Famed ‘pares’ vendor acquires taste for politics
From his humble stall in Pasay City, he has gained online celebrity for his crowd-drawing ”pares” (braised beef stew). Now he hopes that fame also comes with a winning recipe in politics.
Saying he and his peers can be the voice of Filipino hawkers and smalltime merchants, Deo Balbuena, the social media figure also known as Diwata (Fairy), made a formal bid to enter the party-list race in the 2025 midterm elections.
Balbuena and his fellow nominees of the Vendors Party-List were among the aspirants who showed up on Wednesday to file certificates at the Commission on Elections (Comelec) desk set up at Manila Hotel.
“We’re here today to be the voice of all vendors, to help one another uplift [our lives as] vendors in the entire Philippines,” Balbuena said in his short remarks on Day Two of the eight-day filing period.
Among his plans if elected member of Congress is to reduce red tape for vendors, starting with a simplified application for permits; prohibit the confiscation of their goods during road-clearing operations; help them secure affordable locations for their business; and set up a cooperative.
‘Unli’ rice, too
Asked by reporters if he would also treat people in Congress to unlimited servings of his famous pares, he gamely replied: “If they want some, why not? We’ll have unlimited rice and free soft drinks, too.”
Balbuena said his group had long been in existence but that he joined only last year.
The Samar native left his province for Metro Manila when he was 17 and lived under a bridge for a time, taking various jobs — as a fruit vendor, househelp and construction worker — just to get by.
Vloggers took notice
He first gained a social media following in 2016 after figuring in a scuffle and being briefly detained at a police precinct.
He later opened a “minimart” — first on a cart and later in a stall — until a friend suggested that he also sell cooked meals.
His pares stall on Diokno Boulevard in Pasay City generated social media buzz after being featured by food and travel vloggers for its affordable prices and long queue of customers.
He managed to open a “branch” in Quezon City in May.
