When as a toddler Laika Magbanua Maninang exhibited the intelligence quotient of a six-year-old, her mother Mely was thrilled beyond measure. It was a gift that she had never anticipated. She immediately called brothers, sisters and friends to share the good news.

But the gift came with a price: tuition for special education was steep for Mely, a stay-at-home mom, and her husband who is a police officer.

“I didn’t know what to do. It was obvious we could no longer keep her at home all the time because she needed the training she would get from school. She was also becoming sickly, so para kaming nag-aalkansya sa ospital. Pulis ang asawa ko, pero di siya yung ganong klaseng pulis kaya wala kaming pera,” Mely said.

Mely’s pride at Laika’s accomplishments was sprinkled with worry, and as Laika grew, she also got featured in the media. Mely one day found herself reluctantly appealing to different agencies for help in giving her daughter the kind of education she needed, though in vain. After being given the runaround many times, she finally knocked on the heart of First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo—and was immediately blessed with assistance.

“Hindi kami sanay na i-asa sa iba ang aming obligasyon, pero the First Gentleman (FG) made us feel at ease. He helped us for one year with Laika’s tuition and expenses. And then after that, the school began helping us, too,” Mely said.

FG’s little scholar, as Laika is now known, became a regular visitor at the FGFI office from the time she was two years old. The First Gentleman treats her as one of his family. He takes time to talk to her and counsel her to love her siblings and her parents. Laika says the financial support from FGFI for one year was a great help, but the real value of the First Gentleman’s assistance was the fatherly attention she received from him.

Because Laika got to know the First Gentleman as a toddler, she said she never realized that he was the husband of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. “He doesn’t treat himself as an important person. Madali siyang maabot and he is very charitable,” she says.

“If I can speak to FG, I can speak to other people. Before, I was really very shy, but not anymore,” says Laika, now 11.

Good thing, too, because while gifted children like Laika may ace IQ tests and academic challenges, the emotional frustrations that go with a fast growing mind are something else. Mely and her husband make a deliberate effort to shield Laika from very high expectations that normally surround gifted children.

“We understand that a lot of people would expect Laika to be a scientist, for example, or some other line of work good enough for her IQ. But what if all the child wants is to be a teacher? What we want for her is what she wants for herself; that’s enough for us,” Mely said.

She pointed out that even if FG is Laika’s benefactor, he never puts pressure on the young learner.

“He just asks us if we need anything and tells Laika to love her parents so that he will be proud of her. Mabait si FG sa kanya and he puts us at ease, that is why we always go to see him when Laika has new accomplishments,” Mely said.

Last year, Laika became the youngest scholar to enter the halls of University of Sto. Tomas high school, and is already toe-to-toe with classmates who are much older than her. Her confidence in competing with more advanced classmates had its roots in the way FG and her parents have encouraged her and nourished her potentials since she was very young.

“I think we are just very blessed that FG took it upon himself to nourish Laika’s potential. There are many talented and gifted Filipino children out there, but they do not have the means. Sometimes, I wonder what would have happened to Laika if we had not met FG,” said Mely.

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