ILOILO CITY – Proud of his indigenous heritage, a Mangyan wore only a bahag (loincloth) and walked barefoot to the stage as he received his college diploma in northern Iloilo province.
Anthony Suday from Sablayan town of Occidental Mindoro province became the first Mangyan indigenous person to earn a bachelor’s degree from Northern Iloilo Polytechnic State College (NIPSC).
Photos of the 24-year-old, who has a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture degree from NIPSC’s campus in Batad town, became viral on social networking site Facebook. Anthony’s father took a two-day trip from Sablayan to attend the April 2 graduation ceremony at NIPSC’s main campus in Estancia town.
Anthony’s quest for a college diploma would not have been possible if not for the philanthropy of Rene Sausa, an educator and businessmen from Balasan town.
“Anthony’s journey was not easy,” Sausa said in a Thursday phone interview.
Anthony is one of a dozen Mangyans whom Rene and his wife took from Mindoro to study in Balasan, where the couple runs a private school.
Anthony first stayed with the Sausa family in 2011. Unlike many other Mangyans, Anthony already knew how to read and write and that made him easily assimilate with other high school students.
But Anthony was almost sent back to Mindoro while on his third year in college after having a child with a Mangyan girl, whom he later married.
“Anthony broke one of our rules, but we gave him a chance. He only had a year left. We didn’t want to destroy his future,” Rene expressed.
With an agricultural degree, Rene hopes Anthony will use his knowledge to improve the farming methods in Sablayan and inspire other Mangyans to go to school.
“I told him that they should be proud of their culture and never be ashamed of it,” Rene added.
Meanwhile, Anthony and his father traveled back to Sablayan town, where the local government offered a job for Anthony. (Tara Yap)