A CANDIDATE’S DIARY, DAY 17: YOUNG GIRL SEES BRIGHT FUTURE ON A DARK NIGHT IN FARAWAY BANISILAN

It was a dark Monday night in Carugmanan, Banisilan when I met a young boyish-looking girl named Precious Grace Nuevo, the chairman of the Sangguniang Kabataan in the village.

She was introduced to me by her grandmother who was among those in a huge crowd of village people who gathered by the side of the farm road to listen to my caucus.

I asked Precious Grace to sit beside me before the early evening political caucus was to start in the village located in the corn and rubber growing town north of the province, just south of Lanao del Sur.

She was shy but after a few minutes, Precious Grace started opening up.

Her father, a farm worker, died November last year and with his death, all her dreams of going to college to take up criminology and become a policewoman were dashed.

“My mother told me I could no longer go to college because the family could not afford it,” she told me.

She was prepared to accept her fate as a corn picker and stay in Carugmanan for the rest of her life, just like the other young people who have not gone to college and are now working in the farms.

As Precious Grace was telling me her story and the fate that awaits her, I noticed she was sobbing silently, wiping her tears.

I don’t what it was that struck me but instinctively, I placed my right arm over her shoulder as if she was my daughter and told her not to cry because her dream of going to college and become a policewoman will be realized.

There was disbelief in her face and with tears still in her eyes, she gave me a kiss on the cheek.

“Thank you very much Gov. You have changed my life,” Precious Grace told.

My brother, Ferdinand, has already made arrangements for Precious Grace’s trip to Kidapawan City right after the elections where she will enroll in one of the colleges and pursue her dream.

Later, as I stood in front of the huge crowd of rural folks who gathered for my caucus, I saw Precious Grace using her celfone and texting, perhaps sharing with her friends her good fortune.

But I asked myself how many more Precious Graces will not be able to go to college and instead become corn pickers?

There must be so many of them.

This realization made me strengthen my resolve that if and when God grants me the opportunity of serving my people in North Cotabato again, every child of poor families must be given an opportunity to pursue a better future through college education.