THE OLD VENDOR WAS SURPRISED ON BEING GIVEN A BIKE
By Patrick Garcia
A video of an elderly man and a bike shop owner Wednesday (June 3,
2021) is touching the hearts of many as it proved that despite the threat of
COVID-19, there are still people willing to help others in this time of crisis.
According to Juhdel Pagador the staff of Carandang Bike shop in Pasay
City and the uploader of the video, the elderly man, Carlos Samonte, had been
visiting the shop in MAKATI CITY every day for almost a week asking if there
were any bikes available to purchase. When the shop finally had an available
stock of mini mountain bikes, Samonte asked if he could buy one for P2,000.00
as the only money he had. The amount was less than its original price of
P4,500.00. But after he'd been back to the shop several times to look at the
bike, the shop's owner, Fe Carandang, agreed to give the bike to Samonte for
free and even gave him a bike lock to prevent it from being stolen saying,
"Kunin mo na iyan, regalo namin sa iyo." (Take it, It's our gift to you.) Carandang
said Samonte walks from Nichols to Makati every day to sell candies. With the
ongoing general community quarantine (GCQ) due to COVID-19 pandemic,
some public transportation has been suspended to regulate the movement of
people and to maintain social distancing. Because of this, commuters often
walk or bike for kilometers just to reach their workplaces.