Dahon Girl, Jhessa Balbastro- an elemetary student that has been a case topic during the presidential debate, brings Duterte a message.
Dahon Girl once again gave a brief message with regards to her aspiration in education, brings the message to the president-elect Duterte.
In an interview, the child give a message for Duterte in her own dialect saying, “Hinaot nga iya ko tabangan hangtod sa ako paghuman”. This means that the child still hope that the president-elect will help her until she will finish her studies.
It can be recalled that during the presidential debate, Education has been one of the most heated topic, airing a short documentary of the story of the student Balbastro. In the video, the student once had to use a banana leaf in answering her spelling test because her family can not afford to buy her the paper she needs in school.
Views of the presidential candidates were asked with regards to the existing educational problem in the country. The child added that she used to missed cl(–foul word(s) removed–) because she had to look after her five younger siblings while her parents went to work. Her father is a construction worker, not in a regular basis. Her mother on the other hand, usually works also leaving the responsibility to her.
It was also showed that Balbastro has to finish her homework before the nightfall because they don’t have electricity at home. Balbastro aspires to finish her education despite the poverty her family is suffering. Despite the humiliation, the student finished her fifth grade, placing eighth in her class.