What started as a simple public service announcement on local radio turned into a reunion nearly two decades in the making.
Inside Brigada News FM Zamboanga, emotions ran high as a young man searching for his family finally came face to face with the sister he had not seen since childhood. After 17 years of being missing, Abu, now 22, was finally back in the arms of relatives who never stopped looking for him.
As a child, Abu accidentally boarded a ship bound for Manila and never made it home. He was only five years old. In the capital, he survived on the streets before being taken to a shelter, where he was given a new name, Jonard Castillo, and grew up with little memory of his past.
Years later, relying on fragments of childhood memories, he returned to Zamboanga determined to find his real family. He sought help from Brigada News FM Zamboanga, which aired his story as part of its public service segment. His sister, who had kept old photographs of him as a child, later brought them when they went to verify his identity.
His sister happened to be in Zamboanga City that day for a court hearing. Afterward, she stopped at a small eatery and tuned in to Brigada News FM. During the broadcast, she heard the name “Abu” and details that sounded familiar. Their family had been searching for him for 17 years.
She did not finish her meal and rushed to the station.
Moments later, the siblings saw each other for the first time since childhood. Recognition came through shared memories and a scar on Abu’s forehead remembered by their grandmother.
Abu later traveled with his sister to Pagadian City, where he reunited with his father and other siblings.
After nearly two decades of uncertainty, the child who once disappeared finally returned home. Antonio Noning | BNFM Zamboanga
