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‘Basurero’ overcomes bullying, Graduates from college

He was still young when he lost both his parents, but Jeb Bayawon of Cagayan de Oro did not let that misfortune stop him from reaching for his dreams. He recently graduated from college – and went viral for his inspiring story.

Because he lost his parents and his siblings had families of their own, no one could support Jeb in his studies. But he wanted to graduate from college; thus, he became a ‘basurero’ wherein he digs around in trash bins for items that could still be recycled and sold to junk shops.

Photo credit: Jeb Bayawon / Facebook – Rappler

It was a dirty, smelly job but for the young boy, it was the only way he could feed his hungry stomach and send himself to school.

Because he smelled bad and his classmates knew what he did for a living, he was bullied by his peers. Life was challenging for Jeb but he didn’t give up.

Thankfully, someone helped him go to school so he didn’t have to be a basurero all his life.

Phil Island Kids Int’l Foundation, Inc. sent the young boy to school, funding his education from elementary to college. But his classmates continued to mock him from time to time, never letting him forget that he was once a basurero.

Tinatawag ako na basurero, ‘yong teacher ko naman ayaw sa akin kasi mabaho ako,” Jeb recalled.

But he persevered, trying his best in his studies so he could achieve his dream of completing a college degree.

Photo credit: Phil Island Kids Int’l Foundation, Inc. / Facebook

Years later, he did succeed in reaching for that dream!

Thanks to the foundation and his efforts, he was able to complete Bachelor of Secondary Education Major in English from Mindanao State University (MSU). It was truly a good thing that he never gave up on his dreams.

But he isn’t finished dreaming. Jeb hopes to be among the passers of the Licensure Exam for Teachers (LET) he will take this September.

Afterwards, he plans to serve at the very foundation that sent him to school, so he could also help other kids in need.

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Woman Receives Two National IDs, While Others Haven’t Even Received One

A woman receives two national IDs – and many others aren’t happy about her “good fortune” because they haven’t even received one.

Woman Receives Two National IDs (Duplicate)

Many people view the Philippine national ID processing system as a failure because they haven’t received their IDs even after several years or that it took so long to receive the ID that their appearance already changed..

Recently, the government offered Filipinos a printout of the digital version of the ID, but you have to be the one to have it laminated. It’s just printed on paper.

But while so many people haven’t even received their national IDS (or even the printout) yet, there’s one woman who received a duplicate of hers!

Niña Lomangaya is one of the luckiest people in the Philippines as some netizens joked that she’s receiving “special treatment” from the PSA (Philippine Statistics Authority) because of the two national IDs.

Lomangaya told Bayan Mo, Ipatrol Mo that she had received her first national ID last September 2022. She recalls applying for the national ID in July 2021. So, that alone made her a lucky citizen because it only took a little over a year for her to receive her government-issued ID.

Photo credit: Niña Lomangaya / Bayan Mo, Ipatrol Mo

But she was surprised when she received another ID, apparently a duplicate of the first one, on March 9, 2023.

Confused over the situation but also honest about having two IDs, Lomangaya posted about her unique experience – and this soon got the PSA’s attention.

The government agency provided an official statement to Bayan Mo, Ipatrol Mo. In this public statement, PSA thanks them for reaching out to the office and informing them about the situation.

The government agency explained that they are now conducting an investigation over the matter and will contact Lomangaya to address her concern.

What to Do with a Duplicate National ID?

The PSA instructs citizens to surrender the copy or duplicate in the rare chance that they might also receive a second national ID.

woman receives two national IDs
Photo credit: Bayan Mo, Ipatrol Mo

You can surrender the duplicate at the nearest PSA office or contact them through:

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“Yaya” Ad Goes Viral over Requirement for University Diploma and Teaching Experience

A “yaya” (nanny) ad recently went viral over the requirement for university diploma and teaching experience! And while the salary is certainly quite good (nearly 3x) the standard rate, many netizens still think it’s degrading to college graduates…

What do you think?

