30/10/2026
𝐈𝐍 𝐅𝐎𝐂𝐔𝐒: 𝐃𝐫𝐚𝐰𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐤: 𝐀𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐧 𝐂𝐚𝐛𝐮𝐚𝐥'𝐬 𝐏𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐓𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠
With a busted hand-me-down laptop, contractual teacher Allan Cabual of Bais City had to literally put matters into his own hands, drawing colorful chalk illustrations for his students.
The colorful chalk drawings captivated the imagination of digital-native students who grew up with smartphones and tablets, rekindling a unique love for learning seldom seen in this digital age.
Allan drew almost every day, further honing his skills, until he was eventually loaned a school laptop for his classes. Still, he continued drawing for his students until netizens took notice of his work.
On October 8, 2026, Allan posted his usual chalk art depicting the ecosystem. But overnight, his work went viral.
"𝐼 𝑠𝑢𝑑𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑙𝑦 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑𝑛'𝑡 𝑜𝑝𝑒𝑛 𝑚𝑦 𝐹𝑎𝑐𝑒𝑏𝑜𝑜𝑘. 𝐼 ℎ𝑎𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑟𝑡 𝑚𝑦 𝑝ℎ𝑜𝑛𝑒, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑖𝑡 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑜𝑝𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑑, 𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑓𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑑𝑒𝑑 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑛𝑜𝑡𝑖𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠," Allan said in Bisaya.
From then on, he began receiving frequent requests from people who wanted to use his posts, along with interview invitations from news organizations and social media influencers.
Allan the home-grown artist
Among family, friends, and colleagues, Allan has always been known as a multi-talented artist. Aside from drawing, he also designs for various events and has won local singing competitions. He is also known to dominate karaoke sessions, effortlessly belting out both male and female vocals.
But behind all those talents and smiles, Allan has had his fair share of struggles and challenges, many of which he continues to face to this day.
The eldest of five children, Allan had to help his family make ends meet. He grew up watching his father, Arsenio, struggle to put food on the table as a fisherman, while his mother, Florita, helped by planting and gathering weeds to sell at the local market.
But Allan believed in education and that it would eventually lift them out of poverty. That belief pushed him to pursue his studies, eventually earning a degree in Basic Education from La Consolacion College in Bais City in 2013.
The following year, he took the Licensure Examination for Teachers (LET), but did not pass. Though disheartened, he took the examination again, only to fail repeatedly.
"𝐼 𝑐𝑎𝑛'𝑡 𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑦 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒𝑠 𝐼 𝑡𝑜𝑜𝑘 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑥𝑎𝑚. 𝐼 𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑡 𝑎𝑡 10 𝑝𝑙𝑢𝑠!" he said.
In 2023, almost 10 years after graduating from college, Allan took the examination once more.
After years of repeated failures, disappointment had seemingly become routine. When the results came out, his mother even told him that if he failed again, she had saved enough from gathering weeds to finance his next examination.
But this time, Allan finally passed.
He wailed and cried for hours, prompting family members, friends, and neighbors to rush to their home to congratulate him and celebrate his long-awaited victory.
It was only in 2025, however, that he finally qualified to begin his journey toward becoming a public school teacher. He tried applying twice but failed to make the cut.
Since then, he has worked as a contractual teacher under the Department of Education (DepEd) in Bais City, serving first at Okiot Elementary School, where his chalk artwork went viral, and now at Amalao Elementary School, patiently gaining the experience needed for his next ranking.
Despite receiving job offers, Allan has turned them down, holding on to his dream of becoming a public school teacher in his hometown.
"𝐼'𝑙𝑙 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑖𝑡 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑓𝑒𝑐𝑡 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒. 𝑀𝑦 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑡 𝑖𝑠 𝑎𝑙𝑤𝑎𝑦𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑡𝑒𝑎𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔, ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑚𝑦 𝑏𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑑 ℎ𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑡𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑖𝑛 𝐵𝑎𝑖𝑠 𝐶𝑖𝑡𝑦," he said./DIO
