Into college

takatakboy— one who sells cigarettes and candy on the street from a wooden box, on which he would make the “takatak” noise to attract attention.

takatak boys, and we would hang from jeep to jeep to cover the QuiapoLuneta-Pier-Lawton route, earning P15 a day,” Cayas continued without a hint of resentment.

“Now the difference was that among us 12 stowaways, akolanganghindinagka-caraycruzathindinagsisigarilyo drugs. At the end of the day, yungnanalo langsasugalangmayperaatyungibalahatuutangdun sananalo.Ako,mayperaako,” he said.

[“Among the 12 stowaways, I was the only one who didn’t gamble, smoke or do drugs. At the end of the day, those who lost gambling needed to borrow money from those who lost, but not me. I always had money from my sales.”]

The lure of the underworld was always present, but no amount of cajoling ever convinced Cayas to join the fray.

“Since I was on my own, I had to learn how to control myself. If not, I’d just waste the money that I worked hard for and my dream of studying would be as distant as it was when I was in Samar,” he explained.

After eight months of living in the streets, a maternal relative volunteered to take him in as a helper and promised to send him to college. Cayas felt as if he won the lottery, but the opposite unraveled. His uncle would beat him up and his aunt’s promise of sending him to college never happened. Worse, his relatives falsely told his mother he was good for nothing, a drug addict and a smuggler.

His mother wrote him pleading with him to come home but the young Cayas was not dissuaded. He returned to Luneta and resumed his trade as a takatak boy, determined to make up the money to go to school. Hard work combined with frugality allowed him to

“After paying, I left the campus wondering where to get the money for next month’s tuition. Then by accident, I saw an announcement for a scholarship exam for the College of Engineering.”

He grabbed the opportunity and with a lot of wrangling and persuasive dialogue with those in position, he was admitted into the Industrial and Management Engineering program as a full scholar. In return, he volunteered to work for the department too, all while still living in Luneta.

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in the region—it was also his desire for a time to become a soldier, imbibing the values of discipline, integrity and respect for others. It was therefore but natural that the young man soon became Corps Commander of the MLQU ROTC. Thankfully, the rank also allowed him to reside at the ROTC headquarters on Hidalgo Street, ending his days living along Roxas Boulevard.

bestowed me a monthly allowance,” he added happily.

company distributes in the Philippines.

Working hard, the physical work merely served as his stepping stone to bigger responsibilities, so that in three-month’s time, Cayas was promoted to supervisor and even sent to Japan to Noritake’s headquarters for a half-year training. Coming home, he hit the ground running, achieving record sales and opening two other branches for the Japanese import in two years.

Gainfully employed, he took the next step in his personal life and married Lorna, a nurse, and began

by the multinational company in the country—the Astra Gem Award, a recognition for those who gained a wealth of experience and wisdom through long years of service.

Eventually, when Astra merged with Zeneca, Cayas availed the retrenchment package offered in order to complete payment on his housing loan.

As he left, he also took with him the valuable knowledge he gained from trainings at the Astra Academy International branches in Australia, Indonesia, Thailand and Singapore on Sales, Marketing, and Leadership. These helped to solidify his 21-year-long career in the pharmaceutical industry, and of course, another big company was bound to notice his talent.

It was then that Cayas joined Multicare Pharma and turned its revenues around as Vice President for Sales and Strategic Business Unit Head. When the homegrown busi- It was during his stint as Altermed Corporation national sales manager that Cesar Cayas (back row, second from left)—here with company president and physician Francis Wade Gomez (center) and district managers—led the team that first promoted lagundi as an all-natural cough remedy Cayas earned numerous award throughout his decades-long career in the pharmaceutical industry