Dexter Santos Valenton, the first-ever Aeta fulfilled his dream of becoming a cop after passing the Criminology Board Exam.
The 23-year-old Aeta lad became the first member to pass the board exam in their indigenous community in Barangay San Ramon in Floridablanca, Pampanga.
Not only hailed as the first Aeta to pass the board exam, but Valenton is also the first known to make it to the Professional Regulation Commission's criminologist licensure test and their province's first indigenous police officer.
Elizabeth Baybayan, the director of the province's social welfare and development office, attested to Valenton's success. In addition to the other Aeta who passed the teacher license exam, Valenton reportedly passed the criminology exam first.
Dennis Pineda, the governor, congratulated Valenton on his Facebook page. As netizens praised Valenton on his victory, the post gained a lot of attention.
As his parents struggled to pay for nine children to attend school, the young Aeta boy worried that his education would be "dakal kasakitan (full of misery)". Farmers, including his parents, were owed money, according to him, by "sakadora (traders)."
In a December report, he pursued completing elementary and high school by trekking for hours to school and enrolling in college through the help of the provincial government's scholarship program.
Valenton also said that the governor, among other people, provided his financial needs for his review, including his board and housing.
The Aeta lad dreamt of becoming a police officer since he was young, after the 1991 explosion of Mt. Pinatubo that isolated Aeta villages to access education, healthcare, roads, water, and shelter.
