There are few good things we can associate with the horrendous EDSA traffic that’s unfortunately become part of our daily lives. So it’s so refreshing to hear of stories such as Ivy Gonzales’, a woman based in Aurora province who found her missing cousin while she was stuck in traffic along EDSA.
In an interview with DZMM, Ivy recounted how she boarded a bus along Ortigas-EDSA on February 5 and unexpectedly spotted her cousin, who had been missing since December 2016.
“Namili po ako ng sasakyan. Tapos yung sasakyan ko po, tatlong beses po akong palipat-lipat ng upuan,” she recalled. “Yung last na pinaglipatan ko po ng upuan, saktong traffic tapos sabi ko may bata pong naka-jacket na itim, nakadamit ng kulay yellow. Sabi ko parang kilala ko. Tapos nilingon ko ulit. Sabi ko si Leo ito!”
Since the bus was barely moving, she asked the driver to let her off.
“Tinakbo ko po si Leo at hiniyawan ko po at lumingon sa akin,” she recounted, adding that she asked her younger cousin Leo, who has hydrocephalus, how he ended up in Manila, which is a 6-hour drive from their hometown of Dipaculao, Aurora.
Ivy recounted how she boarded a bus along Ortigas-EDSA on February 5 and unexpectedly spotted her cousin, who had been missing since December 2016
photo: Wikimedia
She recounts how she asked her cousin if he recognized her. He said he didn’t, but she pressed on, asking if he wanted to go home.
“Sabi ko halika, sumama ka sa akin. Sabi niya nagugutom na ako. Hindi pa ako kumakain. Naghanap po ako ng pwede bilihan ng pagkain niya,” Gonzales said, recalling how Lea had told him how he survived by begging for alms and sleeping on the street.
Leo’s mom, who is an OFW in Qatar was relieved that her missing son was finally found just 9 days after she went on air to ask the public for help, through DZMM’s Lingkod Kapamilya Program.
“Nung una kong mabalitaan, grabe ang talon ko dito. Sabi ng amo ko anong nangyayari sa iyo,” Juvy told ABS-CBN news.
Their town mayor, Joana Salamanca, travelled to Manila to bring the boy home herself.
“Nagpapasalamat po ako sa mga taong nagdasal para sa kaligtasan ng aking anak at lalung-lalo na sa pamangkin ko, kay Ivy, na nagmalasakit siya, hindi siya nagdalawang isip para tulungan yung pinsan niya,” marveled Juvy.
READ: Disabled father walks across cities in search for missing son
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