THE ERIC SALAS INSPIRATIONAL STORY (HOW A GRENADE KILLED A YOUNG MAN BUT NOT HIS DREAM OF EDUCATION)

(Photo caption: Ebcede Salas, mother of my scholar Eric who died in a grenade explosion, tells me: “We could not repay your kindness.”)

In 1998, when I ran for Governor of North Cotabato against an undefeated Congressman and many said “against all odds”, a young man who dropped out of college because of poverty came forward and volunteered to be one of my campaigners.

His name was Eric Salas, then in his 20s and a resident of Dalapitan, Matalam, North Cotabato.

Eric was one of the young people who were attracted by my promise of education for children of poor families and he told his mother, Ebcede, that he wanted to hitch his stars on my political career to get a college education.

I remembered Eric joining the group of young volunteers who rode in a jeepney which I used in my campaign and how, while pushing the jeepney which was stuck up in the mud in Latagan, Matalam, he ended up with a lot of mud in his face and a maong pants torn in half.

I won the Governorship and as I had promised, I sent Eric to the University of Southern Mindanao as a scholar.

But in a tragic grenade explosion inside the USM compound a year later, Eric was killed.

I recalled that moment when his distraught mother came to my office begging for help as Eric, still fighting for his life, was brought to a hospital in Kidapawan City.

But for the Salas family, the dream of a better life for their children through education did not die with Eric.

Ebcede and her husband, Ricardo, asked me if the scholarship which I gave to Eric could be inherited by his younger sister, Rizel.

I said yes and Rizel went to college and that was my last memorable moment with the Salas family.

Two weeks ago, during the workshop for the campaign volunteers in Matalam town, an old woman stood up after my speech and asked that she be allowed to share something with the other leaders.

It was Ebcede Salas and she came with her husband, Ricardo, who was too emotional to join his wife in telling the story of their lives.

She related Eric’s story and what happened to the family after I allowed Rizel to take over her brother’s scholarship.

“Sir, you changed our lives. Rizel finished college and was able to work abroad,” Ebcede, trying to hold her tears, told me and the other campaign volunteers.

With Rizel’s earnings, another child was able to finish an education degree and is now teaching in the public schools while the youngest child will finish communications technology this year.

“We were able to build a house and buy a tricycle and a motorcycle and that is all because you gave my daughter a chance to go to college,” Ebcede said.

Later that night, when the other volunteers received their travel expense refund, Ebcede and Ricardo Salas said they were donating their share to the campaign.

“We could not repay you enough but all of these years, we have always believed in you just as Eric believed in you,” Ebcede said.

In all of the past elections she said she refused to receive rice and money given out by politicians to convince her family to support their candidacies.

“If we were tempted to accept the money and the rice, where would we be now?” she asked the volunteers group.

As Ebcede was relating her story, I realized once again how valuable education is to poor families, how it opens doors of opportunities and a brighter future, and how it helps young people to realize their dreams.

I know that there are still so many Eric Salases who are out there in the remote villages of North Cotabato waiting for that chance to go to college and free their families from the bondage of poverty.

That night I was more convinced to provide free college education to many more young people in North Cotabato who like Eric Salas dreamed of nothing else but a college degree.