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By JANNIELYN ANN BIGTAS, GMA NEWS
July 3, 2019
ERICKA DEHITTA USED TO WAKE UP every morning at 4 a.m. She would join four of her siblings at the crack of dawn to scavenge enough scrap metal at a dumpsite in Angono, Rizal. They were hoping to make a little money each day for daily expenses and for school.
Under the scorching heat of the sun, they would sift through trash looking for scraps. They would fill their bags until each were full of scrap metal. They would attach these heavy bags onto a bindle, which they’d carry to the junk shop to sell the scavenged goods.
It was backbreaking work for anyone, let alone a pre-teen girl. But for Ericka, the sixth of 12 children, scavenging was the only thing she knew how to do to survive.
All through her daily ordeal, Ericka would pray that life wouldn’t be as hard. She wanted to be able to do something else besides just scavenge trash for a living. “Hopefully, something that would really help my family,” she says.
One random morning in 2014, Ericka had just finished scavenging, and she was trying to find one of her sisters. Ericka found her sister inside a garage, lifting pipes. She had no idea what was going on, thinking her sister was merely messing around.
“They told me they were lifting barbells, they were weightlifting,” Ericka says. “I asked, ‘What is that?’”
Just then, a big, burly man approached Ericka. She didn’t know it at the time, but he would turn out to be the answer to her prayers.
ERICKA DEHITTA
RICHARD AGOSTO HAD BEEN involved in weightlifting for 21 years. He made the national team, even winning bronze medals in the Southeast Asian Games in 2007 and 2011.
“But I was still unable to reach my dream: to compete in the Olympics,” he says. “When I was about to exit the national team, it seemed like I lost the drive to train.”
He had stopped training and given up the sport completely when, one afternoon, he noticed scavenging children carrying their heavy bindles caught his attention. What stood out to him was just how strong they were.
They may not have had any knowledge in lifting weights, and they may have had zero athletic background, but he took note of the heavy bags they carried, and under the scorching sun, too. He figured their strength could be used in a better way.
Almost immediately, his mind came up with a plan. Before building a house, he would first put up a small gym, where he would invite kids to train. To encourage kids, he though, he would offer free meals.
“Pay it forward” is how he describes the original idea. He still remembers how his life changed when he met Samuel Aligada, an Olympic weightlifter, who trained him for free when he was a kid. “I also came from nothing,” he says.
Soon afterwards, the Pep Project Weightlifting was born, and Richard Agosto became Coach Pep to an initial batch of six kids that included Ericka Dehitta.
RICHARD "PEP" AGOSTO
WHEN SHE FIRST JOINED the program, Ericka thought weightlifting was only for men who wanted to bulk up their bodies.
Still, she appreciated the free meals from Coach Pep, who told them he wanted them to stop scavenging. He promised them their lives could change through weightlifting.
But that didn’t mean that training would be a walk in the park. Ericka would soon learn the dedication required to live the life of an athlete.
Under Coach Pep, she began to train every day for two hours after school, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. When summer vacation came, training became tougher: twice a day on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays and once on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays.
Within a year, Coach Pep deemed her ready for her first weightlifting competition. Her parents initially had concerns about letting their daughter join the contest, scheduled in faraway Naga City, but Coach Pep assured them that Ericka would be in safe hands.
It all ended up worth it, as the team took home their first medal from the competition. For Ericka, the win also cemented her love for the sport. “That’s when I stepped up my efforts because in our first game, we won a medal,” she says.
Even Ericka’s parents became convinced.
“That’s when they started to allow me to continue. Up to now, they’re very supportive of me,” she says.
Ericka’s batch showed so much potential that Coach Pep registered them to join the Batang Pinoy Competition of the Philippine Sports Commissions. They were all still under 15 years old when they joined the Luzon league. Most of them qualified to compete at the National Youth Games.
EVEN WITH THE BEST INTENTIONS, there is a financial cost to a project mentoring and coaching kids. When Coach Pep started his program, he had to avail of a loan just to be able to buy training equipment. He also accepted donations from friends who gave him equipment.
A friend also suggested that he tap the CrossFit Community to get support.
“They reached out and helped. For the kids, they’d give gym clothes, shoes, some would even give cash for the kids’ food,” he says.
