Pinoy na inampon at dinala sa Norway, matagumpay na CEO at businessman na! | Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho
Pilipinong inampon ng isang Norwegian family, umuwi ng Pilipinas para hanapin ang kanyang tunay na ina.
Sa kanyang pagbabalik-bansa, nakilala niya ang posible niyang ina na si Eufemia mula Legazpi City sa Albay!
Siya nga ba ang tunay niyang ina?
Ang resulta ng kanilang DNA test, panoorin sa video na ito.
Sa kanyang pagbabalik-bansa, nakilala niya ang posible niyang ina na si Eufemia mula Legazpi City sa Albay!
Siya nga ba ang tunay niyang ina?
Ang resulta ng kanilang DNA test, panoorin sa video na ito.
Transcript
00:00 [Music]
00:02 [Filipino Newsreel Narration]
00:19 [Music]
00:22 [Filipino Newsreel Narration]
00:45 [Music]
00:48 [Filipino Newsreel Narration]
01:04 [Music]
01:08 [Filipino Newsreel Narration]
01:13 Welcome to the Philippines and thank you for sharing us your story.
01:16 Thank you.
01:18 You learned some Tagalog words fast.
01:21 I was young.
01:22 We brought back the life of Espen in his pictures.
01:27 What is this picture?
01:28 This is when my adoptive parents came to pick me up.
01:33 Espen was just a year old when he was adopted by a Norwegian couple
01:38 from a children's home in Legaspi City, Albay.
01:43 Why I was chosen, I'm not quite sure.
01:46 Their only demand was that they wished to adopt a baby boy.
01:50 [Filipino Newsreel Narration]
01:57 My family was very loving and caring and super happy to have me to Norway.
02:03 My father in oil industry and service and my mother in government.
02:09 And I also came home to a sister.
02:12 This is the winter in Norway.
02:14 Yes, this is in the mountains which has been a big part of my childhood.
02:18 [Filipino Newsreel Narration]
02:23 What was it like?
02:24 Unfortunately, some bullying, some people pointing at you, looking at you and laughing at you.
02:30 How did you bring that up to your parents?
02:33 I was just asking why.
02:35 [Laughs]
02:36 Why do I look different?
02:38 And they told me that I was originally born in the Philippines.
02:43 [Filipino Newsreel Narration]
02:57 I tried to go to the Asian stores to find something that was Filipino
03:01 so that I could try to get some Philippine food or taste this kind of food also in Norway.
03:06 You don't have any bitterness or any resentment that this is the fate that you were given?
03:12 No, not really because at the time I was thinking, oh, why did I have this start of my life?
03:19 And sometimes people were joking or bullying me with like you came from so poor beginnings.
03:26 But after in life, I've had my sweet revenge because I've used it to thrive
03:32 and to succeed with the things that I've set out to accomplish.
03:36 And it also gave me motivation.
03:38 You get a burning desire to prove them wrong.
03:41 At high school, I finished in my class top three.
03:46 I went to practice football and soccer.
03:48 It was actually in a draft for the national team.
03:52 Why did you turn them down?
03:54 I had some injuries at the draft.
03:56 You could have been the Philippines' Ronaldo or Messi.
03:59 I could, maybe.
04:02 I wish that my biological parents could see me thrive in my sports adventure.
04:10 I understand you're the CEO of your own company and you're into a lot of things.
04:16 I have my own company and I'm very interested in startups and entrepreneurship.
04:21 Despite the success, the questions remained.
04:27 I took initiative to start to investigate and try to find some information.
04:32 I was looking through my adoption papers.
04:35 Until he found out that his biological mother's name is Euphemia.
04:42 Papers said that I was my mother's first child.
04:46 Where do you start?
04:48 How do you look for someone among hundreds of millions of people?
04:52 It felt really hopeless.
04:55 He then approached the agencies that filed his adoption papers.
05:00 Way back, July 15, 2008, the Inter-Country Adoption Board wrote to us requesting to locate the family.
05:08 I sometimes imagine how my life would have been if I would have stayed in the Philippines with my mother.
05:15 But at the same time, I think that her choice not only blessed me with the life I've lived in Norway.
