A charmed circle

Part 2 of our report authored by PCIJ Fellow Rorie R. Fajardo tells the story of the students of the Philippine High School for the Arts, a charmed circle that by all accounts belongs to the two percent of the country’s population that is deemed to be gifted.

It comes with a sidebar, a First-Person Narrative by math whiz Fortunato Tacuboy III, who lives by, more than just numbers, “typical interests, ambitions, and fears, just like anybody else.” Very soon, he says he sees himself starting a family with his college sweetheart.