Seeing his mother in sweat and working tirelessly inside his school canteen and serving snacks to students with a big smile urged 𝗣𝗢𝗟𝗜𝗖𝗘 𝗖𝗔𝗗𝗘𝗧 𝗝𝗔𝗬 𝗖𝗛𝗘𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗥 𝗚𝗢𝗬𝗛𝗔 𝗥𝗢𝗖𝗔𝗕𝗘𝗥𝗧𝗘 to pursue greater heights and make a better life for his mother.
PCDT Jay Cheever Goyha Rocaberte hailed from the City of Gentle People, Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental. He was raised along with his five other siblings by his single mother who worked as a canteen concessionaire in his school.
“𝙎𝙞 𝙈𝙖𝙢𝙖, 𝙣𝙖𝙜𝙗𝙚𝙗𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙖 𝙨𝙖 𝙨𝙘𝙝𝙤𝙤𝙡 𝙘𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙣𝙖𝙢𝙞𝙣 𝙣𝙜 𝙚𝙢𝙥𝙖𝙣𝙖𝙙𝙖 𝙖𝙩 𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙥𝙖𝙤. 𝙎𝙞𝙮𝙖 𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙜 𝙢𝙖𝙜-𝙞𝙨𝙖𝙣𝙜 𝙗𝙪𝙢𝙪𝙗𝙪𝙝𝙖𝙮 𝙨𝙖𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙣𝙞𝙢 𝙣𝙖 𝙢𝙖𝙜𝙠𝙖𝙠𝙖𝙥𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙙. 𝙈𝙖𝙝𝙞𝙧𝙖𝙥 𝙨𝙤𝙗𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙜 𝙝𝙞𝙧𝙖𝙥 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙤 𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙖𝙠𝙖𝙮𝙖 𝙣𝙞𝙮𝙖.”
Since then, it has been his childhood dream to wear the uniform of those who put their lives on the line to provide safety and security in the community. Most of all, it was his dream to provide a better life for his mother, who never ceased to work hard in order to provide for their needs.
However, their struggles didn’t pause on weekends. When the school canteen closed, he took it upon himself to continue helping his mother in any way he could. Together with his brother, he would bring trays of empanadas and go out to sell them, sometimes under the heat of the sun or under the threat of rain. We walked from place to place, but most often, he found himself at crowded basketball courts, hoping to earn just enough to bring home something for the day.
He was just a student, but he knew he had a role to play. Selling wasn’t easy, facing rejection, carrying the weight of his hopes with every tray, but he kept going, because every coin he earned was a small victory for his family. He wasn’t just trying to sell snacks. He was trying to ease even a little of the burden his mother carried every single day.
“𝙎𝙞 𝙈𝙖𝙣𝙤𝙣𝙜 𝙅𝙖𝙢𝙚𝙨, 𝙮𝙪𝙣𝙜 𝙥𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙖𝙣𝙖𝙮 𝙨𝙖𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙢𝙖𝙜𝙠𝙖𝙠𝙖𝙥𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙙 𝙮𝙪𝙣𝙜 𝙣𝙖𝙜𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙣𝙨𝙥𝙞𝙧𝙖𝙨𝙮𝙤𝙣 𝙠𝙤 𝙣𝙖 𝙢𝙖𝙜𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙥𝙪𝙡𝙞𝙨. 𝙉𝙖𝙠𝙞𝙩𝙖 𝙠𝙤 𝙠𝙪𝙣𝙜 𝙥𝙖𝙖𝙣𝙤 𝙨𝙞𝙮𝙖 𝙣𝙖𝙜𝙨𝙞𝙡𝙗𝙞 𝙨𝙖 𝙠𝙤𝙢𝙪𝙣𝙞𝙙𝙖𝙙, 𝙞𝙣𝙪𝙣𝙖 𝙣𝙞𝙮𝙖 𝙖𝙣𝙜 𝙠𝙖𝙥𝙖𝙠𝙖𝙣𝙖𝙣 𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙗𝙖𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙖𝙤 𝙣𝙜 𝙬𝙖𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙩𝙪𝙗𝙞𝙡𝙞 𝙖𝙩 𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙖𝙣.”
Despite not being privileged in life, he saw in his brother immense determination and perseverance to make it in life. He realized that the size of one’s dream was not measured by where they had started, but by how they were willing to fight for it.
PCDT Rocaberte’s journey was not square and easy. He first tried applying to join the BSPS Class of 2024 but failed in the medical phase. Albeit feeling heartbroken, unfit, and incompetent, he took courage to try again, and later on the 1st day of June 2021, he became an official member of the SINAGLAWIN Class of 2025.
“𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘈𝘤𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘢 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦. 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘯𝘰 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘶𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘯 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘵 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘺, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯. 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘵. 𝘍𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴, 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘥𝘢𝘺, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘨𝘶𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘤𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘤 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘺 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘤𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘳𝘦 – 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘰 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘮𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰. 𝘍𝘪𝘳𝘮 𝘪𝘯 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘪𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦, 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘨𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘺.”
Source: Kalasag-PNPA Corps Publication