Aside from working with the Philippine Air Force, he also began teaching weightlifting in CrossFit Gyms across Manila to help fund the kids’ training.
“Instead of just asking for donations from CrossFit boxes, I offered to teach there. It’s a win-win situation. I get to teach them, they get to help us,” he says.
From training six kids, the Pep Project Weightlifting at one point swelled to 24 members. Now, the program is back down to a more manageable 11 kids, with the eldest at 20 years old and the youngest at 11.
“Of course, those who are really interested, and those who have potential, have remained,” Coach Pep says.
PEP Project Weightlifting's current batch (L-R) Marlon, Lovely Inan, Jeychel Dizon, Ericka Dehitta, Chariz Macawili, April Inan, Valerie Relloso, Prince Calvin Bernadino, Cyrinn Inan, Princes Dehitta and Daniela del Ayra. Photos: Jannielyn Ann Bigtas
FROM A MODEST 35-kg., Ericka now lifts an impressive 78-kg. for her heaviest clean and jerk. She presently does about 63-kg. for her heaviest snatch, a huge improvement from her starting weight of 25kg.
The weights she could carry are far from the only things that have changed for Ericka, now 20 years old.
“It’s been a big difference for me,” Ericka says. “When I look back at what we used to do, carrying bags for scavenging, to now carrying barbells, it’s been a huge change.”
Her goals, like her strength, have grown as well. “We dream of finishing school, and then reaching the Olympics. I think all athletes dream of that,” says Ericka, who also wants to become a chef one day.
The dreams may have become bigger, but they have also become easier to imagine coming true. Last year, Ericka joined a competition in Thailand where she placed third in the clean and jerk category. It earned her a spot in the Philippine National Weightlifting Team.
“It’s no joke being part of the national team because we get an allowance from the government. You need to be focused on your training every day. But I plan to help out Mama and Papa in their daily expenses,” she says.
Ericka doesn’t have to look too far for inspiration. She had been watching the career of Hidilyn Diaz even before the decorated weightlifter won silver in the 2016 Olympics and gold in the 2018 Asian Games.
There are some parallels to their stories. Hidilyn started training at 11 years old. Before becoming a famous athlete, Hidilyn would help clean her father’s tricycle and jeepney, as well as help sell fish in the market.
Hidilyn has spoken about inspiring her fellow women break barriers. She also planned to set up a gym at her home house in Zamboanga to train kids, hoping to inspire them to become champions in the future.
Already, Hidilyn has succeeded in doing just that, at least for Ericka.
“When Ate Hidilyn won, we were so inspired to keep pushing in our training, so we would be famous athletes as well,” Ericka says.
By being a beacon for Ericka, Hidilyn has taken the first step in her goal of inspiring fellow women and breaking the stigma about women and weightlifting. Meanwhile, the culture of generosity within the local weightlifting community cycles on.
Some of the girls training under Coach Pep. (Top L-R) Cyrinn Inan, 12 and Chariz Macawili, 17. (Bottom L-R) Princes Dehitta and April Inan, 10. Photos: Jannielyn Ann Bigtas
SOME FIVE YEARS AFTER he began, Coach Pep’s project can be considered a tremendous success, with two children from his original six becoming part of the national team. Aside from Ericka, 17-year-old Chariz Macawili is also part of the Philippine squad.
Coach Pep has given no indications of slowing down.
“I still coach these kids because this is my way of giving back to a sport that has given so much to us,” he says.
He hopes to give children more than what he was able to fulfill for himself during his prime years.
“I always hope that there will be kids who like me dream of reaching those goals,” Coach Pep says.
For her part, Ericka would sometimes look back on her tough childhood days as a scavenger, which makes her realize how fortunate she is to have met Coach Pep.
“Now, when we wake up, we’ll have breakfast already. We’ll just go to the gym to train afterwards. After training, we’ll eat here and then we’ll just rest when we get home. It’s been really different what happened to us,” says Ericka.
Along the way, the words of inspiration that Coach Pep would tell her remain engraved in Ericka’s mind.
“Never lose hope. You can do it, keep fighting. It’s all about time management. We’ll always be there for you if you ever need help.”
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