Meet the giant child of Iloilo

San Joaquin in Iloilo boasts of many things: There’s the GarinFarm, a hillside resort that’s both action-oriented (hello ziplines!) and friendly to reflections (pilgrimage trails!). There’s the Pasungay-Pahibag festival, a traditional bull and horse fighting event that happens every January, and the Gintaguan Falls for those who want to go nature-tripping.

And then there’s Raven, the mysterious giant child of San Joaquin. The youngest of four children, Raven, or Venven, is 4 feet and five inches tall. He wears shoe size 11 and weighs close to 100 pounds. He is only three years old.

Venven

According to his mother, Rosalie, she almost died giving birth to Venven. Doctors had to do a c-section procedure on her. The newborn quickly reached 14.6 kilos, which is the average weight of most 3-year-old kids.

Raven likes to eat — his favorite is hotdogs — and can eat three platefuls of rice. He also likes to sleep.

He’s been the subject of curiosity in San Joaquin because apart from having a grandfather who is exceptionally tall, Venven also has a tita who has a height disorder. She has dwarfism.

But according to Dr. Abraham Elgario, a general physician from Iloilo, Raven’s case isn’t just all magical and mystical. He is afflicted with Pituitary Gigantism that is usually caused by a tumor in one's pituitary gland.

3-year-old Venven is the youngest of four children

The tumor makes one's body produce a lot of growth hormones, causing intense growth spurt. According to experts, only three out of a million are afflicted with Pituitary Gigantism.

But there are cures to Pituitary Gigantism. Apart from taking medicines that will help the body stop producing growth hormones, patients can also undergo radiation therapy, as well as surgery of the pituitary gland. — LA, GMA News