Born on December 16, 1992, Emmanuel grew up in a slum area in Cavite near a dumpsite where he became a scavenger. During his youth he worked to help his parents raise money for day to day survival. Young Emmanuel attended classes during the week, then spent his weekends selling corn from a kariton (pushcart) on the roads of Cavite.

He met Efren when he performed for a grade school graduation in March 2004. He was stunned by Efren's speech for the graduates. He insisted on staying while his co-performers left the venue. He didn't know that this incident would change his perspective on life.

Emmanuel, who was a member of a gang in their area, never realized that he would end up being an instrument of God to help people. During his second encounter with Efren, he grabbed the opportunity to do volunteer work for the DTC. His Kuya Ef and their mentor in the DTC reformed the values of young Emmanuel who had once been deceived by the trendy membership of gangs.

Before Emmanuel entered the organization, the DTC already had the project of bringing education, food and first aid to the children of the slums. By using a sidecar, they were able to reach out to unfortunate children in their area. But the sidecar became difficult to work with. The heavy plastic bags carrying food and educational materials often gave the cart flat tyres. Emmanuel came up with the idea of using a kariton, which had a larger capacity but could still enter small streets. In addition, the children could put their energy into pushing the carts, and it could be easily transformed into a simple classroom.

Today, Emmanuel is helping youth volunteers live their lives with a purpose and make changes in their own ways. He is a Biblical Servant Leader, Chief Executive Officer of the Dynamic Teen Company and a United Nations Advocate for Human Rights. Despite the recognition of his achievements, Emmanuel remains down to earth. He reminds himself that he's not doing these things to be popular but to reach out and help the underprivileged people. He understands them because he was one of them. He continues to inspire and be inspired by the children in the slums who he hopes to transform into people who work for change.

At 16, Emmanuel proved that no matter how young you are, you can make a difference and can be the change we seek. As he said in his acceptance speech for the Gawad Geny Lopez Jr. Award 2007 for the DTC, 'Sana po sa bawat sigaw po sana natin ng pagbabago at hiling na tayo'y umasenso, unahin po sana natin ang pagbabago sa ating sarili (I hope that for every call we make for change and wish for better lives, we can start it by making a change in ourselves first).'

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Interviewed and written by Francheska Garcia, UNV Communications Intern
Editted by Louise Pine, Online Volunteer