EAGER TO LEARN. Rizalde Bisalona, 30, from Glan, Sarangani, inspired netizens after enrolling as a Grade 1 student Tamala Elementary School for the school year 2022-2023. An online video post on Bisalona being interviewed by his teacher on Sept. 2, 2022 has gathered more than five million views to date. (Screengrab from Anne Patigayon - Department of Education Sarangani)
GENERAL SANTOS CITY – A 30-year-old man from Glan, Sarangani, has inspired netizens after enrolling as a Grade 1 student in the same school as his son in kindergarten.
As of Wednesday, the video of Rizalde Bisalona sitting inside a classroom of the Tamala Elementary School in Glan has garnered 5.1 million views, 671,000 likes, and 17,100 comments.
The video, posted by a certain Anne Patigayon on Sept. 2, showed Bisalona answering questions of his teacher.
Bisalona attends the same school as his eldest son who is currently in kindergarten and goes to class with children aged 6-7 years old, roughly a fifth of his age.
Despite the huge age gap, Bisalona, a father of four, said he is determined to learn how to read and write.
He said he decided to enroll as a Grade 1 student “to make good use of the time spent” while waiting for his son to finish his classes.
In the video, Bisalona said he only knows how to write his name when provided with a guide. When asked whether he knows what letters are, he replied: ‘No.’
Many netizens in the comment section offered their support and cheered him on, saying his determination to learn how to read and write despite his age was admirable and worthy of praise.
“Forget the age, Kuya (elder brother). Focus and strive for your dream,” Jummar Bejasa Mayor said in a comment to the post.
Bisalona's wife is, at the moment, the family's breadwinner. (PNA)
