For Metropolitan Manila Development Authority General Manager Nicolas “Nick” Torre III, facing hundreds of vendors and market stallholders at the Quezon City Vendors Summit was more than another speaking engagement.

It brought him back to a chapter in his family’s life when a small stall inside a public market became their source of livelihood and helped keep the family going.

“Kapag tinitingnan ko kayo, nakikita ko ang nanay ko sa inyo,” Torre told the vendors.

(When I look at you, I see my mother in you.)

Torre recalled how his mother once operated a small tailoring shop inside the Dumangas Public Market in Iloilo. At the time, the stall was her only source of income as she worked to support the family and send Torre’s four siblings, two sisters and two brothers, through college.

“Kaya masasabi ko talagang laking palengke ako,” Torre said. “Minsan sa buhay namin, isang maliit na puwesto sa palengke ang bumuhay sa pamilya namin. Doon kumayod ang nanay ko. Doon nanggaling ang pang-araw-araw namin at ang pangpaaral sa mga kapatid ko.”

(That is why I can really say I grew up in the market. At one point in our lives, a small market stall supported our family. That was where my mother worked. That was where our daily expenses and my siblings’ education came from.)

He said the experience shaped how he views vendors and small entrepreneurs.

“Kaya kapag nakakakita ako ng isang vendor, hindi lang tindero o tindera ang nakikita ko. Nakikita ko ang isang nanay o tatay na gumigising nang maaga, nagbubukas ng puwesto, at kumakayod buong araw dahil may pamilyang naghihintay sa bahay.”

(So when I see a vendor, I don’t just see a seller. I see a mother or father who wakes up early, opens a stall and works all day because a family is waiting at home.)

For Torre, a market stall may occupy only a few square meters, but an entire family’s livelihood can depend on it.

“Sa bawat puwesto, may pamilyang umaasa. May pagkain sa hapag. May tuition. May kuryente at tubig na kailangang bayaran. May mga anak na gustong mapagtapos. Alam ko iyan dahil minsan, pamilya namin ang umaasa sa isang puwesto sa palengke.”

(Behind every stall is a family that depends on it. There is food for the table, tuition, electricity and water bills to pay, and children their parents want to put through school. I know because our family once depended on a market stall.)

Torre said the government must understand this reality when crafting and enforcing policies affecting vendors’ livelihoods.

At the same time, he appealed to vendors to work with the government in keeping markets, sidewalks and communities orderly, clean and safe.

“Hindi kailangang maging magkalaban ang kabuhayan at kaayusan. At lalong hindi kailangang maging magkalaban ang vendor at gobyerno. Magkakampi tayo,” Torre said.

(Livelihood and order do not have to be at odds. Vendors and the government certainly do not have to be enemies. We are partners.)

He said good governance should allow ordinary Filipinos to earn an honest living without sacrificing public order, while ensuring rules are enforced with an understanding of the people whose livelihoods they affect.

Torre ended his message by returning to his mother and the experience that made the gathering particularly meaningful to him.

“Kaya espesyal sa akin ang pagkakataong makaharap kayo. Dahil kapag nakikita ko ang sipag at tiyaga ninyo, naaalala ko ang nanay ko. At naaalala ko kung gaano kalaking bagay ang isang maliit na puwesto sa palengke para sa isang pamilyang nangangarap na makaahon.”

“Marangal ang trabaho ninyo. Marangal ang paghahanapbuhay. At ang tungkulin ng gobyerno ay tulungan ang mga taong nagsisikap na mabuhay nang marangal.”