“The Boy Selling Sampaguitas in Front of the Law School—Until Someone Asked His Name”
“The Boy Selling Sampaguitas in Front of the Law School—Until Someone Asked His Name”
Every afternoon, Nico stands in front of the Manila Central Law School, carrying a basket of sampaguitas. There are only twelve of him, barefoot, counting quickly. “Three, twenty,” he shouts as he circles around the cars and students in uniform. Most of them are dedma. The others buy because they are shy. Some give coins but don’t want to take the flowers. He doesn’t beg. He sells. What everyone doesn’t know is that Nico has memorized the names on the school bulletin board. He reads the Latin engraved on the arch of the entrance. Fiat justitia ruat caelum. He doesn’t know what it means, but it seems to have power. One rainy day, Bea stops by—a student, wet, looking tired. Nico offers her a sampaguita. Bea shakes her head, but suddenly asks: “What’s your name?” Nico looks up. No one has asked her yet. “Nico,” he answered. Bea smiled. “I’m Bea.” He bought a garland. The next day, he bought another one. Until every day. Sometimes, he brought snacks. One day, he was given a notebook. “Write it all down,” Bea said. “You’re smart.” Nico followed. He wrote down the sales, the names, the Latins, even his dreams. Bea graduated two years later. Nico was still there. Taller, quieter, but still the same bilao. One afternoon, Bea returned—with a man in a barong and a woman from the foundation. They offered Nico a scholarship. He cried. Not because of the offer, but because someone believed in him. A few years later, Nico was a student at the same law school. He had shoes. A book. But he never forgot the smell of sampaguita and Bea’s question. And every time a young vendor appeared on the street, he stopped. Because sometimes, all it takes is one simple question to change everything.
“The Boy Selling Sampaguita in Front of the Law School — Until Someone Asked His Name”
Continuation of the story of Nico, the boy who was once asked, and with that question — it all started.
Several years have passed, and Nico — once barefoot, carrying a bag of sampaguita — is now inside Manila Central Law School . Wearing his white polo shirt and black slacks, carrying books heavier than his previous daily income.
Sometimes, he couldn’t believe it.
All the corners of the school that he used to only observe from the outside, now he can walk around. Before, he would just listen to Latin lectures from students passing by — now, the professor himself calls him to recite.
“Mr. Santiago,” the professor called. “What does fiat justitia ruat caelum
mean ?”
Nico paused, smiling. He had been looking forward to answering that for a long time.
“Let justice be done, though the heavens fall,” he replied.
“Justice must be done, though the heavens fall.”
The professor nodded. The whole class was silent. But inside Nico, his heart was beating loudly.
🌸 Sampaguita is not just a memory
Whenever Nico comes home from class, he still passes by his old spot — by the school gate. There are still kids selling sampaguita. Most of them don’t know him. But sometimes, there are kids who nod or smile at him — because he buys, not just the flower, but also the story of each kid carrying a bilao.
He still writes everything down — in a new notebook that is now leather-bound and embossed with his initials.
“If there is a question,” he once said to a young man offering a rosary, “answer it. But more importantly, ask questions.”
👩⚖️ Bea — The Woman Who Asked Before Buying
Bea, who first taught him to dream, is now a veteran lawyer for a human rights foundation . They still talk often.
One day, while they were having coffee in the law school canteen, Bea asked:
“Do you still remember the first time we talked?”
Nico laughed.
“Three, just twenty,” he said, imitating himself before.
They both laughed.
“If you hadn’t asked me my name, I probably wouldn’t have spoken that day. I wouldn’t have written either. I wouldn’t have trusted.”
Bea smiled, squeezing his hand.
“Sometimes, the question is not just to know something — but to feel something.”
📚 Dreams Sometimes Smell Like Sampaguita
In his final year of law school, Nico Santiago became valedictorian . Not just because of his intelligence, but because of his heart that never forgot — ever — where he came from.
In his graduation speech:
“I didn’t grow up in a library. I grew up on the side of the road.
But with every coin paid to the sampaguita, I gradually built my dream.
Until one person not only bought, but asked… and believed.
So now, it’s up to me to ask kids like me:
What’s your name? ”
And there, at the back of the hall, was a young man in slippers, holding a bunch of flowers. He looked at Nico. He smiled.
From the top of the stage, Nico waved to him.
And for the first time, someone asked that child — not to buy, but to listen.
🌸 Because sometimes, what a child needs isn’t money — but a question with faith.
And with that question… the miracle begins.
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