MANGATAREM—Being a person with disability will not get in the way of this man (born without one arm, and one disfigured arm) to earn for his family with his dignity intact even as he stands on uneven legs.

Ferdinand Budomo, 36, of Barangay Dorongan Sawat, has become an epitome of perseverance and serves as a role model for young students in his barangay each time teachers discuss the need for determination in life to succeed despite the odds.

BUDOMO

Poks (short for pokol, a Pangasinan word for cut), as he is fondly called by his family, friends and community folks beams with pride as he narrates in an interview how his situation positively impacts on other people.

He stands only about 4 feet tall with uneven legs (is right leg is shorter and thinner than his left leg), without a right arm while his skinny left forearm has a hand with only two fingers.

Poks said he never questioned nor blamed his mother about his physical appearance.

Poks, fourth in a brood of six in their family, wakes up daily at 3:00 a.m. to tend to his vegetable plantation, his main source of livelihood. He manages by cut items, including firewood, with bolo and handsaw using his feet.

Every day, Poks slowly climbs his bicycle with a NegoKart (provided by the municipal government) attached to it, and goes around town to sell boiled sweet corn, fish ball and kikiam for extra income.

He also buys and sells junk items given to him by friends for him to sell to junk shops.

Whatever he earns, half always goes to his parents who also work in his farm and the other half he keeps for his upkeep.

Having been featured in local and national television shows, Poks has become popular among students. His videos are used by teachers in his barangay school to teach students about hard work and perseverance.

Poks said he was happy to learn from a barangay captain in their town that his lazy son was challenged to go out and look for a job after he viewed and heard Pok’s life in a national TV feature.

Poks’ youngest sister, Rechelle, said in an interview that her brother Poks helped her financially to finish college.

Rechelle is now a teacher in a public school in barangay Sawat. Poks even made her a bulletin board.

“We use him as a role model for our students when teaching the values of patience, perseverance and hard work,” she said.

She added a former principal in school always cited him, having only completed Grade 6, during school assemblies as an example to inspire students and their parents, and was featured in the school paper of Mangatarem National High School sometime in 2005.

She also receives private messages from strangers on her Facebook page telling her brother’s life has changed their lives after watching the video feature about him.

Poks is happy that his community accepts him for what he is and treats him fairly. He finished only elementary and used his feet to write.

For leisure, he watches his idol, Coco Martin, in his Ang Probinsyano teleserye over ABS-CBN. Sadly, when he and Rechelle went to the ABS -CBN studio for a chance to see his TV idol, Coco Martin was not around. So he contented himself by having a picture beside a tarpaulin with his idol Coco Martin’s face on it.

His dream? To meet Martin in person and possibly be given a part in the teleserye even as an “extra” in one episode. (Tita Roces)

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