Meet Tisoy, a four-year-old cat belonging to street vendor Janna Guerrero in Luneta Park.
Tisoy is a native Filipino cat, or puspin, given to her by a church staff member who asked her to care for him. Since then, Tisoy has been her constant companion. Almost like a son.
True to his name, Tisoy is a white cat with soft fur and gentle eyes. He is often seen lounging under Guerrero’s cart or curled up on her lap in between sales.
According to Guerrero, Tisoy once went viral among passersby and tourists who would stop to buy snacks and trinkets from her small sidewalk stall.
But in 2023, Tisoy was seized during a clearing operation along with Guerrero’s newly replenished cart. She had just spent P5,000 that her son from the province had sent her.
Guerrero has been living alone since her husband died in 2011. It was only in 2020, at the height of a pandemic, that she returned to vending. Not long after, she met Tisoy.
Long-time companion
Guerrero is a member of the People’s Democratic Hawkers and Vendors Alliance (PEDVHA), a group that has been advocating for the rights and welfare of small-scale vendors in Luneta since 2002.
She was born in Zamboanga but grew up in the maze of Manila’s streets, raised in Quiapo where she studied, fell in love, got married, and eventually became a street vendor.
“Noong 2011, namatay ang asawa ko. Huminto muna ako sa pagtitinda. Bumalik lang ako noong 2020. Kahit pandemic, pasulpot-sulpot lang ang ginagawa kong pagtitinda hanggang sa nagpatuloy na,” Guerrero shared.
She met Tisoy in 2021. Her love for cats, she said, started long before.
“Ayan na lang ang pagtutuunan ko ng pansin kasi wala naman akong kasama,” she added.
In 2023, Guerrero was devastated when the city’s Hawkers and Public Service departments once again descended on their makeshift stalls in Luneta, seizing her cart, her goods, and even Tisoy.
“Kasasabit ko pa lang ng paninda ko. Binigay sa akin ng anak ko ang pera na iyon. Binigyan niya ako ng P5,000, tapos pagdating siguro mga alas tres, ayun nahuli na. Wala pa akong nabebenta. Naubos lahat.”
Together with other vendors, Guerrero tried to chase down the city trucks. But what broke her most was not the lost inventory, it was when they also took Tisoy.
“Nagtuturo-turuan sila. Hinabol namin ang paninda namin hanggang sa Vito Cruz. Hindi ko na talaga nakuha yung mga paninda ko. Halos naglupasay na ako kasi kinuha pati ang pusa ko.”
Through tears, she shared how much she longed for her family back in the province. Since her husband passed, Tisoy had been her only companion.
“Masakit talaga sa akin ang mga nangyayaring clearing operation. Kanina nga, tuloy-tuloy rin ang clearing. May nahuli kanina doon sa Kalaw Avenue, nakuha ang payong. Umuulan na nga tapos kinuha pa ‘yong payong. Eh hanapbuhay namin iyon. Bakit nila kukunin?”
Vendors like Guerrero used to be stationed along Kalaw Avenue. But as the clearing operations continue, they are pushed into more invisible corners of the park, farther from foot traffic and customers.
“Halos isang linggo na kami rito. Sana pabayaan na lang kami maghanapbuhay. Kahit hindi na niya kami bigyan ng puhunan, bigyan niya na lang kami ng kalayaan na magtinda,” Guerrero said.
In many cities, there are cats with no homes and people treated just the same, left to fend for themselves, moving from spot to spot.
Tisoy may be just one cat among many. Similar to his fur parent Guerrero, both carry a story of loss, belonging, and the quiet fight to stay.