The tribe’s first woman civil engineer from an Aeta community in Olongapo City in the Philippines.
Rarely do indigenous people get the chance to have a formal college education.
Opportunities for them to attend school are rare, and to be able to graduate is already the entire tribe’s pride.
What more if one, a woman at that, is able to pass an engineering board exam? And on her first take?
That’s what Ezel Joy Pablo Manzano had accomplished for her Aeta community.
She was the reason for the recent celebration of the Amianan tribe, which was moved to the Iram settlement area near Olongapo City in the Philippines after the 1991 Mt. Pinatubo eruption.
In an interview with GMA News, she proudly introduced herself as a passer of the November 2017 civil engineering board exam.
She is one of the 6,075 who made it out of the 12,447 takers.
Engr. Manzano, who finished civil engineering at Ramon Magsaysay Technology University in Iba, Zambales, revealed that at one point during her review, she burst into tears because she could no longer understand what she was studying.
She was asked about tips for future board exam takers.
Ezel Joy said that they should give it their all because the chance to take the board exam only comes rarely.
Her journey to being a registered civil engineer was tough.
She recalled that she had to quit school for one semester because there were struggling with their finances.
This became her motivation to pass her board exam.
And she also persevered to achieve the dream of her deceased father for her.
She said, “Pangarap ‘yun ng tatay ko, kaya ‘yun po talaga ang nagpu-push sa akin na i-pursue ‘yun. [It was my father’s dream for me, so I pushed myself to pursue this field.]”
Estrelita Manzano, Ezel Joy’s mother, witnessed her daughter’s struggles.
She shared that even without the presence of her father, Ezel Joy still did what she could do best in terms of her academics.
Now that she is an engineer, Ezel Joy doesn’t forget those who have helped her along the way.
She plans to pursue a career that will help her tribe in any way possible.
Source: GMA News
