He is a proud Mangyan who hails from Oriental Mindoro. Born a menopause baby, he is the youngest among the twelve. His exact birthplace? A place called pugadbaboy in the outskirts of the Naujan Lake. And that ain’t fiction.
His parents were “peryantes” and therefore he was raised in an environment where constant hustling is the name of the game. As early as five, he already was making money out of running his own table of beto-beto. At that age, patrons find him cute and small that they thought they could easily outsmart him. Little did they know that he already knew the different arts of how to milk their money out of their precious little pockets.
Despite this line of work, his parents worked hard so BURAOT can go to Manila for his education. He went to Ermita Catholic School on his grade school days where he became a full scholar for his academic achievements. When not attending school, BURAOT can be found on different fiestahan around the country running his own beto-beto table.
He was still at the same Catholic School when he discovered San Miguel, the bars, video arcades, saklaan joints, and the sauna parlors surrounding the school. From a full scholar, he almost got kicked out but soon found his way back to Mindoro to finish high school.
He took B.S. Psychology at the Colegio De San Juan De Letran in Intramuros. It was there at the walled city, in a small park called Batibot where he became BURAOT the activist. A year later he was the bosstsip of Intramuros, running the programs and activities of all the cause-oriented student organizations in the entire Intramuros area colleges and universities.
He was part of the Sanlakas in its early formative years and was a member of its Central Council along with the now-husband of the Megastar and (yes, unfortunately) the man who is suing Jun Lozada.
After college, he went to Olongapo and with the help of another activist, organized people’s organizations in the area as well as some parts of Zambales. It was there that he got his fifteen minutes of shame, a hit that almost took his life. During the anti-APEC 1996 rally, he was hit in the head with a baseball bat by mob of Gordon supporters.
When not doing community organizing, he would run political campaigns of progressive candidates and in 1998 organized and ran the political machinery of the unsuccessful gubernatorial campaign of Phillip Camara, a neophyte, against the incumbent Magsaysay in the province of Zambales.
He also managed the biggest transport cooperative based in Olongapo while serving as a community relations consultant at the SBMA and as a correspondent to the now-defunct Philippine Post.
It was 2001 when he finally decided to migrate to the United States to join his parents who are no longer “peryantes” but legal immigrants.
If you want to know more about him, you can find him on his sites Anak ni Kulapo and I Am Buraot.
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{ 50 comments… read them below or add one }
wooow palakpakan—
ganda ng introduction ah, ang pogi pala sa personal ni adreng buraot (kamukha ng yumao kong tiyuhin ah) pwede sigurong ikaw na ang tito ko simula ngayon wekwekwek.
nice nice ang ganda ng credentials huh anung sinabi nung mga pinoy boys sa credential ng taong to sa beto-beto palang taob na silang lahat
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Saan sa Isteytz si buraot?
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andyan sa California, baka kapitbahay mo! hahaha!
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ano ka ba lee! hahaha!
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@John, ako taga isteyt din, isteyt ng hangzhou, china (litsi ala man lang ka-class class)
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ha ha ha! ang kulet ni lee. naks, ang ganda ng kodak, sana inalis ang shades. he he he he.
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@Glo, di pedeng alisin ang shades, pinaglihi kasi sya kay randy santiago
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Lee, Ni Hao Ma.
Kita nga ko yung mapa ng visitors dito kumikinang-kinang yung state mo. lol!
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@John, sigh… ala na dina kita masilipan este madalaw kasi ban na rin dito ang blogspot.com waaaaaaaa
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I just learned through reading the article that the word ‘peryantes’ are people who make a living from carnivals or perya?
Is that right?
That’s one great history! Very real. I like it.
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I did not get it in my first reading. I was wondering what it was. Kala ko, he was making some joke. Haha!
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Grabe naman dyan… marami sigurong galit sa govt. Blogging can be used for propaganda kasi… sad.
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yap, tama ka dyan @John, blogging agains the govt is a big krime here, swerte ka kung life kalaboso ka pero pede ka ring i-firing-squad depende sa bigat ng paninirang ginawa mo dipa counted yung torture at pato pamilya mo nasa panganib
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so pano gawa mo lee? parati mong sino-social climb mga secret police? hahaha!
