Olympian Tabal thrilled at seeing her face on Milo packs at grocery stores

Olympian Mary Joy Tabal is excited to see her face on the packaged of the choco-malt drink. | Contributed Photo

CEBU CITY, Philippines — “(A) dream come true!” 

This is the reaction of Cebu marathon Olympian Mary Joy Tabal after finally seeing her photo on the packs of Milo sold on the grocery stores.

“Dream come true! I’ve been dreaming of this since bata pa ko, hilig baya jud tag Milo sauna, maski wala paku gadagan,” said a very delighted Tabal.

(A dream come true! I’ve been dreaming of this since I was a child. I’ve already been fond of Milo ever since, even before I started running.)

“Kato na engage ko to join Milo Little Olympics atong Grade 6 ko, 12 years old, goosebumps jud ko sa Milo jingles, and sa ako heart and mind, ninduta naa sa Milo wrapper ui kay athlete man jud ang naa sa ila pack.”

(When I got to join the Milo Little Olympics when I was in Grade 6, 12 years old, I really have goosebumps when I hear the Milo jingle, and in my heart and mind, I’d be saying how nice it would be to be to be on the cover of the Milo wrapper because they really have photos of athletes on their pack.)

Tabal signed a contract with Milo to be the face on Milo products for 15 months from January 2019 to March 2020.

This is one of the Milo packs with Cebu marathon Olympian Mary Joy Tabal’s photo on the pack. |Contributed photo

Tabal said that when she finally first saw a poster of Milo with her photo on the grocery store of one of the malls in Cebu City last November 18, she was so happy that instead of doing her groceries she just kept going back to where the poster was to look at it.

This month, the Milo packs with her photo are finally out on grocery stores, and she is thrilled to see them on the grocery stores’ stalls.

“This is something that you can keep for a lifetime. I mean, part of every athlete’s dream na maka Olympics and also mabutang sa Milo pack/cover murag mao jud na ang partner. I don’t know sa uban but I think almost all athletes would dream ani,” said Tabal.

(This is something that you can keep for a lifetime. I mean, part of every athlete’s dream is to make it to the Olympics and to be the face of a Milo pack. I think those two go together. I don’t know about the others, but I think almost all athletes would dream of this.)

“Diha man gud gasugod dream tanan athletes sa Milo Olympics, seeing your idols, so being on a Milo cover is a dream come true pud sa akoa, who would have thought na maapil ko ani Milo cover,” she said.

(All athletes’ dreams start at the Milo Olympics, seeing your idols. So being on a Milo cover is a dream come true for me, who would have thought that I would one day be gracing the cover of Milo.)

Tabal added that this was also a dream of her late father, Rolando Sr.

“Sayang wala na siya kita. Sure ko manghambug jud to pag ayu. Mamalit tog Milo ba taz ipanghatag,” Tabal said wistfully.

(Too bad he can’t see this anymore. I’m sure he would have been so proud, he would have bought plenty of the Milo packs and would have given them away.)

Tabal said she would be bringing some of the Milo packs with her photo on it when she would visit her father’s grave. /dbs