‘Your stories, our stories’: INQUIRER.net's community engagement arm is on the rise

For the past 25 years, INQUIRER.net has become one of the most credible and influential news providers worldwide, breaking the latest news here and abroad.

But aside from providing the latest news and updates, INQUIRER.net has also been covering human interest stories through Be an INQUIRER (BAI), its official citizen journalism platform.

Engaging stories beyond the news cycle

Led by INQUIRER.net’s community engagement team, BAI debuted on Facebook in March 2019, followed by the launch of its Twitter and Instagram accounts in August of the same year.

Ves Garcia and Zushmita Diaz, Inquirer’s community engagement specialists, are presently in charge of all of BAI's social media accounts.

Why and how did you start BAI?

Garcia: “When we created BAI, we believed that we all have stories to tell, and anyone can take part in the information-making process—and that we can all be an ‘Inquirer.”

“For us, building connections and meaningful interactions come first when getting stories,” she added.

“That way, these users would feel welcome as a part of the ‘Inquirer Community,’ and they would not hesitate to share their stories with us.”

At the heart of all stories is Be An Inquirer’s goal: to foster public participation and involvement in the community.

Garcia: “This, in turn, may lead to significant changes in people's lives, as well as an increased willingness to take action and accomplish outcomes that spread throughout society.”

Meanwhile, for Diaz, their work allows them to reach out and help people’s voices be heard.

Diaz:“It's exhilarating to inform people, give readers a feel-good story to read or watch, and uplift their lives by causing a ripple of good deeds through the inspiring stories that we feature on our platforms.”

“Getting involved in the community has given me and other people various opportunities that we would not have had otherwise,” Diaz added.

“Every time I get thanked for what I have done, it lets me know that I'm in the right place, making me eager to change more lives.”

‘Your stories, our stories’

Since BAI was established, the Inquirer team has successfully grown its citizen journalism community, as its Facebook page already has over 128,000 followers, while its Facebook group currently has more than 2,700 members as of this writing.

From thousands of individuals featured on BAI's social media accounts, some of them had received help from others who were touched by their stories and had an opportunity to fulfill their dreams.

In light of the celebration of INQUIRER.net's silver anniversary, the Be An Inquirer team has gathered some of the most interesting stories they featured to date, along with updates on how BAI made a positive impact in their lives.

Widower visits grave of wife to ward off loneliness

Truly love knows no boundaries, not even death.

That was what a 77-year-old widower named Crisanto "Mang Cris" Dela Cruz proved when his daughter, Mayette Dela Cruz-Cinco, shared photos of him after they paid a visit to his wife's grave in January 2019.

Cinco's post at the time captivated netizens' hearts, as she recounted her conversation with her dad, who then requested that she accompany him to the cemetery.

When they arrived at the cemetery, they were surprised at the sight of a pile of garbage scattered around the tomb of Pepita “Aling Pitang” Dela Cruz, Mang Cris’ beloved wife, who died of an abdominal aneurysm in April 2013.

Mang Cris was made upset by what they saw and immediately began cleaning his wife’s grave. “He was in tears [and] I could only comfort him as I clean around,” Cinco wrote in her post.

While they were cleaning around, Mang Cris kept uttering these words to his departed wife, “Nandito na kami. Nilinis ko na. ‘Wag ka nang mag-alala at hindi ko hahayaang hindi ka mapuntahan kapag nararamdaman kong kailangan mo ako.”

(We are already here. I have already cleaned it. Don’t worry, I will see to it that you will be visited whenever I feel that you need me.)

When loneliness strikes, Cinco said her dad just has to pay his wife a visit to the cemetery. After that, his strength comes back.

In a recent interview with the Inquirer, Cinco said that many people had sent them words expressing how much inspiration her father's story had given them. She added that this, too, brought joy to Mang Cris and even helped reduce his sadness, knowing that others who had also lost their loved ones could relate to him.

Since her dad's story appeared on INQUIRER.net, Cinco said her father has been happier and has gained friends with those who learned about his story: “The others even became visitors [at his stall] in the market, and to this day, they still visit our father’s place to say hello.”

Mang Cris is 80 years old now and continues selling vegetables in the market every day.

Raising funds for Baby Aki’s liver transplant

In March 2019, INQUIRER.net published a story about Antonio Detablan, a loving father who sold homemade banana cakes on the street in Calamba, Laguna, hoping to raise P1.6 million for his son’s liver transplant.

It was for his then eight-month-old son, Aquiro “Baby Aki” Jazz, who was diagnosed with biliary atresia, a chronic liver disease, in October 2018.

After their story went viral online, capturing the hearts of social media users, the Detablan family received a lot of donations from concerned individuals who extended their help to Aki. Around May 2018, Aki and his parents flew to India, where he underwent an operation.

However, on July 23 of the same year, Aki’s mom, Jabee Imano Galindes-Detablan, gave the heartbreaking news of her baby’s passing to INQUIRER.net.

In a recent interview, Detablan, on behalf of her family, expressed her gratitude to the Inquirer, citing its feature as one of the factors that helped them to quickly raise funds necessary to pay for her son's liver transplant at the time.

“Sobra-sobra pa rin po kaming nagpapasalamat sa inyo at sa lahat ng naging bahagi ng napakaikling pamamalagi dito ni Baby Aki sa mundong ibabaw,” Detablan said.

(Even now, we feel an overwhelming sense of gratitude for you and everyone else who was a part of Baby Aki's brief time here on earth.)

“Bilang isang nanay po na natulungan halos ng buong Pilipinas ang aming pamilya, [kami po ay] sobra-sobra po ang pasasalamat sa inyong lahat. Hindi niyo man po kami lubusang kilala pero hindi po kayo nagdalawang-isip na tulungan kami noon,” she added.

