My Rags to Riches Story

My story is your typical rags to riches story that we've heard so many times. Henry Sy started out as a poor shoe salesman and now owns an SM in every major city and province. Lucio Tan was a janitor before he became a tycoon. Jericho Rosales' door was knocked on by rich gays in his neighborhood before he became a household name by joining Eat Bulaga's Mr. Pogi and bagging Cindy Kurleto, Kristine Hermosa, and Heart Evangelista, that lucky bastard.

Although I was not born into such dire circumstances, I too had my own major obstacles that I had to overcome. For one thing, I did not have my own room when I was a young boy. I had to share my room in North Forbes Park with my older brother, Santi. It was very difficult. I had to share my Laser Disc collection with him. Our yayas would get our Ralph Lauren and Lacoste shirts mixed up on several occasions. The worst thing was not being able to control the room temperature since we were also sharing one air conditioner: I like it at 19 degrees Celsius and Santi prefers 18 degrees Celsius. I had to endure this for a full 6 months until my own room was finished being renovated.

Growing up in such a posh village was also hard. My mestizo friends would always tease me because I was a bit brown skinned since I was only 3/4 Spanish and that we only had 3 Mercedes Benz instead of the typical 4. We were also always short on household help. We only had 2 drivers so if Papa and Mama used them, I was stuck with my Abolito's driver and his old Rolls. I would always lie down in the back so that my friends would not see me in a bulok car. It wasn't until my first year in high school that I finally got my own 5 series BMW. Yes, it took that long.

So you see, I was not born with a silver spoon in my hand. To a normal person, I might've seemed wealthy, but in the circle I grew up in, we were impoverished. But I did not let this get me down. I believe that successful people are shaped by the obstacles they overcome. In fact, it is these obstacles that make a person successful. I am not ashamed of my past, in fact, I embrace it for I would not be the matapobre that I am now if it weren't for my experiences.