After winning the top prize in an international drawing contest in Japan, 16-year-old Bernardo Matudan had hoped that this would be his ticket to fulfilling his lifelong dream of becoming a top caliber artist in the future. But financial hardship has taught him to think otherwise.

Still, Bernardo did not give up. Like his award-winning masterpiece “Time is Gold”, he believes that poverty is never an obstruction to achieving what you want in life. This attitude has so endeared him to First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo, who has promised to grant the young boy a four-year college scholarship in STI.

“I’m very proud of Bernardo for giving honor to the country through his artwork. He should serve as an inspiration for other young artists not to waste their God-given talents,” said the First Gentleman to Bernardo’s mother, Imelda.

Bernardo’s gold prize-winning drawing reflected his aspirations in life. The drawing featured a boy hanging on to a running clock, at his left is his past and at his right a bright future for him to have if he works for it.

“Time is Gold po kasi desisyon po natin na manatili na lang ba tayong mahirap o magsikap tayo para matupad ang pangarap natin habang tumatakbo ang panahon?” the young artist described his work to the First Gentleman.

Bernardo took three days to finish the drawing using only an ordinary black ballpoint pen (he had used up four such pens). He said his inspiration is his mother, who had supported him with all her heart despite their financial difficulties.

Bernardo was on his third year in high school when he won the gold prize in the 15th Annual World Children’s Picture Contest last year, participated by 55,000 entries from 66 countries. His entry “Time is Gold” impressed the Ie-no-Hikari Association, a Japanese charitable institution, that awarded him the gold prize. Now a high school graduate, he wanted to finish college and help his family.

“Okay lang po 6-months computer graphics kasi mahal po ang 4-year course,” Bernardo told Juris Umali-Soliman, president of the First Gentleman Foundation, Inc. when he and his mother Imelda came to the foundation to ask for help accompanied by a friend, Timmy Basil.

But the First Gentleman told him to take a 4-year course instead.

Bernardo answered, “Sa STI po, puede po Bachelor of Science in Information Technology. May placement job din po after college.”

The First Gentleman agreed and told him to study hard so he can help his parents and siblings.

Imelda said that her son – who is an altar boy- has been fond of drawing and sketching even as a little boy. “When he was a baby, his pacifier would be a small pencil hung on his neck. As a toddler, he already played with pencils.”

The Matudans live in a depressed community in Freedom Park , Batasan, Quezon City and Bernardo’s father works as a company driver. Bernardo is the eldest in the brood of four.

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