i am Sagi - brave and independent

“It was 7:30 in the morning of December 9, 1985 when Francisca Quintano Costas, married to Rogelio Valdez dela Peña Sr., delivered a baby boy.  The baby almost faced death when Francisca had to wait for her husband to arrive before she would want to deliver him.  But God wants him to see the beauty of the world so Francisca courageously delivered him all by herself on the second floor of their old house in San Antonio St., Brgy. Zone I, Sogod, Southern Leyte. They named him Emmanuel.”

Up until now, I am still amaze and very thankful of how my loving mother brought me out into this wonderful world though I find it funny when my mom told me that they did not intend to create me. And that explains the 10-yr gap between me and the 4^th child. By the way I am the youngest child and my family calls me Em-em; I have 2 brothers – Rogelio Jr. (2^nd) and Apolinario (3^rd) and 2 sisters – Glorime (1^st) and Helenita (4^th). All of them already have their own families so I grew up with just my parents.

While kids in big cities were busy with their expensive toys and gadgets, me and neighbors were busy on the street  playing different kinds of Filipino games such as Shato, Patintero, tagu-taguan (hide and seek), bahay-bahayan (a role-playing game where children will act as a family), tumbang preso, etc. These games are more exciting and fun than the famous online games that we have today, at least for me. I am proud to say that I am so blessed that I was born in the Province because aside from these humble yet super fun games, I feel so lucky enough to enjoy fresh air, delicious & healthy fruits, and clean sea & rivers that are free of charge.

It was during highschool (in SLSCST) when I got to showcase my talents and skills in dancing, drawing, music and painting. I joined our school’s dance club and drum & bugle corp. where I played as a lyrist. I was given a chance to sing in one of our school’s events, both solo and group. The last two years of my highschool life was focused on dancing and drafting technology as my major course in preparation for college.

I am addicted to computers and internet so I enrolled Associate in Information Technology at Southern Leyte State University - main campus. Here, I nourished my skills in computer programming and web designing. 

On January 30, 2005, I followed my immature self and quit college. Yes, I did regret this at first. With so much dreams filled on my mind, I conquered Manila alone. My first year was like a hell as problems and other challenges were my buddies. I accepted them; study them and fight them. I became a strong and independent person. A changed person, if I may say.

I had my first job on June 27, 2005 as a secretary/messenger at Manulife Phils Located along Ayala Avenue. It took me 4 months to decide to quit and landed myself in the BPO world. I worked as an outbound agent at ePacific in Ortigas, Pasig. It was a no good experience so I quit and transferred to Clientlogic (now Sitel) as an inbound rep for nearly 7 months (April to October 2006). Not contented with salary, I moved to Sykes and stayed for almost 3 years (Nov 2006-Oct 2009). Unfortunately the program that I was in declared end of life so I gracefully exited the company and transferred to Convergys-G5 and worked for AT&T for 2 years (2009-2011). 

          So far, I am enjoying my life. I love the feeling of being independent most of the times. Right now, aside from working I also go to school every other Saturday. I am currently studying Broadcast Communication at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines-Open University in Sta. Mesa, Metro Manila.  Whatever the future may be, I can say that I am so READY.