Maria narrates her life story through a document detailing her family history on both sides. She introduces her parents and their large extended families from the Philippines. Maria then shares about growing up in the Philippines and immigrating to the US as a teenager to live with her father. She discusses adjusting to school in America and having some challenges but ultimately hopes to graduate high school and make her father proud.

1. Who is Maria
Maborang?
Join me on a journey through
my life…

2. Renato Maborang Hydie Trocio
Where It All Began
Meet The Parents

3. Wedding
Bells
Ringing!
My mother and father first laid
eyes on one another on
October 7, 1987. Not long
afterwards, they were getting
married and expecting their
first child together. Renato
Maborang and Hydie Trocio
became Mr. & Mrs. Maborang
on April 21, 1988.

4. Now let me
introduce my
parents……
(My Fathers Side)

5. Renato Maborang Sr.
My Father Renato Maborang was born on October 21, 1951 in
San Juan, Philippines. Born the son of Manuel and Erodida
Maborang, Renato was the sixth out of seven children.

6. The Seven Little
Dwarfs
My grandparents Manuel and Erodida had a total of
seven children.
• Virgilio (Ver) Maborang
• Corazon (Cory) Penalez
• Romelio (Romeo)
Maborang
• Miemie (Mimi) Gutiérrez
• Manuel II (Bebot)
Maborang
• Renato (Nat) Maborang
Sr.
• Nestor Maborang

7. Virgilio
Virgilio (Ver) Maborang is the oldest child of my
grandparents. Virgilio married Helen and together they
had three precious daughters.
• Sheila was their first child. She is married to Jo-Jo
and they had two children (Matt and Brittney).
• Then there was Melissa. Melissa was the middle
child. Melissa is the only child that has not been
married, nor has she had any children.
• Their youngest child was Samantha. Samantha
married Edward and as of yet they do not have any
children.

8. Corazon
Corazon (Cory) Penalez is the oldest daughter of my
grandparents. Cory has been married twice. Her first
husband was Alan Caramanzana and together they
had six children.
• Bong was their first son.
• Mary Ann was their first daughter. She was married twice. Her first
husband was Oliver Ambat and together they had one child; Mark
Ian. Then she met her second husband Jo-Jo Ignacio and together
they had two children; George Miguel and Patricia Shane.
• Then there was Louie. Still single, any takers????
• Edward was the next to come. He is married to Anto and together
they have one daughter named Isabel.
• Dennis is their next son. Dennis has been married three times and
has one child with each spouse. First is Dencel, then Raiden, and
finally Dennis Jr.
• Then there is Tyrone. Tyrone has been married twice and he has
two kids. The first was his son Rukia and then he had a daughter
named Sachi.
• Ronald is their final child. Ronald has been married three times and

9. Romelio
Romelio is the second son from my grandparents.
Unlike the majority of my family, he has only been
married once to Yolly. They had two children
together.
• Their daughter Candy was their first child. Candy
is married but she has no children yet.
• Their second child was their son Joshua. Joshua
is single and works as a Chef.

10. Miemie
Miemie is the youngest daughter. Miemie is married
and has two daughters.
• Rochelle was her first daughter. Rochelle has
eight children. Too many for me to remember…
• Karen has three children. Justine, Joanna, and
Jeremy.

11. Manuel II
Manuel has been married twice. He is currently married
with Zedy. Manuel has four kids with his previous spouse
Anna. No kids with Zedy.
• Maria was Manuel’s first child. Maria has been
married once and has five children.
• Then there’s Melvin. Melvin is single with no children.
• Raymus was next to come. He is married with Karen
and together they have two children.
• Finally, there’s Jen. Jen is single and works as a
Nurse.

12. Renato Jr. (Aka
Daddy)
My father has been married twice. First with Saling and together they had four
children.
• He was 17 when he had his first son Manuel III. Manuel III has been married
twice and has two kids.
• My fathers next child was Rowena. Rowena is married and has three children.
• Then there is Joey. Joey has been married twice and has two daughters.
• Finally there is Orly who is married but has no kids.
Then my dad got married to my mother Hydie. Together, my parents had three of us.
• Cherrie was the first to come. She has been married once and has one son.
• Renato was next. Renato has no children.
• Then there is me, Maria.

13. Nestor
Nestor was the last of my grandparents children.
Nestor died when he was fourteen years old. He had
a brain tumor and unfortunately, he passed away.

14. Hydie Maborang
My mother Hydie was born on June 14, 1970 in Bacolod,
Philippines. My mother was born the youngest child of my
grandparents. My mother was four years old when her parents
passed away.

15. The Four Little Bears
My grandparents from my mothers side had four
children:
Murito Trocio
Hybellen Maturino
Buboy Trocio
Hydie Maborang.

16. Murito
• Murito has only been married once and it was
with Lilybeth and together they had two kids.
• Maribeth was their first child. She is married to
Bonn Louie and together they have one child,
Marrick.
• Mervin was their last child and only son. He died
when he was 18 years old.

