The Kindness of Mang Mel

Good citizens help each other in special times of need. Here's one touching story that caught my attention that demonstrate that truth. I basically spent my growing up years in UP Diliman that's why the story of retired UP janitor, Mang Mel interest me a lot. Naaalala ko tuloy yung mga janitor at maintenance staff sa UP College of Engineering kung saan teacher ang tatay ko na naging mabait sa akin at parang naging tatay-tatayan din habang nasa trabaho ang tatay ko. Ang daming oras ko din yata sa spend sa UPEng since pre-kinder hanggang last day ng tatay nang mag-retire sya nung 1996, thats 16 years.

As Inquirer.net reported, a story posted on social networking website Multiply grabs the attention of the alumni of the University of the Philippines. It is about the plight of Meliton Zamora, the university's janitor who was unable to get his retirement package due to some "miscalculations" in his leave credits. In this interview with INQUIRER.net multimedia reporter Anna Valmero (see above), Garcia recounts how he became a loan guarantor to UP students and his call to resolve issues on his retirement pay.