Community celebration · Street corner · Marikina
Aling Nena’s Store
Sari-sari bright · June 2026 · 60 neighbours
“Ten years. I know what every child on this street likes to buy.”
It began as a small thank-you and turned into a street party, because word travels quickly on a road where everyone owes the same person a small kindness.
The notebook
Ten years of lista, kept in spiral notebooks stacked under the counter. Aling Nena refused to display them. Someone displayed them anyway, closed, as a stack — the point being their height, not their contents.
The street
The barangay lent two tables and a tarpaulin. A tricycle driver lent his speaker. The neighbour with the good grill did what the neighbour with the good grill always does.
What the neighbours said
- “She fed this street through the pandemic on credit and never chased one peso.” — Kap Boy
- “My first job was counting her bottles. I am an accountant now.” — Marvin, age 26
- “She knows my order before I open my mouth.” — Ate Susan
- “Ten years and the store has never once been closed on a Sunday.” — Mang Ely
What she said
Asked to give a speech, she gave four sentences, thanked her late husband, and went back behind the counter because two children were waiting to buy ice candy.
The palette
The team
A neighbour set the whole thing up on Setnayan in an evening — who was bringing what, and one link so every family on the street could pull their own photos afterwards.