New Year’s Day should be happy and prosperous. It is a time to welcome the next 365 days in an explosive and festive mood. But for a mother and child on a footbridge across a major expressway in Metro Manila, it is business as usual. Twenty-nine-year-old single mom Tess Orasa sets up her mini store beside a carton fruit box where her three-year-old son Ariel soundly sleeps. This was a typical day for them. Tess and Ariel, who lives in a small rented room without toilet, would wake up early and bring their boxes, crates and merchandise to be able to sell candies, cigarettes, fruits, or bread to pedestrians crossing the footbridge on their way to work, market or school. Ariel then catches up with his sleep on a carton box beside his mom or just play along the footbridge within his mother’s view. Ariel grew up fatherless. His mom’s partner abandoned them when Tess got pregnant with Ariel. But despite everything, Tess tries to give little Ariel toys to play with. And on new year’s day, Ariel got a new plastic blue robot. They may not have all the expensive items in the world, but they have each other. Priceless!
PHOTOJOURNALIST