KARGADOR: Lansu Once Hauled Cement. Now, He’s Chasing the MPL Dream
When he was 17, Lansu balanced two sacks of cement on his head and walked across a provincial construction site. He earned P350 a day. He was a kargador delivering dozens of sacks of cement to various construction sites in Quezon Province.
By nightfall his shoulders were sore, his scalp raw from the coarse texture of the sack, but he kept working. Each day he budgeted his earnings: P1,000 pesos saved each week, the rest sent to his mother.
He was not ashamed to remember this. In fact, he is proud of it. He smiled as he spoke of how he carried the load.
“Oo! Nagbubuhat ako ng dalawang semento sa ulo, 17 years old ako noon!” Lansu told ALL-STAR.
(“Yes! I was carrying two bags of cement on my head, I was 17 years old then!”)
He raised both arms over his head, as if showing how he once carried sacks of cement.
But why did he take a job as a cement hauler?
“Nainggit po ako kasi nakikita ko yung mga nilalaro kaibigan ko. Sabi ko sa sarili ko, magkakaroon din ako ng cellphone at mas lalakas pa ako.”
(“I felt envious because I saw my friends playing. I told myself, one day I’ll have a cellphone too—and I’ll become even stronger.”)
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For four months, he hauled cement—saving every peso until he could buy his first smartphone. Not for social media. Not for selfies. But for one thing, Mobile Legends: Bang Bang.
That phone, a Realme GT, still works to this day. He has since handed it down to his parents.
But the weight of two cement bags was much lighter than what his family had been enduring.
His family lived on the thin margins of a sari-sari store his mother ran. He was the eldest, with siblings fifteen and four years old.
Lansu was a child forced to trade adolescence, and the carefree abandon that came with it, for responsibility.
“Tinaggap ko na lang po kasi… ang aga ko po kasing namulat. Alam niyo po yung bata na naging matured? Natutunan ko na rin po talaga kung papaano maging mag-isa,” he says.
(“I just accepted it… because I was forced to grow up early. You know how a child can suddenly become mature? I really learned how to be on my own.”)
His first taste of adulthood came much earlier, at 16, when he started working in Divisoria—loud, noisy, and polluted—far from the peaceful life he once knew in Lucena.
He cried. He was very scared.
Manila was nothing like the beautiful, promising city that province dwellers dreamed of—it was chaotic, suffocating, and unforgiving. And Divisoria was at the heart of this monstrous concrete jungle.
He was a boy then, crying from fear and homesickness, until his kuya comforted him enough to stay.
“Ayaw ko talagang umasa pa sa magulang kasi alam ko po talaga ang kalagayan nila na nahihirapan sila.”
(“I really don’t want to keep relying on my parents because I know their situation, and I know they’re struggling.”)
In Divisoria, he carried boxes of school supplies. The pay was smaller—P250 a day—but food and shelter were free.
“Opo, mahirap po talaga,” (“Yes, it’s very difficult,”) he said when asked about poverty. He did not sound defeated. He said it plainly, as if stating a fact about the weather.
He endured for six months. His friends left. He did not.
* * *
Although Lasnu still considers his family poor, esports has significantly improved their lives.
In his mind, the game was always present. He watched professional players on borrowed screens, imagined himself among them, and once he finally had a phone, he played.
A chance tryout—arranged by Archie Guevarra, aka Pancake—placed him before the men he once idolized.
“Natakot po ako kay Boss D kasi iba pala yung aura non sa personal,” he said, laughing. “Kupal, hahaha! Pero wala akong masasabi, mabait siya.”
(“I got scared of Boss D because his aura is so different in person. Jerk, hahaha! But I can’t say anything bad, he’s actually kind.”)
Now, at 22 years old, Lansu is no longer hauling cement.
After stints with Minana, Blacklist’s MDL squad, and ONIC Nine Lives, he is back in the MPL. Lance Aron Misa, aka Lansu, plays Exp Laner for Twisted Minds in MPL PH Season 16.
And he is determined.
“Gusto ko pong patunayan na kaya ko pong makipagsabayan sa MPL. Gusto ko pong bumawi. Gusto ko lang po talagang makatapak muli sa stage ng MPL.”
(“I want to prove that I can keep up in the MPL. I want to bounce back. I just really want to step on the MPL stage again.”)
Confidence, for Lansu, isn’t bravado. It comes from a lifetime of having no choice but to be strong.
“Palagi ko pong sinasabihan yung mga kasama ko na huwag kaming kakabahan dahil pare-parehas lang naman kaming may mga kamay sa MPL. Saka, tayo naman, huwag muna sila. Nakakainggit, kaya mainggit tayo. Manggigil tayo. Kung ina-underestimate kami, hindi po kami tumitingin sa mga ganoon.”
(“I always tell my teammates not to be nervous because in the MPL, we’re all just the same—we all have hands. And it should be us first, not them. If we feel envy, let’s use it. Let’s turn that envy into grit. If people underestimate us, we don’t pay attention to that.”)
He speaks of nerves and pressure as if they belong to another life—one spent under the weight of cement bags and Divisoria boxes. Onstage, what remains is the drive to prove himself, to carry his family’s hopes along with his own.
“Gusto ko po mag world champion. Gusto ko po manalo para po sa pamilya ko, sa mama ko. Para po sa kanila ito lahat.”
(“I want to be a world champion. I want to win for my family, for my mom. All of this is for them.”)
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