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CEBU CITY, Philippines - Her schoolmates call her “super hero” for saving her younger brother and a cousin from a fire that engulfed her uncle's home in Barangay (village) Guadalupe, Cebu City more than a year ago.
It was the same term of endearment given to Chevaun Julve, 6, by Cebu City officials who promised her a scholarship grant in recognition of her heroism.
But the promise has not been fulfilled more than a year after the June 16 fire that broke out in Doña Cristina Subdivision, Guadalupe.
Preciosa Julve, the girl's mother, said she was tired of waiting for Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña and City Councilor Gerardo Carillo to fulfill their promise.
Osmeña promised to extend “special consideration” to the parents whom he credited for raising Chevaun to be a “good girl.”
Carillo vowed to give Chevaun, then a Kindergarten pupil, a scholarship grant.
But none of these promises was fulfilled.
“Bakakon man na si Osmeña. Gikapoy na mi og laom. Dili unta sila musaad kay magdahom man gud mi gud (Osmeña is a liar. We are tired of hoping. They shouldn't make any promises because we would hope that these would be fulfilled),” Preciosa told Cebu Daily News.
The mayor admitted that he forgot about his promise to the girl.
“Yes but I forgot. Sorry but I forgot. If they had reminded me, I would comply,” he said in a text message sent to Cebu Daily News.
“I helped so many kids for lesser reasons. Margot asked her friends to donate to street children in lieu of birthday gifts. She raised over P400,000. I do not give under duress or blackmail,” he said.
“If that's her wish to call me a liar, (I) would rather help others. She did not save my son, but I thought I could help and all she had to do is remind me instead of calling me a liar.” Osmeña said.
But later, the mayor said he would first meet with Carillo on Monday and then decide before he would do.
Carillo, for his part, said the girl does not need a scholarship immediately because she is still in Grade 1 at the Labangon Elementary School, which provides free education.
He, however, admitted that he could not recall if he promised a scholarship for high school or college.
Chevaun, then 5, was fetched by her parents from school in Barangay Labangon shortly before lunch on June 16, 2007.
Preciosa dropped by a nearby eatery to buy food while husband Jonathan and her daughter proceeded to their house in Doña Cristina Subdivision, Guadalupe.
Chevaun went to the house of her uncle Jose Levi Ramirez to look for her younger brother Nathaniel who would usually play there.
As she was about to go up to the second floor of the house, she noticed that the curtain had caught fire.
Nathaniel and cousin Stephan, then aged four and three, just stared at the flames.
But Chevaun did not lose her presence of mind. She went upstairs to rescue the two boys.
Her father rushed to the burning house after seeing the fire. But by then, Chevaun had safely brought the boys outside of the house.
The Cebu City Council passed a resolution, commending Chevaun for her “selfless heroism.”
According to Preciosa, their neighbors have been asking her what had happened to the promises given by the city officials.
She told her neighbors that they did not pin their hope on the promises that had yet to be fulfilled. Instead, they would work hard in order to send their daughter to school.
Preciosa, a manicurist, said they still rely on the salary of her husband, who works as a family driver. The couple has three children – Nicole, 9; Chevaun and Nathaniel, 5.
She said that she had gone to City Hall several times to follow up on the promise made by the mayor and the councilor.
Preciosa first went to the office of Carillo but was told that the councilor was busy.
She went back and was able to talk to the councilor. But Carillo asked her to come back because he had more pressing matters to attend to.
In her third visit, Preciosa claimed that the councilor told her to go to the Department of Social Welfare and Services (DSWS) office in Barangay Labangon where he had endorsed the documents.
She said she went to the DSWS as told but a staff member advised her to wait for their call.
The call never came.
And they grew tired of waiting.
“Dili unta sila musaad kung dili nila matuman. Wala na siya'y ayo nga pagka mayor kung dili na sila kabaw mu tuman sa ilang saad (They should not promise if they cannot fulfill it. He is a lousy mayor because he doesn't know how to fulfill his promise),” Preciosa said.
Councilor Carillo said he remembered signing a document that recommended a scholarship grant to Chevaun under the Alay Lakad Foundation. He was not sure if the free education was for secondary or college level.
He said he would check the documents when he returns for work on Monday. Carillo went on leave for two weeks after he got hurt in a motorcycle accident in a mountain barangay in Cebu City.
Mayor Osmeña said he would talk to Carillo about the matter.
But so far, he said nobody reminded him about the case of Chevaun.
He said he had helped several children who had shown exemplary deeds.
One of them was Keybert Padilla, who was only five years old when he witnessed a jeepney robbery and led the police to the perpetrators in 2002.
According to Osmeña, the boy, now 11, goes to his house or to his office every Monday to collect his allowance. The money, he said, comes from his own pocket and not from the city's coffers.
Aside from Padilla, the mayor said he also shouldered the high school and college education of Norelyn Cantero who now serves as his executive secretary.
He also sent to college the nanny of his son Miguel who now works at Pari-an drop-in center.
Preciosa admitted that she was disappointed by Osmeña and Carillo for forgetting their promises because they were apparently busy fighting with some local officials and other problems of the city.
“Puros saad unya puros pud pakyas. Mga hambog ra na sila puros. Bakakon kaayo si Osmeña (They keep on giving promises but fail to fulfill these. They are all arrogant. Osmeña is a liar),” she said.
Chevaun is celebrating her seventh birthday on August 20.
Her wish is simple – to share a gallon of ice cream with her parents and brothers Nathaniel and Nicole.
But on this day, she said she hopes to receive the scholarship promised to her last year because this will help her realize her dream of becoming a teacher.
Asked to comment about the girl's wish, Osmeña replied: “I will take care of the kid for at least a year.”
“But if the mother wants to threaten me in public as in blackmail, no way,” he said.
