By Diann Calucin
At 70, with weakening knees and fading hearing, “Uncle Rooney” of Binondo could have chosen rest. Instead, every morning before Manila fully wakes, he walks the streets carrying bags of food — not for himself, but for the stray cats waiting in Tutuban, Binondo, and Sta. Cruz.
What began in 2015 as feeding a handful of cats has become a daily ritual he cannot abandon.
“If I don’t feed them, my day is not complete,” he said.
For him, the routine is no longer just movement — it is meaning.
“At my age, mahina na tuhod ko… pero blessing pa rin na kaya ko pang maglakad. Kahit papaano, may nagagawa pa ako para sa iba.”
Despite the physical toll and the expense — often P2,000 to P3,000 a day on cat food, sometimes more for clinic visits — Uncle Rooney continues.
He lives alone, retired after decades of running an electronics repair shop, and says the walks give him purpose.
“At my age, mahina na tuhod ko… pero blessing pa rin na kaya ko pang maglakad. Kahit papaano, may nagagawa pa ako para sa iba.”
Rain or shine, he shows up. Not for recognition, but because the cats know him, wait for him, and depend on him.
And for Uncle Rooney, that responsibility is enough reason to keep going.
