Kristel Tejada’s dad now a gov’t worker

The father of the University of the Philippines (UP) Manila student who killed herself after she failed to pay her tuition due to poverty has been given a job by Mayor Alfredo Lim.

The family of Kristel Tejada composed of her father Christopher, her mother Blesilda and her three younger siblings attended the flag-raising ceremony at Manila City Hall the other day to formalize Christopher’s acceptance of the job he was offered at the Department of Public Services.

“We will never forget the way you helped us. You were one of the first to approach us and offer us help in our time of grief. Thank you,” Blesilda said.

Tejada killed herself earlier this month inside their house in Manila after she was forced to take a leave of absence from her studies at UP Manila when she failed to pay her tuition for the second semester.

The behavioral sciences student had applied for a loan to finance her studies but her application was turned down because it was already the middle of the semester.

When Lim visited Tejada’s wake, he gave P10,000 in financial assistance to her family, offered to shoulder her burial and promised Christopher a job. Erika Sauler