My Life story

Several years after my father died, my mother finally found love again and married my 2nd father. He was a very kind man who loved us all dearly. He was willing to help my mother raise all 5 of us as his own. Sadly, he was only in our lives for about a year, as he too passed away prematurely. After this, my mother was devastated and didn't know what to do. She eventually chose to leave us with her sister in Davao while she went to Manila to work as a house keeper/maid, making enough money to support us so that we could continue our schooling.

I completed grades 1-4 in Davao under my auntie's care. This was a very difficult time for us, as we were not treated as children. My aunt forced us all to work hard for her. We would have to wake up at 5am every day. I would clean the entire house while my sister was cooking. Then my sister and I would have to feed the pigs, goats and cows before we were allowed to eat. Then we had to rush to get ready for school as not to be late. Life went on like this for us for 7 years. My brothers were forced to work in a Banana Plantation to help make extra money to take care of our expenditures, and because of this they were never able to finish elementary school.


When my mother finally heard how bad we were being treated, she came to rescue us and brought us up to Manila to live with her and her new husband, our 3rd father, where my sister and I continued our schooling. Although life in Manila was very hard for my parents, they worked to the best of their abilities to ensure that my sister and I were able to graduate elementary school. Unfortunately, upon graduation, life began to worsen as my parents couldn't afford to keep paying for our education on top of the bills, so our sister and I began working as maids as well, to help our parents as much as we could.