Former vice president Jejomar “Jojo” Binay went sentimental on Fathers’ Day recalling the hardships that he and his father had to go through following the death of his mother.

“My mother died when I was seven years old. My father, a government librarian, purchased the small house we were renting with my mother’s death benefits,” he recalled in a Facebook post on Sunday (June 20).

Diego, the father of the former vice president, served as a government librarian at that time. His mother, Lourdes, worked as a teacher.

But the house they purchased caught fire and all their belongings were damaged just three months after he and his father moved there.

“Walang natira (There was nothing left) I still remember my father walking slowly through the ruins of our house the day after the fire. Naghahanap siya ng barya (He was looking for coins),” he said.

Binay said they bought food using the money that his father found from the ruins of their burnt house.

“We are made stronger by adversity.” This was the lesson learned by the former vice president during those hard times.

“To all the fathers who went through tough times but still persevered, this day is for all of us,” he said.

Binay posted on Facebook a photo of him and his father taken when he was still young.