It was the best day of his life – and Marven Louie Badon Ragay wanted to make sure he shares the moment with his dad, a pedicab (tricycle) driver in Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental who worked hard so he could finish his education.
In a proud status he posted on Facebook, Marven thanked his father for supporting him throughout his studies.
Pa salamat kaayo sa imong pag-supporta nako. Ang imong abot sa pamasahero nakapalahutay nako sa pageskuwela. Congrats nimo! A pedicab driver with a son who is a medical doctor. You must be proud of me, father!
(Pa, thank you very much for your support. Your earnings from driving a pedicab helped me finish my education. Congratulations to you! A pedicab driver with a son who is a medical doctor. You must be proud of me, father!)
A father’s sacrifice
He detailed how his dad used his earnings from driving a tricycle to send him to school – not an easy feat considering how expensive it is for him to study in a private school and how small a tricycle driver’s income can be.
In Dumaguete City, the minimum fare is just P7.50; there was also a period a few months ago when it was just P6.50. One tricycle can seat around 6 people but in most cases, drivers only get to pick up one or two passengers at a given time. Moreover, there are hundreds of other tricycle drivers in the city to serve the riding public. Thus, drivers would be quite lucky if they get to earn P500 in one day.
According to RachFeed, Marven graduated from the Medical School of Silliman University, a prestigious private school in the city. Based on the school’s published tuition rates for School Year 2013–2014, a student of the Medical School with 38 units of course load pays a total of around P56,262.15 [P47,064.90 for the tuition fees and P9,197.25 in miscellaneous fees].
Truly, Marven’s dad has made a great sacrifice so his son could go to school and finish his degree in Medicine — and Marven made sure he worked hard to finish school so his dad’s sacrifice won’t be in vain.
Congratulations to both of you! You both serve as an inspiration to us all…
