From morning till night, 7 days a week, Edmar trudges the road from Rosario, Cavite to as far as Baguio, just to sell his wares. He is 12 years old and he earns his daily allowance for school by selling coin bank houses.
Headed by JR Langit, the Kasangga team features the struggles and triumphs of this child for its TV show, “Kasangga mo ang Langit” on PTV4, Sundays at 10:30pm.
YOUTH, CHARACTER AND ESCAPADES
Edmar comes from a family of 6 siblings. His father is a contractual construction worker. He and his mother, Maricris sell these houses to earn extra income.
He was showing JR Langit how the coin bank works. Where the coin slot was and what else you can do with it. Technically, once the coin bank is full, you have to take out the roof and glue it back. Why does he create these coin bank houses? For the very simple reason that he just likes making them. He has never encountered difficult buyers – just those that haggle to death. Although there was a time when one customer, a beggar, tried to steal his earnings by threatening Edmar with a shard of glass. He ran as fast as his legs could carry him and left the thief a coin bank. That didn’t discourage him from selling. For Edmar, most of his customers are touched whenever he tries to sell them his products and that’s what matters.
For him, all he wants is to be able to finish his studies. Creating and selling these coin bank houses is of the ways he can make his dream happen. 
IT’S ALL FUN
For Edmar, his mother didn’t need to convince him to sell. He was happy enough to do it because he knew he was helping his parents. He creates an average of 10 coin banks a day. He receives 20 – 30 pesos from the daily sales for his allowance and the rest are given to his mother.
His mother proudly tells JR, “Hindi mo na siya kailangan sabihan. Kaya malaki talaga siyang tulong. Hindi naming siya sir inutusan na oh, gawin mo yan dahil malaki ka na. Hindi sir. Syempre obligasyon naming yan dahil magulang kami. Sabi niya, hindi ma. Tutulungan lang kita. Ang gawa lang nya sir kapag hindi magtinda, laro lang kasama mga kaibigan niya saka laro lang ng computer tapos uwi dito.”
HOUSES AS COIN BANKS
It was Edmar’s dad, Norlito, who got the idea of creating coin bank houses. He had a lot of wood scraps and it started out as something fun to do. He would create small houses for saints that would often get bought as soon as he creates them. Sometimes he would customize them for clients and they would pre order the products. As he built more of these mini “houses” his products and his name got known within Rosario, Cavite. Other families followed his example and started creating too.
Like every doting parent, their only wish for Edmar is to be able to finish his studies. Times are different. Before you could get by life with work and discipline, plus knowing the basics of reading and writing. Life is no longer like that, they realized that a high school diploma no longer carries enough meaning for a person to land a decent job. You have to have a college degree.
Edmar is an epitome of a disciplined, patient, determined and responsible child. He never lets difficulty stop him from doing what he needs to do. He is an example of a person who never lets poverty pull them away from their dreams.