University Diploma and Teaching Experience for “Yaya”

Being a “yaya” or nanny in the Philippines isn’t exactly considered a good job. After all, the pay is quite low and many aren’t even treated well.

Although most get free food and accommodation, many aren’t provided enough meals – and a lot don’t have the same food that their ward/s or employers eat.

Also, the nannies are usually on-call nearly 24/7, and they aren’t paid for the overtime hours they spend taking care of their ward.

Recently, there’s a nanny ad that has gone viral on Reddit. It’s reminiscent of the “yaya” ad post that required the nanny to have extremely high beauty standards.

In this new viral ad, the family offers a salary of Php15,000 to their prospective nanny. Now, that’s actually a great thing (for this part, at least)! The post declares that the nanny will work in Makati, so this isn’t an OFW posting for work abroad.

Photo credit: Coconuts Manila

The post also declared that the nanny will be given free food and will have two days off a month.

What irked netizens is that the yaya is required to have a college degree and teaching experience! This person is supposed to be responsible for the education of a 5-year-old.

At this rate, the salary is actually good, yet many netizens felt that it was “degrading” to college graduates who are supposed to find a job within their career path.

Why in the world would anyone need a university degree to be a yaya? It’s basically babysitting. These people who want university degrees and only give 2 days off a month amaze me with their entitlement,” one netizen commented.

This is basically a live-in job, like you’re on-call 24-7. They have no control over their time. At least blue collar workers can get away from their job after 5pm and actually go back to their families,” another wrote.

What’s the Minimum Wage in NCR?

According to the National Wages and Productivity Commission of the DOLE (Department of Labor and Employment), the minimum wage for domestic workers in the NCR (National Capital Region) is Php6,000 per month.

Meanwhile, workers in the Non-Agriculture sectors have a minimum wage rate of Php570 per day, and the other sectors at Php533.

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Inspiring

Pinays Join in Breaking the Guinness World Record for Multilingual Reading

Two Pinays join in breaking the Guinness World Record for Multilingual Reading – and they received recognition for helping the international team achieve this feat.

Isn’t that wonderful?

Pinays Help in Breaking the Guinness World Record

We are all in awe of people who are able to break world records, particularly when the feat is recognized by the experts in the field – the Guinness World Records.

Filipinas Maria Corazon Cabrera and Janine Cabrera Mendoza (Maria’s daughter), participated in the multilingual reading aloud relay broke the Guinness World Record for Multilingual Reading last February 26, 2023 at the Bib Sophia library in Schaerbeek, Brussels.

Photo credit: Philippine Embassy in Belgium

The new world record was achieved by the international team by doing the relay with 65 languages, with the team comprised of children and parents from different schools in the community.

They broke the previous record held by the Museum of Islamic Culture in Qatar for reading in 55 languages.

Photo credit: Philippine Embassy in Belgium

To ensure that the new world record for “most languages used in a reading relay” is authentic and official, the event was judged by a jury of experts, including professional translators from the European institutions as well as professors and staff from the universities of Ghent, Brussels, Louvain-la-Neuve, and Antwerp.

For this event, participants were tasked to read one sentence from “Mister René,” a book written by Leo Timmers about the Belgian painter Rene Magritte.

Photo credit: Philippine Embassy in Belgium

In the reading relay, the participants had to read in these different languages, with just a maximum of 10 seconds of waiting time in between.

Aside from Filipino, languages used to read the line from the book include Welsh, Hebrew, Swahili, Akkadian, and Urdu.

It was another Filipina, Ms. Maria Alicia Reyes Amarga, who attested to the correctness of the Filipino translation that the Cabreras read during the event.

Photo credit: Philippine Embassy in Belgium

We share this achievement with all Filipinos. We should be proud of our language and culture,” the elder Cabrera said.

How Many Languages are There in the Philippines

The Philippines is a very diverse country, with as many as 120 spoken languages.

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