#KinayaNiMama: Doctor owes career to his fish vendor mom

As far as John Nico Ronquillo could remember, his mom has always been working day in and day out as a just to provide for him.

Nanita Ronquillo is a single mother who has been working as a fish vendor for more than 20 years. She earns about P1,000 a day. 

"Kahit na may pagkakataon na ako mismo, suko na ako sa pag-aaral ko, andyan siya para sabihin na tuloy lang kaming dalawa," Nico said.

He added, "Simula pa noong bata hanggang lumaki na ako ng ganito hanggang sa maging doctor ako, hindi niya ako binitawan."

According to the 32-year old Medicine graduate, "maaga pa lang, around 5am, umaalis na siya sa bahay. Minsan inaabot siya ng 12 na ng tanghali pero pag maraming natitira, babalik pa siya ng hapon. Aabutin siya ng 5 or 6 ng hapon sa palengke."

Nanita said that being a fish vendor isn't exactly a walk in the park. From talking to the customers all day to chopping the big fishes for sale, a day's work can be extremely tiring.

But it was the 55-year-old Nanita's choice to raise Nico on her own. She left Nico's father when she found out that he already had another family. She has raised Nico all on her own since then.

Despite all the pain and sacrifices Nanita had to endure, Nico remembered his mother telling him, "Kahit anong mangyari, tayong dalawa, magtutulungan tayo. Kung ano man mga pangarap mo, maabot mo."

According to Nico, he never felt like something was missing. "Para sa 'kin kumpleto pa rin naman 'yung pakiramdam kasi kahit na lumaki na kulang, na wala 'yung tatay ko sa tabi ko, hindi naman kasi nagkulang yung nanay ko sa 'kin," he said.

It's Nanita's hard work and perserveance that pushed Nico to keep at it, despite the odds. There are times when he's had to stop school because, with Nanita's P1,000 daily earnings, the price of his education can be steep.

"Everytime na mawawalan ako ng kakayanan para magbayad, nagtratrabaho ako," he said.

And what was supposed to be a 4-year course, became 6 years for him.

Now that he's working, Nico pledged that he would help out his mother, especially on finding treatment for Nanita's heart disease.

Nico's medical internship, prevents him from visiting his mother, but for Mother's day, Nico made an exception.

"Siyempre gusto ko lang magpasalamat sa lahat ng ginawa mo sa akin," Nico began, cake and flower in tow. "Simula pa noon hanggang ngayon, hindi mo ako iniwan sa pangarap ko." — LA, GMA News