This curly-haired boy, now identified as Jonlie “Tongli” Cabradilla, plays Despacito in his ukelele to customers outside a restaurant near the Mactan Cebu International Airport (MCIA in Lapu-Lapu City. |Photo courtesy of TJ Clemente
CEBU CITY, Philippines — After a viral post of a netizen whose heart was touched by the talent of a young innocent boy who plays the ukulele like a pro, many netizens came looking for the young street busker and Cebu Daily News Digital was one of them.
With the help of the Disaster Team of Lapu-Lapu City headed by Andy Berame, CDN Digital got a few information about this viral ‘Ukulele Boy.’
His name is Jonlie “Tongli” Cabradilla and looks younger that his actual age, which is 11 years old. He lives in Barangay Lawaaan 2, Talisay City but travels to Lapu-Lapu City on Mactan Island every weekend with this mother and father to busk for money.
READ MORE: ‘Ukulele Boy’ in Lapu-Lapu touches netizen’s heart
Jonlie, who is the second of six siblings, has told Berame that his parents have no permanent jobs. After finding that they could earn by busking in populated areas on Mactan Island, it has become a weekend activity for Jonlie and his parents.
“Manaygon ra gyud ni sila, siya, iyang papa ug mama, buwag-buwag sila, iyang ginikanan sa mga balay-balay ug siya dinhi sa mga kanan-an.” said Berame.
When asked why this fifth grader from Lawaan 2 Elementary School opted to cross to Mactan instead of busking in malls that are closer to his home, Berame said the boy told him that he found it safer to busk in Lapu-Lapu as he had experienced getting bullied doing the same on the mainland.
Jonlie learned to play the ukelele when he was still four-years old when his father introduced the instrument to him.
“Gi-tudlo-an siyas iyang papa, kuno pag human gi-hingok-an siya unya ang katong putol nga kuku gi sud sa ukulele, mao nang kamao gyud kuno sya mo tukar og ukelele, iya raning i sipra mga tukar aron ma kat-on sya” shared Berame.
Jonlie would sometimes busk together with his cousins, Mark Cabradilla, 12 and Beddey Cabradilla, 12, both of whom are also from Lawaan. During those weekend jaunt to Mactan, the boys would usually spend their Saturday night at the skywalk in Barangay Pusok, Lapu-Lapu City after a day’s work and would then get up early the next morning to start busking again before they would head home.
These weekend busking jaunts provide each of the boys around P300, depending on where they can position themselves and depending on the volume of the people.
Berame said Jonlie and his cousins had no clean clothes and were not even wearing slippers, one of the reasons why sometimes they were barred from staying or playing outside some of the more known establishments on the island.
“Ingon gani to si Tongli nga malipay na kuno sila anang dili sila pa hawa-on sa guard og mag tambay sila sa gawas sa resto kay kana sure sila maka kwarta,” said Berame
.Jonlie is usually found outside a mall in Lapu-Lapu City in the morning of Saturdays and Sundays. In the afternoon of these days, he would busk and outside a restaurant near the Mactan Cebu International Airport (MCIA) and it was here where a netizen caught him on video playing his ukulele and posted it on Facebook. The rest is history.