Pio Balbuena trumpets Tambay street credibility, triumph and trajectory

Pio Balbuena

 What's the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word "tambay?"

To many, it's a person who's got nothing better to do in life; worse, someone who has no direction and even a burden to loved ones. Indeed, they think a tambay has got to be a loser with no future.

Pio Balbuena and Aira Balbuena

Content creator, entrepreneur, director and rapper Pio Balbuena balks at hasty assumption and generalization. On the website of his Tambay merchandise, he points out: "Hindi lahat ng tambay ay walang mararating."

At his press conference held at Fin & Claw in Quezon City last July 23, Pio and wife, Aira, stood as shining examples that a tambay can still succeed by recalibrating their compass. Aside from their booming business, he has 5.3 million FB followers and 402, 000 YouTube subscribers; while she has 1.3 FB followers.

Pio Balbuena (left) and Roman Perez, Jr.

More, members of Team Tambay channel on YouTube has 160,000 subscribers.

The event was attended by Tambay distributors who proudly showed and talked about the merchandise. The owners underscored their vision, fully supported by Viva cult director Roman Perez, Jr., who also attended the gathering; and comedian/vlogger Balong with 853,000 FB followers and 276,000 YouTube subscribers.

In a word, that's just "WOW."

Tambay press conference

"Tungkol po ito sa sistema at advocacy ng Tambay caps, they were quoted to have said. "Para sa mga tambay na walang oportunidad sa laylayan, at para magkaroon sila ng diskarte sa pagtutulak --- ng Tambay caps."


We checked out the merchandise online and surely the brand can only get bigger. The design sensibilities are so street that there's no way you won't find at least one product to your liking. Personally, we love it that Tambay caps are not only aspirational but inspirational as well in that Pio tries to tweak the mindset with words that uplift instead of bringing down people.

Pio and Aira Balbuena with Team Tambay

"Sombrero na nagsisilbing paalala ng pangarap. Walang naniniwala noon pero ngayon nandito na tayo. Marami nanamang makikinabang at matutulungan. Pulang Takda ng Pagod at hirap, Kasabay ng byahe ng pangarap noon na konti lang ang naniniwala. Ngayon madami na. Mahalin mo man o Hindi, Nakaukit na sa kasaysayan ang TAMBAY," read an example.

Balong

To know more about Tambay, watch their comedy series online gone viral. Or attend the Tambay Festival in Quezon City on Sept. 30.