I was born in crushing poverty on Dec. 17, 1978, I grew up in a one-room shanty in a coastal village in General Santos
City in wartorn Mindanao. My parents separeted when i was young, and my mother, had to support six children with her paltry
income from series of odd jobs. i helped out by selling bread and taking in laundry.
i reached sixth grade and then dropped out because my family was too poor to keep me in school. my mother wanted me to be
a priest, but i had other plans. i fled General Santos City at age 12 to pursue my dream to be a boxer, stowing away on a ship bound for Manila. Supporting myself initially as a construction worker and by hustling at pool halls and basketball courts, i never lost sight of my goal.
