Blissful Ignorance: The Unconventional Road to Success

By Adrian Renz Espino & Erika Nicdao

Zaldy Roque, a 61-year-old successful man who grew up in a wet market industry and whose passion is in business ever since.

Back when Zaldy Roque was six years old, his father always brought him to a farm in Tanauan, Batanga where they buy the pigs they sell, and, at the same time, as he slowly learned things about their business.

He was taught techniques on how to estimate pork’s weight just by holding it while it is tied since pork scales were not widely used on farms back then.

Then, at the young age of 12, he had already learned how to properly estimate pork and was already the one who bargained with the owners.

His motivation was his father who has been a vital instrument to his success as he explained, “Lahat ng mga sikreto ng pag eestimate ay itinuro niya (his father) sa akin lahat (All the secrets about estimation were to me by my father).”

Impressively, all of his estimations were all in favor of them, and never at a disadvantage as they were beyond the actual weights of the pork.

Because of this, his father trusted him in doing so, which led him to do it on his own, without the presence of his father.

It continued until he entered high school, but then he realized that his studies were being greatly affected.

With this, even though he had enough knowledge of their wet market business, he still chose to prioritize his studies, where he graduated at 23, with a mechanical engineering degree.

He firmly believes that education should still be a priority for everyone.

“Ang edukasyon ay siyang kayamanan ng tao, ito’y kahit maging matanda. Kasi ang pera nawawala, ang edukasyon hindi (Education is a person’s treasure, even when we get old. Because money fades but not education),” he said.

After he graduated, he began to work at a sugar refining company, but then realized that he enjoyed being in the wet market where his time was flexible rather than being employed in a company and having a boss.

When he left his job, he started investing on his own.

He sold one pork head, the next day it became two, and eventually multiplied, until he became one of the most in-demand pork dealers in the Guadalupe wet market.

The reason why their sales are always sold out and stood among the other pork dealers was he and his wife diligently worked together to find a restaurant or an outlet where they could sell the rest of their pork so that they won’t have any leftovers.

With regards to their everyday sales, his wife was the one who kept it as she was the more thrifty one. They had one container where they hid and gathered all their money.

Sooner or later, they realized that the money they kept grew.

With that, they bought houses and apartments which they made to be rented for.

That’s the time when they had other incomes besides the market business.

Now, they have already built at least three apartment houses with one of them having 25 rooms.

They also have a rest house in Tagaytay, and a mansion-like house in Rizal, which has more than a hectare lot space.

Being the third eldest sibling, and the most successful one, he became a good example among them that they followed his footsteps, and are now doing well on their own with the help of the strategies that he shared with them.

But despite all the success he has garnered, there were also challenges along the way.

Other sellers in the Guadalupe wet market were envious of his success, they were offended and had petitioned for him to leave.

The reason for this was they were displeased with how he priced his products.

He was hurt for how they talked about him on his back, saying he would rather be hit than be talked behind.

“Dahil ako daw ay mababa ang pagbebenta ng presyo, hindi daw ako sumusunod sa kanilang presyo…eh ako ay sumusunod (lamang) sa tamang presyo (Because I have a low selling price, they say that I don’t follow their price…but I only follow what is right),” he said, referring to the intended SRP.

He believed that there was no reason for him to leave since it was not his fault if everyone else was not following the intended price and chose to overprice their products.

But, they didn’t succeed in their plan to remove him as he influenced them on how to properly sell their pork in the right way.

Because of his consistency in selling his products with the intended price, he continues to be one of the most chosen pork dealers in Makati City, even though some people think that he is just pretending to be righteous.

Now, at 61, despite being successful and stable, Zaldy still keeps his feet on the ground, and still keeps on helping other by sharing the lessons he has learned from his experiences, and sharing his blessings to people around him.