ONCE a waste picker who is now regarded as a prime star in local showbiz, Jericho Rosales is familiar with grappling with odds in pursuing his dreams of providing for his family, and having their own home.
Rosales, 40, has now achieved far beyond that, with businesses of his own, his own family, and an acting career that now spans 24 years.
In a Facebook post on Monday, Rosales recalled holding on to his dreams despite circumstances being against him, as he urged his followers to do the same amid the coronavirus pandemic that has fundamentally changed everyday life and has forced populations to stay home.
“Think a lot of us have stopped dreaming and reaching our goals because of the negative factors around us – poverty, lack of support and the additional uncertainty we get from this pandemic. Or at least we deeply questioned them. Our tomorrows are filled with questions and cares. It is natural for us to think that way. We all are going through this and it is very hard,” he wrote.
“Dreams are dreams because they seem far from reality. It can be easy to forget about them. But with a heart full of hope and a mind filled with positivity, nothing is impossible,” he said.
Rosales, who made his showbiz breakthrough via the “Eat Bulaga” talent search “Mr. Pogi” in 1996, has made no secret of his humble background.
He attended six different public schools as he juggled manual labor to help his family earn. Ultimately, he did not pursue college, as he “did not know what career meant and we simply could not afford it.”
“When I was young I collected discarded wires and old newspapers to be sold in junk shops in exchange for money and sometimes cheap cheese curls. I collected plastic trash from a dumpsite with my cousin, I sold ice buko (frozen coconut water with milk and sugar), sold fish in the market, became a jeepney ‘barker’, a pizza boy and a driver,” Rosales said.
“Clearly,” he said, “I did not have the ideal life situation.”
“But I had a dream — to get myself and my family out of poverty and have our own house. That was my first major dream. I had faith in God and I also had time. So I prayed and prayed and never stopped learning new things. I kept moving. I kept my dream infront of me,” he said.
Enumerating doors of opportunities that opened for him, Rosales credited “self-education, learning skills, surrounding yourself with forward thinking like-minded people and using your challenges as tools for self-improvement/development.”
For instance, Rosales, despite not finishing his education, learned to speak and write English “by watching TV and movies.”
“Forcing myself to read and talking to people gave me wonderful ideas and opened my eyes to new possibilities with a clearer vision for my life,” he said.
In the face of external challenges, Rosales emphasized that a strong mindset can help one in achieving their goals.
“What we have in our hands is NOW. It holds a lot of power if you know how to use it. It can change your tomorrows. Shaping it starts the moment you tell yourself, ‘This is my tomorrow,’” he wrote.
“We also have each other,” Rosales said.
“They say dreams are only dreams and wishes will remain to be wishes but not until you do something about them. So keep dreaming, keep hoping and keep moving. You are made to be something and a someone for another. I wish all of us a bright future and I’ll do my part to make that happen,” he said.
“‘Di mo kailangan ng tsinelas sa dagat ng pangarap. Naks.”(ABS-CBN)