05:23 No bad feeling at all?
05:25 I've let down my anger or my disappointment.
05:30 I tried to remove it from my spirit, from my soul.
05:34 And so I've forgiven her for this and I tried to understand and accept the fact that she gave me away for adoption.
05:44 I don't know what to say.
05:48 But that's amazing.
05:50 It must take some kind of a person to be able to do that and to be able to articulate it like you do.
05:59 So, in the midst of the new year, Espen, from Norway, together with his partner, Anna,
06:07 flew to the Philippines to find his mother named Euphemia.
06:12 I think it has also something with my relationship to my girlfriend
06:17 because we have been discussing and talking about having children ourselves.
06:21 I felt that I needed to have a good answer to my own children.
06:25 Where is dad's country and where is he from?
06:28 I always know about this and he told me very early.
06:34 I always wanted to support him.
06:37 He posted on Facebook the call.
06:41 I'm looking for Euphemia Daria, my mother, born in 1965 or 1966.
06:47 I understand her life was hard and God, I trust to find her.
06:51 And a few days after his post went viral, many people said that they know the mother of Espen.
07:01 And he was found here in Legaspi City, Albay.
07:05 Sir, excuse me.
07:10 Sir, do you know Anna Euphemia?
07:12 Until our team found this woman, Euphemia.
07:21 Euphemia's story, she said that she gave birth to one of her children.
07:29 But her name is not Espen, but Gerard.
07:34 I gave birth to him in August 1988. I gave him a birth for four days.
07:41 Then I gave him to someone who will have a good future.
07:46 If I die, there will be someone to take care of him.
07:49 Even if I gave my child, I cried. I said, this is how a mother feels when her child cries.
07:59 I said, my child, I can't do this. I can't take care of my life.
08:05 Understand, if you have a thought, don't be angry with me.
08:10 One day, she heard that there was a newborn in her child.
08:17 Just a foreigner, I didn't say he was from the US.
08:20 Her last words to Gerard were, "It's already ten years."
08:24 When she was still blessed with a child, Melvin,
08:28 she promised that she would not give up despite the hardships of life.
08:34 However, her mother never gave up on her.
08:40 Until now, I have been praying, "Mama Mary, Father Jesus, help me to see my child one last time."
08:47 I am always in the church, in the confessional, so that our family can be whole.
08:51 I hope I can be with her. I hope she will be my playmate when I was young.
08:59 If we can find her.
09:02 I don't like the decision, but it is necessary because of the hardships of life.
09:12 But there is a detail that the name of the child she gave birth to does not match.
09:18 Gerard is my firstborn.
09:21 The name my parents in Norway gave me was Espen.
09:25 But when looking at the papers, I found that my name was...
09:29 My name was Gerard.
09:36 And last week, Espen went to Albay to see his possible mother in person.
09:44 At that time, Euphemia was in the church.
09:52 What she did not know was that she had been praying to God for three decades.
09:58 On this day, she was heard.
10:01 "Come here!"
10:03 "Excuse me, Mom?"
10:12 [Crying]
10:40 "Hello, my God."
10:42 "You are so beautiful."
10:45 "I am so very sorry because I did not know."
10:53 "It's okay."
10:55 "I was having a hard time in life."
10:58 "Don't worry. Don't think about it. We are here now."
11:01 Euphemia also introduced Espen to his son, Melvin.
11:06 "My brother."
11:10 "I'm your younger brother."
11:14 "Yes, and I'm your big brother."
11:16 "I'm small."
11:19 He is a strong man of God. He is my true son.
11:24 "I thank you, Lord."
11:29 "For this day, I have prayed."
11:35 "I have prayed so many times for you to guide me."
11:39 "When it was so dark, and you shed light upon me."
11:46 "And keep blessing my mother and my brother."
11:50 "And I will do everything which stands in my power to help them as best as I can."
11:56 "Because my life has been good."
12:00 "And I want also to bring abundance and knowledge and clarity."
12:08 "I thought we would never see each other again."
12:11 "But we still see each other because of you, Lord."
12:16 "Thank you so much."
12:18 "This is my mother's wish."
