CEBU, Philippines - After being portrayed a villain, Joavan Fernandez is now regarded as a hero in Talisay City.
The other night, he stopped a seemingly disturbed trisikad driver from hurling himself into the river from the Mananga Bridge in barangay Dumlog, Talisay City.
Ricky Marlon Bartolata, 34, a resident of Dumlog, told the media that poverty had pushed him to commit suicide.
As Bartolata was about to jump, Mayor Socrates Fernandez's son Joavan was driving by and saw the driver.
Bartolata said he was already standing on the bridge's railing when Joavan's car stopped.
He said the mayor's son tried to talk him out of it, and despite his being groggy because he had a drink first before coming to the place, Joavan was able to convince him to go down from the railing.
Had Bartolata ignored Joavan's pleadings, the plunge into the water could have killed or, at least, paralyzed him.
In a separate interview, Joavan said he was at the place after his father-mayor sent him to verify reports regarding illegal extraction of sand and gravel in the Mananga River.
Before he was assigned to supervise mass feedings for the city's impoverished children, Joavan was already one of the members of the forest and Mananga River vanguards.
Joavan said that when he arrived, a handful of people were already watching Bartolata.
He said he could not blame them if they did not do anything to save the man as one wrong word or move could have sent the trisikad driver to his death.
When Bartolaba finally went down the railing, Joavan immediately called the police.
SP01 Elmer Saladas, PO3 Roelito Tano, PO2 Jason del Campo and PO2 Antonio Asoy Jr., who at that time were roving, responded to the alarm.
Tano said they had to feed Bartolaba who said he was famished.
Joavan said he had already called his father to help Bartolaba.
Coleen Inajada, the city's Social Welfare Officer I, said Bartolata was adopted by his grandparents who had already died.
With both of them gone, Bartolata was forced to drive a trisikad or help clean the barangay hall of Dumlog to support himself, said Inajada.
The City Social Welfare said the man is "unwanted" by his own family with his own mother Marlyn Maneja allegedly having sent him away and rented out the house of his grandparents to other people.
Inajada said her office would have a word with Maneja.
Meanwhile, Fernandez had already instructed the CSWO to assess the needs of Bartolata, like a new livelihood to support his daily needs. (FREEMAN)