ROMANO with Tolentino. MMDA photo
MANILA, Philippines – The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) traffic constable who was lauded on social media for feeding a starving street-child received on Monday a P5,000 cash incentive, a commendation, a merit badge and medal.
In a simple ceremony held at the agency’s office in Guadalupe, Makati City, MMDA chairman Francis Tolentino also promised Traffic Constable 1 Reynaldo Romano a salary increase on top of college scholarships for two of his children.
The rewards came as a surprise to Romano, a contractual employee of the MMDA for the past 12 years with a daily salary of P400.
“You do something good without expecting anything in return. I did not dream of getting a promotion just because of the children I helped,” he told the Inquirer over the phone.
Romano said he was unaware that he was photographed by a motorist as he was giving food to a child begging for alms. The picture went viral after it was posted on the Facebook page of car magazine Topgear Philippines.
The MMDA constable who lives in an urban poor housing project in Rodriguez, Rizal said he was manning his post on Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City on March 12 when a child who looked frail and hungry asked him for food.
“I said, ‘It’s already late in the day and you still haven’t eaten.’ I used my last money, the P30 I had in my pocket, to buy food and water,” he said.
“It is not every day that we see civil servants like Mr. Romano going out of his way, spending his last money, to feed a hungry street child that he doesn’t even know. And for this simple deed, he deserves our respect and admiration,” Tolentino said.
Now if only Romano would get his wish: To become a regular employee of the MMDA.