Grade 10 student gifted P1 million on his graduation day
A grade 10 student named Charles Joseph "CJ" Baybay received the most generous birthday gift on his graduation day: a money cape worth a whopping one million pesos.
According to a report from GMA's Good News, the grand surprise was a graduation gift from CJ's older brother Christian Merck Grey, who wanted to reward him for his achievements in school.
CJ told that news program that while he had an inkling that he was going to get a gift, he never expected it to be a long cape made out of hundreds of P1,000 bills that all added up to a total of one million. Aside from this, he also received a gold necklace.
"I know I was going to get something, but I didn't expect that it was going to be a million pesos. It was in my room for like two days, and I'm like, 'When is he gonna get it back?' And then I was like, 'Oh, he actually gave it to me!'" CJ shared.
However, Christian revealed that a million pesos was not the first gift they had in mind for his younger brother, "Nung napag-usapan namin ng wife ko, ang ireragalo talaga namin is kotse. And then, babalik na siya sa US, wag kotse, sabi ko, pera kaya?"
But why did he prepare such a grand surprise for CJ? According to Christian's wife Pamela, CJ deserves nothing but he best, saying, "Deserve kasi ni CJ 'yung 1 million kasi matalino siya, with honors siya grumaduate, and mabait talaga siyang bata."
The gesture is made even sweeter considering that Christian initially wanted nothing to do with CJ, who is his maternal half-brother.
The gesture is even more meaningful considering that Christian initially did not want anything to do with CJ, his maternal half-brother. They grew up without a father, and Christian felt that CJ was a "share" of his mother's attention and that he would no longer be spoiled.
"Magkapatid lang kami sa mother ko, so magkaparehas kaming lumaking walang tatay. So dati, nung baby pa siya, hindi ko alam na mayroon akong kapatid," Christian shared. "Parang hindi ko pa siya feel. Feeling ko kasi noon, parang share. Hindi na ako maii-spoil. Kasi syempre nagkaroon na ako ng kapatid."
However, they became close when Christian found a shoulder to lean on in his younger brother during a dark moment in his life.
CJ said that he has entrusted the cash he received to his mother and plans to use it to invest in a business or whatever he sees fit in the future.