(As a mother whose family has received help from almost all over the Philippines, we are incredibly grateful to all of you. You may not know us fully, but you did not hesitate to help us then.)

Dad barters chickens for kids’ e-learning gadget

As schools in the country resorted to distance learning to continue operations amid the COVID-19 pandemic, it became a struggle for parents to provide e-learning gadgets for their children to use in class.

One of them is Rommel Enriquez, a 48-year-old cash-strapped dad of four boys from Barangay Carolina in Naga City, Camarines Sur, who went viral online on July 2020, when he decided to barter all his chickens in exchange for a smartphone that his children can use for their distance learning needs.

Touched by his post on the Facebook group Naga City Camarines Sur – Barter Community, some netizens commented on it and offered to give him a phone without taking his chickens.

At the time, there were others who also pledged help and sent him financial support through his mobile wallet. Unfortunately, there came a time when Enriquez suddenly lost all his money, amounting to P6,500, due to an online scam.

Following the incident, concerned netizens who have read his posts on social media expressed their disappointment over the swindlers’ actions. Some of them even tried to trace the swindlers’ identity based on the contact numbers from Enriquez’s transaction history and told him that one of the recipients’ names appeared to be a certain Jenna Cortez.

Other Facebook users also advised him not to give his personal information and pin number to just anyone.

The Inquirer recently interviewed Enriquez to find out how he and his family have been doing two years since their story was featured on BAI.

“Thank you po, INQUIRER.net. Napakalaki po ng naitulong niyo sa aking pamilya mula nang maibahagi niyo ang kwento ng aming buhay sa social media. Marami po ang tumulong sa aming pamilya at nabago rin ang aming buhay,” he said.

(Thank you, INQUIRER.net. You have greatly helped my family since you shared our life story on social media. Many have helped our family and even changed our lives.)

Enriquez said that through the help that they received from others, each of his sons now has a personal phone and a laptop which they may use alternately for their classes. Not only that, he and his family are now living in their new house, which was built by a family from New Jersey, who also learned about their heart-warming story.

Meanwhile, after he got scammed, a concerned individual also reached out to him to give him capital so his wife could start their own fruit stand in Naga City.

Caviteño family starts ‘mobile cafe’ amid pandemic

The global pandemic caused significant economic and social disruption and greatly affected people’s livelihoods, health and even businesses. But despite that, a family from Imus City, Cavite, found a workaround to be productive while simultaneously helping people who work remotely amid the crisis.

In September 2020, BAI featured the story of John Eric Enopia, a coffee roaster and sales and technical specialist who started his family’s own mobile cafe business called “The Cooking Dad Bake and Brew.”

Enopia’s story is not just a typical account of a startup coffee business. His family’s initiative also aimed at helping the child advocacy group “Save the Children Philippines” by donating a part of their income to help those children who are struggling with online classes.

“Malaking tulong para sa aming pamilya at sa aming nagsisimulang maliit na business ang naging feature sa amin ng Inquirer [noong 2020]. Nadagdagan din po ang aming mga followers sa aming mga social media platforms [simula noon],” he told the Inquirer in a recent interview.

(The 2020 Inquirer feature has been a massive help to our family and our startup business. Our social media platforms' followers have also increased since then.)

He said that their sales have increased even more and that they have opened their first physical store, which continuously receives support from their customers.

“Marami ang naging pagbabago sa amin. Una na rito ‘yong personal growth, hindi lamang ng business. Maraming mga tao ang na-inspire sa aming kwento, kaya marami rin ang naging handang tumulong lalo sa aming adbokasiya para sa mga bata mula ng ma-ifeature kami ng Inquirer,” Enopia added.

(A lot has changed for us. First of all is personal growth, not just in business. Our story has inspired many people since we got featured in Inquirer, which is why many have been willing to help us, especially with our advocacy for children.)

Last October 1, Enopia won among the 20 competitors who participated in the recently-concluded Coffee Expo Manila’s Brewer’s Cup held at a mall in Alabang, Muntinlupa City.

9-year-old boy weaves, sells rugs to earn money for buying e-learning gadget

While preparing for the resumption of classes in October 2020, a nine-year-old Gilbert “Iboy” Bandillo of Barangay Payatas A in Quezon City turned to weaving rugs to earn money to buy a gadget for his online schooling requirements.

Back then, he was an incoming third-grade student at Melencio M. Castello Elementary School.

He started weaving rugs out of rags when he was only seven years old after his grandmother, who used to make rugs in their community, taught him how to do it.

With the help of Gail Valencia, a neighbor and a close friend of the Bandillo family, Iboy’s story was shared online and captured the hearts of many social media users.

Shortly after his story was published on INQUIRER.net, it quickly went viral and reached netizens who later expressed interest in purchasing Bandillo’s handwoven products.

It even reached famous personalities, like Judy Ann Santos, Karla Estrada, Sam Y.G. and Youtube influencer The Hungry Syrian Wanderer.

Until a concerned netizen named Mikki was moved by Iboy's story and decided to sponsor his gadget and give him a tablet.

“Maraming salamat po sa nagbigay [sa akin] ng tablet. Malaking tulong na po ito [sa aking pag-aaral] at may magagamit na po ako [sa pasukan]. Ingat po kayo palagi. Maraming salamat po,” Bandillo said as he thanked the sponsor of his gadget in a video message.

(Thank you very much for providing me with a tablet. This will be really helpful to my studies as I will have something to use when classes start. Take care always. Thank you very much.)

What’s next for BAI?

These are just a few of the stories featured on BAI’s social media channels in the past three years.

As Be an Inquirer revs up for its fourth year next March, we look forward to reaching out and engaging with more communities so that we can share more stories with you.

If you’re looking to Be An Inquirer, visit BAI’s official Facebook group and share your stories and engage with the community.

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