It was noon along EDSA-Guadalupe. The heat of the sun seemed to penetrate the asphalt, and the smoke from the cars was intrusive.

In the middle of heavy traffic, a shiny and bulletproof Black SUV with the license plate “8” was parked.

Riding in it was Congressman Rico “Rikki” Salvacion, a politician known for being hot-tempered and impoverished.

On the side of the road, Mang Gorio, 60, was patiently sweeping, wearing his neon orange MMDA Metro Aide uniform.

The wind blew a few pieces of plastic cups towards the tire of the Congressman’s SUV.

Mang Gorio quickly chased after them to clean them up.

The SUV’s window opened.

“Hey! Tanda!” shouted Congressman Rikki.

“What?! You’re still scratching my car with your garbage! You’re so dirty, you’re even sticking to my car!”

“Excuse me, Sir,” Mang Gorio replied, bowing his head as he picked up the garbage.

“I’m just cleaning it so it doesn’t clog the drainage.”

“Clean?! You’re the one who’s dirty here on EDSA!” the Congressman insulted.

He picked up the iced coffee he was drinking, which was still full, and threw it at Mang Gorio.

SPLAT!

The coffee hit Mang Gorio’s uniform.

Wet and sticky.

The Congressman’s driver and bodyguard inside laughed.

“That’s what’s wrong with you! You’re a scoundrel! Get out of there!” Rikki shouted before closing the window.

Mang Gorio didn’t move.

He just wiped his face with his handkerchief and continued sweeping.

He was used to people belittling him.

What Rikki didn’t know was that this “stuntman” was a former Master Sergeant of the Scout Rangers who had retired due to injury and had chosen to live a quiet life.

A few more minutes passed.

Traffic was still moving.

Suddenly, two motorcycles pulled up next to the Congressman’s SUV.

There were two men on each, each wearing a helmet and leather jacket.

The behavior was suspicious.

In an instant, the motorcycle riders pulled out Uzi submachine guns.

RAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!

The SUV was peppered with bullets!

Even though it was bulletproof, the glass was gradually shattered by the high-caliber bullets.

The Congressman’s bodyguard got out to fight him, but he was immediately hit in the chest.

Dead.

Congressman Rikki was inside, shaking, screaming in fear.

“Help! Help! They’re going to kill me!”

An assassin opened the SUV door.

He was ready to shoot the Congressman in the head.

No one would defend him.

The motorists around him ran in fear.

The gun was pointed at Rikki’s forehead.

He closed his eyes, waiting for death.

Suddenly…

WHAPAK!

A powerful blow hit the assassin’s face!

His gun fell.

The assassin clutched his eyes as if he had been blinded.

“ARGHHH!” the gunman shouted.

When Congressman Rikki woke up, he saw Mang Gorio.

He wasn’t running away.

He was standing between him and the killers, holding his broom and a metal dustpan.

“Get out of there, sign! You’re going to die!” shouted another assassin who pulled out a knife and rushed at Mang Gorio.

Page: SAY – Story Around You | Original story.

Everyone thought it was the end of Metro Aide.

But they were wrong.

In a move that was faster than the eye could see, Mang Gorio used the handle of the broom to block the stab.

PAK!

He hit the opponent’s wrist.

He dropped the knife.

Mang Gorio kicked the man’s knee and hit him in the jaw with a metal dustpan.

KLANG!

The second assassin fell.

The two remaining gunmen on the motorcycle fired at Mang Gorio.

BANG! BANG!

Mang Gorio used the wide metal dustpan as cover!

The bullets bounced off the thick metal of the shovel.

He was not hit.

Mang Gorio ran towards the motorcycle riders.

He threw the broom like a javelin.

The motorcycle driver was hit in the face!

They were lying in the middle of EDSA.

Mang Gorio approached them.

In his every move, the training of a veteran soldier was evident.

He was not sweeping up trash today; he was sweeping up a criminal.

In less than two minutes, the four professional assassins were lying on the asphalt—beaten by an old man holding only a cleaning rag.

SWAT and police arrived.

They immediately surrounded the area and arrested the wounded gunmen.

Congressman Rikki slowly got out of his car.

Pale, sweaty, and his knees were shaking.

He looked at his savior.

Mang Gorio, who he had just spit on and thrown coffee at, was calmly picking up his broom and shovel.

He was adjusting his neon vest as if no murder had happened.

Rikki approached, almost crying with shame and gratitude.

“M-Manong…” the Congressman rasped.

“You saved me… Even… Even…”

Rikki couldn’t finish what he was saying. He remembered what he had done earlier. Mang Gorio looked at him. There was no anger in the old man’s eyes.

Only sadness and pity.

“Sir,” Mang Gorio said in a low voice.

“My job is to clean the road.

Sometimes plastic, sometimes paper… sometimes malicious intent.

It’s all the same dirt that needs to be swept away so that others can walk safely.”

Congressman Rikki knelt down in front of a crowd of people and the media.

He held Mang Gorio’s dirty hand.

“Forgive me, Tay,” the Congressman cried.

“My behavior was so bad.

I looked down on you because you were just a Metro Aide, but you were the one who had the courage to save my life.

I owe you everything.”

The public learned about Mang Gorio’s past.

He turned out to be Sgt. Gregorio Magtanggol, a hero of the Marawi Siege who was awarded the Medal of Valor before deciding to live a simple life.

Because of the incident, Congressman Rikki changed.

He passed a law that provides higher salaries and benefits to street sweepers and maintenance workers.

And Mang Gorio?

The Congressman made him Head Security Consultant, but he chose to teach Self-Defense to his fellow Metro Aides.

EDSA proved that day that true strength is not in position, money, or guns.

Sometimes, it is in the hands of someone who knows how to handle a broom, has a pure heart, and is ready to defend others even from those who insult him.