Marl Glen (24) grew up in the care of his late grandmother Elvira. Jenalyn, his mother, left him when he was just a month old to find a job in Manila as a housemaid and to stay away from his father, Marlon who was a married man with his own family. His affair with Jenalyn and having a child with her almost caused his marriage to fall apart. Elvira, the mother of Marlon, took the responsibility of raising Marl Glen who grew to being 9 years old before even meeting his father.

 

When Marl Glen finally met his father in 2009, it was a deeply poignant encounter as his father was in the ICU suffering from cirrhosis of the liver; it was the first and last time he saw his father alive. It was during this same visit that he was introduced to his other siblings but he felt no warmth or kindness from them. 

 

When Marl Glen was 14 years old, Elvira took the tough decision to send him to Leyte to continue his studies as she could no longer afford to support his schooling. He would stay in Leyte with Marilou, her eldest daughter who promised her mother that she would support Marl Glen to continue his education.

 

In 2020, during the height of the pandemic, Marl Glen tragically lost his grandmother due to a blood clot incurred from a fall. What made it so sad for Marl Glen is that he was not able to see his grandmother in the hospital before she died as there were strict covid-19 travel restrictions prevailing at the time.

 

After the death of his grandmother, his Aunt did not keep her promise to send him to college. Thankfully, he was able to become a working scholar in St. Joseph College and take up a degree course in Criminology. His mother Jenalyn sent him 3,000 pesos a month for his food and fare allowances. During semestral breaks, he did various summer jobs to save money for his projects and uniforms.

 

All his perseverance paid off when he graduated in June. It was his happiest moment, not only because he had graduated but also because his mother Jenalyn came from Manila to attend the ceremony; he was overjoyed to meet her  in person for the first time. He has promised her that he will bring her back from Manila and she could live with him once he gets a job.

 

It should be mentioned here that Marl Glen is a first cousin of mine (Mary Blanche) and Marlon was my uncle. Marl Glen called me in August to ask me if he might be able to stay with me and my family in Cebu because he was planning to enrol in a review center to prepare for the board exam in criminology next year. I subsequently discovered that he did not have the means to pay for the review center as his mother had exhausted her savings when she went to his graduation ceremony in Leyte. This is when I asked Richard if we might be able to help Marl Glen with an Education loan and he agreed. The loan will be used to pay the tuition fees (six months) and cover the cost of his review materials, lunches and fares.

 

We, in the PSHF are delighted to help Marl Glen with his quest to pass the board exam and become a policeman. We hope he will finally be able to bring his mother back from Manila where she has been working as a house maid for 24 years.

 

 

 

Mary Blanche P. Tano

PSHF Cebu

September 2024