00:00With those who are waiting is a childhood friend of Kambal.
00:04Alia Maklit came here, a close friend of the two even back then.
00:11She is also the reason why I met Kambal, who was in her school back then.
00:20Alia Maklit is the first blind child I met.
00:30How are you, Alia?
00:32I'm good.
00:34Maria Eliose B. Maklit, the fourth.
00:37Alia is no different from her peers.
00:41Come here, Mr. Javi. I'll help you.
00:43Oh, Mr. Javi?
00:45No, I don't need it.
00:47Come here.
00:48Do you know what blind means?
00:52I'm the blind.
00:54I can't accept it. I'm crying. I want to die.
00:58I said, what is this? Why me? Why my child?
01:03There's a lot of things.
01:05I don't do anything wrong.
01:10My mother said, she's the one giving me strength.
01:16She said, let it be. It's God's gift. Don't cry.
01:22For more than 20 years in making documentaries,
01:26Alia's story is one of the longest I've watched.
01:31After we first met in 2007,
01:35I brought her back in 2011.
01:39She's a freshman in grade 2.
01:42How are you?
01:43I'm good.
01:45I've been waiting for you for so long.
01:47Yes.
01:48We haven't seen each other for so long.
01:51That's when I saw her mother's dream come true.
01:56Alia will be able to go to school regularly.
02:02It's been four years.
02:04We met Alia again.
02:06It's PE time. It's PE time.
02:10She's in grade 6.
02:12She can compete with her classmates.
02:17She's still an honor student.
02:21Just like her friends,
02:23Alia sometimes joined the running race.
02:27She also has a guide.
02:33Let me introduce you to Alia.
02:35Alia, this is Mr. Sajid Imao.
02:37How are you?
02:38Alia met the famous sculptor, Sajid Imao,
02:42who also has a disability in sight
02:45and is considered legally blind.
02:47Alia had a new perspective on art.
02:50In this work, I can see her simplicity.
02:55Her sculpting is really simple.
02:59In 2014, she was also part of my documentary
03:04about my friend and cameraman,
03:06Egay Navarro, who passed away.
03:09I was with Egay to witness Alia's growth.
03:13Egay, thank you for this small opportunity
03:17that I got to meet you.
03:19Don't forget to say hi to your mom in heaven.
03:26This is my fifth documentary with Alia.
03:30She was accompanied by her father, Jojo Maklit.
03:34They learned that Alia was blind when she was a baby.
03:37We checked up on her.
03:39At that time, Alia was pregnant.
03:42Now, she's about to finish school.
03:46I hope she can continue until she gets married.
03:50We're getting old.
04:10Thank you for tuning in to Eyewitness, Kapuso.
04:14What can you say about this documentary?
04:17Comment below and subscribe to the GMA Public Affairs YouTube channel.
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