[WATCH] A year of distance learning: You just had to be there

It’s been more than a year since schools in the Philippines were forced to shut and shift to a remote environment because of the pandemic. Since then, millions of Filipino students nationwide have been studying and struggling in an online setup.

“You just had to be there,” a trend on Twitter, features photos that depict a certain “era” or “phase.” In the same way, Filipino students have no choice but “to just be there” during the shift to the distance learning setup. (READ: In remote learning, some students pay someone else to do their classwork)

Follow Gab Campos, a first year college student from the Polytechnic University of the Philippines and a content creator, as he goes through his everyday routine of distance learning.

Gab balances comical skits with socio-political commentary. To date, his videos have accumulated over 3.7 million likes on TikTok.

Known as Lolo Gab to over 200,000 fans, he is loved for his genuine approach to deconstructing the status quo balanced with wit and dance tutorials in the comforts of his low-cost housing rooftop. One can find a handful of his short videos packed with unorthodox spiels. A large part of his relatable content tackles the struggles of online classes that many students can connect with.

His story is just one of the many stories on distance learning. – Rappler.com

Follow Gab on YouTube. His podcast, lolo luvs u, is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Google Podcasts.

This video is co-produced by Rappler interns Kris Angel Ditan, Sarah Villanueva, Tara Mercene, Kim Czaccei Dacanay, Mikaela Gabrielle De Castro, Indira Nivera, and Eala Julienne P. Nolasco.