts giving out the popular snack made of tofu pudding to the checkpoint personnel whom he said noted were working tirelessly and under the heat of the sun in that area.

News 5 correspondent Hannibal Talete uploaded on Facebook on Friday, March 20, 2020, some of the first images of Mang Boyong, saying, “Wala pang alas-7 ng umaga halos maubos na ang taho na inilalako ni Mang Boyong. Libre nya kasi itong ipinamimigay sa mga front liners dito sa checkpoint sa Valenzuela-Meycauayan Bulacan boundary”.

(It’s only almost 7am and Mang Boyong’s Taho is running out because he gives it free to the front liners here at the checkpoint in Valenzuela-Meycauayan Bulacan boundary)

Mang Boyong said that it is hard not to get enough sleep that is why Taho will be able to help personnel at the checkpoint to gain strength.

Mang Boyong sets up his taho cart to give away food to checkpoint personnel. Photo from Hannibal Talete Facebook.

Netizens heaped praises on the selflessness and good deed of the street vendor.

“A simple acts means a lot para sa ating mga frontliners Thank you so much manong  May God bless you more ,” Khim Estores Balanza commented.

Netizen Roy Loloy Dacillo referred to Mang Boyong as an unsung hero, posting, “Salute And Ingat Sa Inyong Mga Frontliners Pati Mga Unsung Heroes This Time Of Crisis!”

Mang Boyong has been selling Taho in the streets of Valenzuela City for 27 years.

Frontliners in the fight against COVID-19 have been receiving citizen support, among them, the symbolic nationwide applause for healthcare workers staged by netizens the day after the Luzon-wide lockdown was announced on March 16, a Lend-A-Bike Project that helped health workers get to the hospitals they service in the face of the suspension of mass transportation, and food outlets sending food to the hospital workers.

SEND THANKS to Mang Boyong and SHARE WITH US in the comments below if you know of any ordinary citizen initiative in this time of the COVID-19 pandemic.