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ngek hahaha kamahalan simpol lang, wala akong pinopost na talagang against sa kanila lol
ssshh wala akong blog na ganun wag lang nila mahahanap yung mga comments ko sa ibang blogs hahaha
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Buraot!
Asan si batman???
Hehehehe…
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eto si batman kasama ko nagmamanikyur
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walastik! di pa ko nagtutubras. nakabalandra na pala ako dito. nyahahahah!
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johnny, dito me nagtatago sa Pacific Nortwest. Malapit sa “new moon”. lols.
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di pede alisin, makikita na kirat din ako. wahahah!
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yep. peryahan. yung sa amin, mga pasugal like beto-beto, sakla, and anything to do with dice.
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Lee,
E si Robin? Nakita mo sa parlor??
E si Joker?? Asan na yun??
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si robin sinasamahang mag shopping si bb gandang-ari
si joker naman ayun nagwawala sa senado gusto papalitan yung apelyido nya masyado na raw basa yung arroyo
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oki lang buraot sanay ako makaharap mga taong di nagsesepilyo sapul nung maging tao sila
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grabe naman yun. wahahahha! baka amoy alimuom na yun.
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naku manong buraot papanalangin mo nalang na sana araw araw alimuom, kaya nga ako palaging my nakasak-sak na 2 inhaler sa ilong habang kausap ko sila at panay ang pamigay ko ng chiklet halata naman kasi masyado pag tutpaste ang pinamigay ko
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Ay ganun ba?
Kasama pala ni Robin si BB…
Tapos si Joker e nasa senado…
O basta galingan nyo ni batman ang pagmamanikyur…
baka french manicure ang request ng customer
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Lee,
Sabog na ang tyan ko sa katatawa sa iyo…hahaha…
ANG GANDA MOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!
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Buraot welcome, I can’t wait sa mga isyu tackling articles mo.
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naku pareng silver ayuf ang litsing batman kala ko pa naman marunong mag manikyur sanay daw sanay ek ek yun pala sanay magbungkal ng kamoteng kahoy sa barrio— sukat gawing kamote tong kuko koh.
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“ANG GANDA MOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!”
shhhh @Silver, wak ka mengay (pungay ng mata) baka may naninilip ng pinoy boys dito maging stalker ko pa wihihihihi (tawa ng matandang lumalandi)
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WOW, Lee! Nasa Hangzhou ka pala, sayang di tayo nagkita nung mga araw na jan ako nagpapatila ng ulan. hahaha
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@Kotsengkuba, ho nga e di sana nakapag paiju pa tayo at nagtaob ng bote ng tsingtao habang nakaharap sa west lake at nanonood ng walang kamatayang dancing fountain habang nakanta ng “ai wo chunggo” ha” hmp, chonggo ka rin!
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tenks mahalia… pakyut muna ng konti. hehehhehe. baka me magulat eh.
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LOL.
May nahukay ba siyang kamote sa mga ingrown nails ng customer nya?
Kamote o balinghoy?
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Ang ganda mo Lee!
Beautiful eyes ka nga…
Hahaha….
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@Silver, teka pinag-aaralan ko pa kung panong mag-byutipul eyes na keyboard ang gamit
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o sige pamangakin na kita ha? wahahahah!
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Washington!
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Galing galing!!!
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IDOLLLL!!!!!
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weee, pwede mangopya ng credentials? hahaha
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Same here! Idol ko yan! hehehe…
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astig talaga yang si idol buraotski eh…
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hey madbong! welcome sa barrio siete!
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gumagawa ako for a fee kengkay! hahaha! u like?
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“He was still at the same Catholic School when he discovered San Miguel, the bars, video arcades, saklaan joints, and the sauna parlors surrounding the school.”
In fairness, Catholic imagination seems to allow Catholics to explore the colorful world beyond its well-guarded boundaries…
The tribal angst, fury,and sense of community is very much alive in you Buraot…
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honga. partly due to Catholicism.
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commenter na ako sa anak ni kulapo!
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tenchu.
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