I am Jonathan Canonigo, from Brgy. Mahongkog, Magpet, cotabato. 20 years of age with two sisters and three brothes. My mothers name is Mrs. Constancia Gamboa Canonigo, and my Father is Mr. George Ugbamin Canonigo (deceased). Anyway i am the eldest in my family. there are so many people dont know ang still confuse why my surname and the surname of my brod. and sis is different……. will i want to tell my story why?….. and this story is from my mother……. when i was in three month old in the womb of my mother my father and older brother was died for the strapping of the NPA in our place. My father is a good father according to my mother he is very responsible to his responsibility as a father…… the NPA was attacking at about 2:00 in dawn….. and almost all people in place was sleeping……. and there are so many people died for the attack except my mother and my two older sister and other people left…. i was born on April 14, 1988 without father…… my mother is also our father at that time. she work for us to survive and gave us what is our needs. we live together with our aunt and uncles…. but with them we experience a very sad experince, i dont know what happen to them but they are very risky….. sometimes when my mother went to the farm and she left us to our aunt and uncle my sister and I is startng crying bacuase we afraid of them….. they sent us to the small cabinet…….. inside the sack then hang it above the smoke……. sometimes they did not give us food….. and the very worst that they can do for us when they punished us to stand still under the sun…. as a child you afraid to refuse what they want to do. one time i ask them a water because i am very thirsty under the sun… they gave us water, I and my sister run to drink. and I am the one who drink it first but it sad to say its not a water, its urine, their urine……. after i drink they are so happy and laugh and laugh and laugh. then they ask me Taste Good? …. the only thing that we do is cry. Every time when our mother went to our farm the same thing will happen again and we are afraid to said to our mother because they briefing us that if we said it to our mother the worst the thing they do in us….. so the thing that we should do is zepper our mout.
happy and afraid, thats the feeling when our mother accompanied in us. we want to tell her what our uncle do in us but we afraid…… I am so happy when my mother married again with Mr. Adam Alositain because we escape from our uncles…. but the said thing when my mother left us, my step father is very risky also, he’s attitude is like a tiger…. he is very aggresive… one mistake, we need to kneel down in his front and said sorry, kneel with salt sometimes is mongoes.
when i was in grade four the unexpected accident comes to our family. when my step father and my mother went to our farm they work there for hole day and when the night comes my mother is going home herself together with our three carabaos… my step father left at the farm….. at that night we are so happy eating our supper together with our mother with my two older sister and tree half brod & sis… the wife of our barangay captain we to our house and she comfort first the feelings of my mother before she said that my step father was hit by the big round tree…. because of that accident, at my young age of 10 I took the responsibility of my step father as a father of my half sis. and brod. it is very difficult to handle the responsibility….sometimes we quarrel with my sister because i want to go to school but my sister refused because we need to find our food and the foods of my little brod.and sid…… at may young age i learned to work hard helping the farm of others… harvest here harvest there until we gather our shared and we sell it for our food……. sometimes when i was entered into our classroom i brought there my little brod. That time my little brod. is only 1 year old….. he grow without the presence of my mother because my mother was take care of my step father at the hospital…… we celebrate our christmas every December without parents.
I graduated my elementary after two years, but i did not learned everything from my studies…. my mind is always confuse…. difficult to understand the lesson… i always out of place…. i think this is the effect of our family accident…. i coudn’t concentrate the lessons…. after the graduation i diceided to stop and did not continue my study in high school and i stop for one year. i am the only one who helped my mother in farm work… my mother rowed our farm everyday…. i fell pity of our situations, my older sister has a pnuemonia and my half sister also have the reumatic haert fever….. i fell so pity on my family.
My mother decided to send me to school after one year. according to my mother i have no future if i were still helping them in our farm, so she decided to find the person who help us…. my mother and i went to Notre Dame of Magpet and ask the principal if I were be able to avail for the school scholar or if ever i will not pass i will volunteer to be their working student…. so the principal accepted me as a working student….. on that day that the principal accepted me is the day the principal ask me to clean the ground of the school, im not ashamed to those people who staring at me during that time, i always put it to my mind that if I will do this I have no future at all, and I will be a farmer forever like my parents. Firts and Seond year of my school is very difficult for me to overcome and recover, I confused to my classmate why they are so intelligent and I’m not. I fell dissapointed on that time because my sister always scolding me because my grades is almost Failed….. I cry and i said ”I try my best, all my best to cope up with this, I dont want to stop my studies.
I graduated high school last school year 2004-2005. i fell great because i pass all challenges that comes to my life. and I am proud also because I graduated of my own best… and that best is the only key to my success because now I already fourth year College here in Notre Dame of Kidapawan College as a working student also. I am so thankful to the Administrator of NDKC because they put in trust in me and this trust i keep it with care.
