Eds Gabral, 24, is the national chairperson for Kasama sa UP (Katipunan ng mga Sangguniang Mag-aaral sa UP). He is enrolled in a Malikhaing Pagsulat (Creative Writing) degree program at the Diliman campus with a student number that starts with 2010. During the recent Oblation Run, Eds was at a protest against a proposal to change the academic calendar so that classes start in August and ends in May (instead of June to March). Unlike his makibaka peers dressed in rebel shirts and comfortable sneakers, Eds looked straight out of a Pinterest board labeled “vintage.”“Ang tawag sa look na ‘to, ‘lola-inspired,'” he gamely tells Coconuts Manila. “Sabi nila wear red or black, so pinagsama ko na lang. Pareho ko silang nabili sa ukay.” We asked Eds if we can take a proper profile photo but the student leader shied away. “Hagardo ako today,” he explains to us. Then he was called on by his peers to attend to something else.
Photo by Jake Verzosa
Souls of Manila is a new Coconuts series of street portrait photography inspired by Brandon Stanton’s Humans of New York. Every human has a story to tell, and we intend to share some from the millions of souls who call Metro Manila home.
MORE SOULS OF MANILA:
– Mang Jun at Heroes Hill
– Nhorie Cortes, barbeque vendor in Las Piñas
– Mercy Takasa at New City Grocery
– James Macariola
– Earl Chua in Makati
