Don't fall for a straight man who'd just leave you.

Joan Dioso, almost 50, originally came from Cebu Province. He's been working as a beautician in Makati City for as long as he cares to remember. He was around five when he was given the name Joan (legal name: Nemecio Jr.).

"Ambot ngano Joan (I don't know why they called me Joan)!" he laughs.

If he can share a life lesson, it is to "enjoy to the max!" he says.

"Ayaw ka-gugma sa laki kay biyaan lang ka. Mas ayos kung enjoy-enjoy ka lang. Mas mu-guwapa ka, mas guwapa pud ang life (Don't fall for a straight man who'd just leave you. You're better off just having fun. You'd be more beautiful that way, and your life will be more beautiful too)!"

source: Speak Carabao

Kalsada is place where gays truly belong.

Mark, 23, laughed with his friends when they teased him how – as a young gay boy – his father used to palo (hit) him.

“Concerned lang siya sa akin (He’s just concerned with me),” he justified, adding that he feels no bitterness towards his father now as an adult. In fact, having graduated from college already, he wants to find employment overseas “so I can look after my parents.”

“Is it hard having strict parents?” he was asked.

He was quiet for a while. Then: “Hindi ako masyadong gala (I choose not to go out often),” he said, thinking his choosing not to leave the house won’t aggravate his parents.

“Pero dito sa kalsada, naging siya siya (But here in the streets, he becomes the real him),” a neighbor butted in.

Mark laughed again, and then said: “True!”

source: Speak Carabao

A Konduktura's Tale

Dasma Bayan.

"We moved here from Cebu," she said in her vernacular. "Abi namo sayon lang diri (We thought it was gonna be easy here)..."

To make a living now, she helps her husband by serving as his "konduktora" (barker/money collector and changer), as he drives the jeepney from Dasmarinas to Baclaran and vice versa.

"The night is ours," she said, "as we leave the kids at home to sleep as we try to make a living."

Yes, she admitted that it could be tiring, and "delikado pud (it could be dangerous)," but "wala man ta mahimo (it's not like there's anything more we can do..."

source: Speak Carabao

Age doesn't matter when you're starving.

Diesel St., Palanan, Makati. - "Dalawang taon na akong nagbibenta ng tinapay (I've been selling bread for two years now)," Chris said. "Pero dati, panadero ako; ako gumagawa ng binebenta (But before, I was a baker; I made what's being sold)."

"Malakas ba ang benta (You earn well)?" "Ayos lang;

kahit paano may napapadala ako sa magulang ko sa probinsiya (It's okay; at least I am able to send money to my parents in the province)." Then, as he was wrapping bread for a buyer: "Onse pa kapatid ko; dose kami magkakapatid; pang-anim ako. Kailangan tumulong (I have 11 siblings; there are 12 of us; I'm the sixth. I need to help out)."

"Teka, ilang taon ka na ba (Wait, how old are you again)?" he was asked.

"Sixteen."

"Ang bata mo pa pala (You are still very young)!"

He smirked. "Walang bata sa gutom. Kaya kayod lang nang kayod (Age doesn't matter when you're starving. So just work)." source: Speak Carabao