A jeepney driver offered free rides for one day after his son became a licensed engineer.

His story went viral after it was shared by a nursing student who became one of his passengers that day.

Jeepney Driver Offered Free Rides to Celebrate Son’s Success

Parents remain the proudest people when it comes to their children – and it’s really sweet to hear stories of proud parents announcing their children’s success to the world.

When Joseph Salcedo passed the February 2023 Mechanical Board Exams, his dad (Papa Rey) was so proud of his accomplishment that he offered free rides to all his passengers that day.

A jeepney driver, Papa Rey had promised to give out a free rides if his son passes the licensure exams.

He reportedly made this promise at their church.

According to the new engineer, his dad had initially planned on just giving out free rides for one trip or round. But his dad felt so proud of having an engineer son that he decided to treat all his passengers to the free ride for the entire day!

Mark Cynric Baldesco Beriña, a nursing student, was among Papa Rey’s lucky passengers.

According to Beriña, he had no idea about the free ride until he was about to pay for the fare. Papa Rey happily told him that he didn’t have to pay, proudly announcing his son’s success.

Although he was just one of the passengers, Beriña said that he also felt proud of Papa Rey and his son’s success as he congratulated them both.

Meanwhile, Papa Rey’s son was amused and also quite happy over what his father had done to celebrate his achievement. Because they don’t own the jeep, he said that he offered to pay for his dad’s “boundary” that day.

But here’s more good news: the jeepney owner was also so happy that Papa Rey’s son is now an engineer – and didn’t let him pay the boundary as well. Cool, isn’t it?

What’s a “Boundary” in Philippine Transport?

In the Philippines, public transport vehicle owners charge a “boundary” or a fixed amount of money that their drivers need to pay as rent for the vehicle.

Often, the drivers get to take home any amount they earn above the boundary, though they also have to pay the full boundary amount even if they didn’t earn enough for the day.

A former street sweeper finds good fortune and sends her five kids to college by selling tableya – and she has become an inspiration to many.

Today, all her five kids have finished their studies, and their home is now a favorite tourist destination. Wow!

Former Street Sweeper Finds Good Fortune in Tableya

People are born with different challenges and fortunes in life. It is said that even if you’re born poor, you can turn your life around and change your destiny.

That’s what Elsa Polot, a mother of five in Tagbilaran City, Bohol, managed to achieve as she found good fortune through hard work.

Back in 1994, Polot worked as a street sweeper. It’s a blue-collar job with low pay. Her husband didn’t earn much as a tricycle driver.

With five kids to support, Polot decided to find other ways to earn extra income. That’s when she started roasting cocoa beans to make tableya. It’s a tablet-like traditional Filipino food product (“tableya” means “tablet”) made of ground cocoa beans.

To make ends meet, she spent time preparing these products and selling them to her neighbors. She also sold her products on the streets of their city.

Thanks to her determination and hard work, Polot was able to send all her five children to college.

Kids Upgrade the Family Business

All her hard work didn’t go to waste. Not only are her children professionals, they’re also helping upgrade the business.

Dalareich, a Computer Engineering graduate, also studied in Belgium where she learned the latest technology in tableya processing. She also bought machines to improve their production.

Amazingly, the family’s tableya products are now being exported to Japan, Australia, and Sweden.

From simply making tableya, the family business has upgraded into a chocolate factory!

Today, not only are they producing chocolate, their home has also become a tourist spot known as the “Chocolate House.”

Uses of Tableya

• “Tsokolate” (syrupy chocolate to match with puto maya)
• Hot or cold cocoa beverage
• Chocolate shake
• Chocolate cookies
• Chocolate products

Do you remember the “mango flute” girl who was cyber-bullied back when she was just 14 years old? She’s a licensed engineer now – and looks back to the experience with an advice for others who are experiencing a similar situation…

Cyber-Bullied “Mango Flute” Girl Becomes a Licensed Engineer

People make mistakes. Whether big or small, it’s often how we handle the situation and our attitude that can help us overcome the challenges that this mistake brought to our lives.

Pauline Claire Arucan was only 14 years old when she was subjected to intense cyber-bullying, not just by her classmates but she feels like it was the “entire Philippines” that trolled her at the time.

It all started with an innocent post about a delicious dessert, which she called as “mango flute.”

The young girl soon posted a follow-up, telling off someone for correcting her that the spelling should have been “mango float.” Instead of accepting her fault or realizing her mistake, she laughed off the correction for being a mistake – after all, is the mango really floating in a mango float?

She added “magic???” to her post, before ending it with “aral poh kasi muna” (that’s why you really should study first).

Of course, she’s the one who made the mistake – and the “mango float” correction was, indeed, correct.

Due to her attitude at the time, and the fact that many people are actually unsure about the dessert’s correct spelling, the post went viral.

Arucan now recalls that she experienced so much cyber-bullying at the time. Still, even if she regrets the tweet now, she was able to rise up and overcome the challenges that followed.

Proving that the spelling mistake was a one-off, she went on to get 1st place in a spelling bee contest at her alma mater, Polytechnic University of the Philippines.

She didn’t let that one situation get her down – and she recently shared about becoming a registered mechanical engineer.

What’s a Spelling Bee?

This is a competition wherein contestants are asked to spell a selection of words, ranging in difficulty. The contestants should provide the spellings of the words as written in dictionaries.