Anti-Poverty Czar Larry Gadon to Tondo Slum Dwellers: ‘Just Stop Being Poor’
(Manila, Philippines) – Presidential Adviser for Poverty Alleviation and motivational speaker Larry Gadon shared to Tondo’s destitute the suprisingly simple secret to a richer life: “Just stop being poor.”
As part of his country-wide tour for poverty alleviation, Larry Gadon gave a rousing speech Saturday inside a packed community center in Tondo, Manila in which he urged his audience of slum dwellers to lose their “victim mentality” and escape poverty by “manifesting a richer life.”
Photo: President Marcos swears in Anti-Poverty Czar and motivational speaker Larry Gadon
“Being poor is the mindset of a loser,” said the Oriental Mindoro politician who lost all three of his senatorial bids in the 2016, 2019 and 2022 elections. “It’s all in the mind. You can end this state of misery you’re in right now by having a positive outlook and planning your path to happiness. That means manifesting a richer life and just stop being poor.”
In his one-hour talk that held his audience in thrall, poverty-buster Gadon quoted Philippine national hero Jose Rizal, who grew up in poverty but decided to just stop being poor and become a doctor. “It was Rizal who said ‘Give a man a fish and he will eat rotten fish everyday. But teach him how to fish and he will eat fresh fish for the rest of his life.’”
“But don’t wait for the government to teach you how to fish. You must do that yourselves. Besides, there’s probably no good fish to catch here in Tondo so you have to find another source of livelihood besides catching fish, like selling scrap metal or driving a tricycle, I don’t know.”
Gadon also cited the inspirational story of Elon Musk, who spent his early childhood living as a black boy in a destitute mining town in South Africa before becoming the richest man in the world.
“Look at Elon Musk. His family was so poor his father made him work in the mines before he was seven years old. Now he’s drowning in dollars. And he made his riches just by tweeting! If he can do that, then so can you!”
“You have to pull yourselves up by the bootstraps. Think out of the box!”
Gadon’s inspirational message appeared to have struck a chord with many in the audience.
“I don’t know who this Ellen Moss is,” said Jonjin Perlas, 22, dressed in flip-flops and rags, after the talk. “But I want to follow his footsteps and be a billionaire capitalist-entrepreneur. Or if that fails, maybe I’ll just be a politician and make an honest living, like Sir Gadon here.”
Single mother Aileen Santos, 26, who brought her three children to the community center, said, “Honestly, I came here because I was expecting to get a couple of sardinas and maybe some rice, but Sir Gadon opened my eyes to the futility of relying on government doles. I’ll probably take his advice and be a Youtuber.”
“These people don’t need government sponsored social programs to get them out of poverty,” inspirational-speaker-cum-poverty-fighter Gadon said in a short interview after his speech. “That just breeds unnecessary dependency.”
“What they need is someone who can give them a winning mindset. Which is what I do well. And I commend the President for having the foresight to appoint me to this very important role.”