17. Hybellen
• Hybellen was my grandparents first daughter.
she was married to Bubot and together they had
three daughters.
• Jennifer was their first child. She graduated and
become a chef.
• Elaine was next to come and she has been
married once and had her first baby a month ago
and they named her Athena.
• Then finally there is K.C.

18. Boy
Boy was m grandparents last son. He has been
married to Fe and together they had one child,
Leah.
• Leah was born a year after my sister was born.

19. Hydie
Hydie was my parents last Child. My mother
grew up with her aunts. They treated her bad so
she decided to leave. She met my father when
she was 17 years old.
Then they fell in love and then she had her first
child, Cherrie at age of 18 years old.
Two years later my mother gave birth to her first
son and named him after my father, Renato.
Then two years later, my mother gave birth to
me.

20. It’s my turn….
Enough about the family. Now let me introduce
myself.

21. Father’s absence
My mother was seven months pregnant with me
when my father left to America to work. If it
wasn’t for my mother he wouldn’t have had to
leave. My father used to own a bakery and it was
very successful. But then my mother always took
money from the cash register and gambled. So
my father thought it would be best to leave and
work in a different country. My father never saw
me when I was a baby, not even pictures. My
mother never had time to sent pictures to my
father.

22. Maria “Nika”
Maborang
I took my first breath in March 21, 1993 in
Quezon National Hospital.

23. Growing up….
When I was little, about three or four years old I
entered preschool. My mother put me in one of those
special schools. I knew why and it was because I was
very sick. My mom said that the doctors
recommended that I attend a school that is enclosed
from the outside environment and isolated from the
outer elements. There were not many students in my
school. I remember I had to wear these baby blue
dresses and I also remember dreading to wear them.
They were at least eight teachers in the classroom
and I felt very uncomfortable. Then I got better  and
my mother put me into another school called
Christian Family Centre.

24. Childhood Memories
...I went to Christian Family Centre until my
fourth grade. I remember when I was in first
grade we had to dance for Coronation night. We
had to dance the song called Barbie girl. My
mother promised me that she will come but she
never did instead I saw my nanny Carmen. I was
very upset that while dancing I fell and everyone
was laughing at me. That was one of the days
that I hated most.

25. Third Grade at CFC
When I was in third grade I began to excel at
school. It is kind of hard to describe but I was
awarded first honor. That meant that I had the
best grades out of any third grader in my
elementary school class. That was the first time
that my mother showed up to school to see the
award being handed over to me. I was ecstatic to
see my mom in school and seeing that she is
proud of me.

26. Holy Child
Montessori School
The fifth grade came and
I was once again
transferred to another
school. My mom thought
that it would be best that
The Big Bro
I attend school along
with my older brother
and sister. In my mind, I
thought to myself, why
did my mom always
separate me from my
siblings? Was I any
different? I felt like my
mother basically never
The Big Sis
liked me… 

27. Graduation Time
On March 29, 2003 I graduated from Holy Child Montessori
School along with my sister. I graduated from the sixth
grade while my sister graduated from High School. In the
Philippines, elementary school ends after the sixth grade
and then high school begins. To celebrate, my mom threw
the biggest party for the both of us. Though I always
thought that it was mainly for my sister. Either way, I was
happy. That day was the first time in my life that I have
talked to my father on the phone. Before then, I thought he
never existed…
Cheenah (Me) Cherrie
Berry

28. Welcome to
America!
On July 12th, 2006 I came to America along with
my family. I remember that on that day, I could
not have been happier. I would finally be able to
see my daddy. Well honestly, I had mixed
emotions about the whole thing. I still could not
get over the fact that my father basically missed
out on my entire childhood. The moment that I
saw my father, I remember being silent and I
could not held but to stare at him. It was an
awkward ride home. With time, my father and I
began to get along…

29. Back to School
As summer ended and fall approached, it once
again became time to return to school. I was
enrolled in Farnsworth Elementary school. I
remember hating that school at first. The main
reason for that was that they held me back one
grade! That all changed when I made friends.

30. Graduation Again…
During the summer of 2008, I
graduated from eight grade. I
remember that day like it was
yesterday. I remember being
happy to finally see my father
witness an important moment in
my life. There I was in my cap
and gown crossing the stage
with my father in the audience. I
could not have been more proud.
Deep inside, it hurt that my
mother did not bother to show up
to her own daughters graduation.

31. William Howard Taft
High School
I entered Taft High School in the Fall of 2008.
Like any incoming freshman, I was happy in one
way and kind of concerned in another. That all
changed the moment I started school and made
more friends.
At the beginning, I always did well in school. Until
I started hanging out with the wrong people. I
ended up cutting class and I was doing horribly in
school.

32. Senior Year!!!
I have rebounded from the mistakes that I have
made in past years. One issue that I still have is
my attendance. I am just not a morning person
and with work, sometimes I have trouble waking
up. I know that while I have not gotten off to the
best start on my senior year, I will change that. I
will make sure that I begin to do all that I possibly
can to graduate this year to make my daddy
proud. Hopefully he would be…

33. The End…