12:21 "That we will see each other again."
12:27 "Bro, you know, I used to be a drunkard, but now I'm going to change."
12:34 "Thank you, Lord."
12:36 Espen introduced his partner, Anna, to his mother and brother.
12:43 "She takes care of me."
12:45 "Thank you very, very much. You've taken care of my son."
12:54 "Melvin, what can you say about what happened?"
12:57 "My mother and I are happy that she saw the old me."
13:01 "I didn't think I would have a sibling."
13:04 "I thought I was the only one."
13:06 "Mother Euphemia, how are you? How is it that you have Espen by your side?"
13:11 "I'm very happy."
13:12 "My prayer has been answered."
13:15 "Did you see his face when you said that?"
13:18 "Excuse me, ma'am."
13:21 "He hugged me."
13:24 "He saw his face in your picture."
13:28 "It's the same."
13:29 "Which one is the same, ma'am?"
13:32 "Eyes, face, and everything."
13:35 "Ma'am, we have a blood relative, right?"
13:39 "Mothers know who their real child is."
13:41 "Did you feel that yourself?"
13:44 "Yes."
13:45 "Ma'am, you have a blood relative?"
13:47 "Yes, I feel like he's my son."
13:49 "He might be chasing you."
13:51 "What can you say about that?"
13:52 "If I have money, I will show my son."
13:59 "What can you say about the witnesses?"
14:02 "Whatever they say, I will do it for the Lord."
14:04 Even though they have no doubt that they are mothers, they still did a DNA test.
14:12 "Just to have a documented proof that it's correct."
14:17 Let's call Mr. Jaime Lazatin for the DNA results.
14:22 And to guide us, because we need to have a chance like this,
14:27 an expert will guide us, the psychologist, Dr. Vicente Panganiban.
14:34 Mr. Lazatin, please hold the DNA results.
14:36 "Yes, ma'am."
14:37 Even though they are positive that they are the mother and son,
14:42 they still need a DNA test.
14:44 "So we can set to rest any doubts."
14:47 "The results that you can see on the screen,
14:49 the result of the DNA test that we did between S-Pen and Euphemia,
14:58 the probability of maternity is...
15:11 99.99%
15:15 "So, I have no more doubts."
15:39 "No questions."
15:41 "No questions."
15:43 "No more questions."
15:45 "Mom, this is your son."
15:50 "Wow, jackpot."
15:53 "Jackpot."
15:54 Dr. Panganiban, in these situations, what advice do you have?
15:59 "First, meet them. Establish their relationship with each other.
16:06 Because they have been separated for a long time,
16:09 of course, there are many questions,
16:11 many things to be pursued in the situation before it starts."
16:15 "Yes, I feel so lucky, so happy to find my mother and my brother.
16:22 And now, we'll be in special relationships after this time.
16:30 I hope we can share many good moments together in the future."
16:36 "I'm not sure it's possible to make up for all the years we didn't spend together.
16:48 What I'm focusing on now is the time which is coming and the years we can have in the future."
16:54 ESPEN has also contacted the National Authority for Child Care or NACC
17:00 for his plan to apply for dual citizenship.
17:04 "For change, I want to use my Filipino name, Gerard Marquez-Tarrea.
17:08 This is the name that I plan to use for all my documents."
17:12 "Adult adoptees who want to search for their birth family
17:18 or see their child-caring facility where they came from,
17:24 are assisted by NACC.
17:26 We also help them to arrange their birth certificate."
17:30 "Any plans now, ESPEN, now that you've met your mom and your brother?"
17:34 "We've had many plans already.
17:37 And maybe also, there will be a time for them to visit Norway."
17:42 ESPEN's plan was different.
17:46 ESPEN believed in his mom.
17:48 He found a new family in a faraway country.
17:52 But he didn't let his heart be filled with sadness.
17:56 "Excuse me, mom?"
17:58 So he felt that he wasn't just given a chance.
18:03 His chance has finally been fulfilled.
18:07 99.999%!
18:11 [Music]
18:17 Thank you so much, Kapuso!
18:19 If you liked this video,
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18:31 [Music]
18:34 [Audience cheering]