Moving from volunteer to employee: My full-circle moment with Rappler

This month alone has been a blur of airport terminals, heavy backpacks, and overlapping goodbyes. 

Just weeks prior, I was in my hometown of Iloilo, mentally preparing for the biggest professional plot twist of my life in a journey that has increasingly felt like a fast-paced motion picture. I would soon permanently relocate to Manila. 

In the middle of this hectic transition, I somehow found myself in Cotabato City, miles away from home.

I was standing inside a classroom at Notre Dame University for the launch of “#AmbagNatin: Boto Para sa Bangsamoro.” It was a voter empowerment roadshow designed to prepare the region for the upcoming September 2026 parliamentary elections, a historic milestone that can define the region’s future.

As a former college instructor, being in front of a classroom felt natural. I was used to looking out at a sea of young faces, ready to exchange ideas. Only this time, I was not there to give a lesson on linguistics. I was there as Rappler’s new Community Engagement Specialist, helping young student journalists in the art of community storytelling.

Looking out at the eight eager young faces during our workshop, I felt a sudden wave of nostalgia. It felt completely surreal because not too long ago, I was sitting exactly where they were, introducing myself with the same passion and curiosity.

Life as an Iloilo Mover

Before I officially became a Rappler Community Engagement Specialist, my relationship with the organization had been an organic encounter. At the time, I was already active in advocacy work, but I often struggled with making people care about issues beyond the communities directly affected by them. Becoming a Mover introduced me to storytelling as an answer.

For those unfamiliar with it, Rappler’s Mover Network is a vibrant community of citizen journalists, storytellers, and changemakers who refuse to let local issues stay invisible.

When I joined the network back home after attending the Iloilo leg of the roadshow, it wasn’t a sudden leap into the media, because deep inside me, I have always been passionate about telling the stories of the people I meet. I am deeply involved in grassroots advocacy, and becoming a Mover gave me the perfect platform to tell the stories of my communities.

Throughout those years of contributing stories, Samantha Bagayas, who led MovePH, became a constant source of guidance. Through every story I pitched, Samantha challenged me to think more deeply about the communities I was writing for. She encouraged me to look beyond simply telling a story and to ask why it mattered, helping shape not only my writing, but also my understanding of storytelling as a form of civic engagement.

With that lens, I wrote about the realities closest to home. I covered historic milestones achieved by our local doctors, the crucial elections that defined our city, and how civic advocacies were being integrated into our vibrant local festivals.

Covering these local narratives opened up a world of opportunities, making me realize that civic engagement had always been my true calling. It was this realization that eventually paved the way for me to attend the One Young World Summit in Germany as a Rappler scholar—an experience that I hold especially close for being my first international flight to a country I had always dreamt of visiting.

There, meeting young leaders from around the world reinforced something I first learned as a Mover—that local stories are never just local. The challenges facing my community in Iloilo echoed conversations happening thousands of miles away.

Little did I know, this was just setting the stage for a much larger narrative. When the opening was announced, I hesitated for a moment. Applying meant leaving Iloilo, the community that had shaped so much of my work. But it also meant an opportunity to help create the same experiences that had once inspired me. So I applied. Unlike my other applications, this one felt deeply personal. I was applying to join the team that had shaped my journey as a storyteller and community advocate.

Joining the team also meant working alongside Samantha, not as a Mover submitting stories for feedback, but as a colleague. As I was beginning my journey as Community Engagement Specialist, she was preparing to close her chapter with MovePH.

It felt like another quiet full-circle moment, the person who had guided my years as a contributor was now leaving the organization just as I was stepping into it, reminding me that communities like MovePH continue because people invest in those who come after them.

Stepping into the specialist role

Being part of the #AmbagNatin roadshow as my first major project in this role had felt incredibly poetic. I quickly realized just how much time, effort, and deliberate planning go into preparing these campaigns—from curating the attendees and guiding critical conversations, to selecting the locations and understanding how deeply these visits impact the communities. 

Hearing from our attendees during the public forum, watching their eyes glow with agreement and listening to the intense discussions that transpired proved to me how vital hands-on democracy is to the grassroots. You could see this in how our participants shared insights in our Bangsamoro Voices chat room on how they wanted change to happen. 

My bags were packed once again, and my next stop was Manila, where a new life and a permanent move in a new city awaited me. Leaving Iloilo meant more than changing cities. It meant stepping away from the communities, organizations, and stories that had shaped my understanding of service and advocacy. But the stories remain, and I’ll be carrying them every time I move.

A few years ago, I was the one attending a Rappler workshop and wondering where it might lead. In Cotabato, I found myself standing on the other side of that experience. If even one of those student journalists leaves the room believing their stories matter, then perhaps the circle continues.– Rappler.com