December 22, 2025
From lost to youth leader
By Joy Rojas
Standing before a sea of Tzu Chi scholars and medical assistance beneficiaries attending their last Humanities Class and Charity Day for the year on December 14 at the Jing Si Hall of Buddhist Tzu Chi Campus, Sta. Mesa, Manila, 28-year-old Juniel Rey “Gin” Gigaquit drew cheers after he announced that he bagged first place for project implementation in the 2025 Tzu Chi International Youth Leadership Program. The honor landed him a subsidized trip to Taiwan, where he spent four days in Taipei and three days in Hualien, home of the original Tzu Chi Foundation and its founder, Dharma Master Cheng Yen.
In a tour of Taipei Tzu Chi Hospital’s palliative care unit, he watched teary-eyed as volunteers chatted with each bed-ridden patient and listened to what they had to say with genuine interest. Particularly moving was when volunteers gently encouraged patients to express the four wisdoms—saying “thank you,” “I love you,” “I’m sorry,” and “goodbye”—to family and friends while they still can.
In keeping with the Humanities Class’s theme of filial piety, Gin asked his audience to apply the four wisdoms to their parents. “This is not just a reminder to you guys,” he told the crowd. “This is also a reminder to myself.”
Ten years ago, Gin was the opposite of the confident, insightful, and hands-on youth leader that he is today. Based in Butuan City, Caraga, he was a computer science major at the University of the Philippines Mindanao when he dropped out in his fourth year. “I couldn’t see my future in it,” he explained. “Every time I closed my eyes, nothing.”
For six months, he existed in a state of depression. Holed up at home, he toyed with his dark thoughts.
Then his mother gave him an ultimatum. “If you’re going to be this way,” she said, “then leave this house and get a job!” Gin acquiesced and trained to work for a call center before he was assigned in Manila. The gig, which lasted for a year, forced the introvert out of his comfort zone to interact with people.
It was the kick in the pants that he needed. “It really helped me find my spiritual identity. It helped me explore my inner identity,” he said.
Direction and purpose in life eventually came by way of a business venture. Intending to get into beauty products, he and his mom pivoted to food at the start of the pandemic by purchasing vegetables from farms and delivering them directly to communities.
That’s when it dawned on him: Why not pursue agriculture? It made perfect sense. “My grandparents from both sides are farmers, and every summer we’d go to their farms,” he said. “That’s when it struck me. If there’s something I wanted to do, I imagined the farm and how moments there molded me. I think this is my calling.”
Google him and his name will appear in articles on initiatives related to farming, the environment, and sustainability. Now a thesis away from completing his bachelor’s degree in agriculture at Caraga State University, he co-founded Cheaper AF (Alternative Feeds, Alternative Fertilizer), a project that cuts farmers’ expenses on animal feeds and agricultural supplies while increasing their profit. The project won in the provincial level of the Young Farmers’ Challenge, a program of the Department of Agriculture.
In Kids Who Farm, he is a volunteer coordinator of the Zamboanga-based non-profit that makes urban farming easy and accessible to all.
For the 2025 Tzu Chi International Youth Leadership Program, which he discovered by chance while scrolling on social media, he and his friends from Kids Who Farm introduced the Gardenator, a plastic drum upcycled into a planter with a built-in composter in the center. The project bested entries from the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Australia, Taiwan, Thailand, Nepal, the United States, and the United Kingdom.
In Taiwan, he immersed himself in all things Tzu Chi: He visited the foundation’s broadcast arm Daai TV, ate vegetarian, planted in a farm run by volunteers, and witnessed how heartfelt compassion can uplift the sick.
In the brief time that Gin has known Tzu Chi, he credits the foundation for its positive influence on him. He’s become more mindful in words and deeds, and is learning to be present in every moment. The trip to Taiwan also renewed his understanding of being grateful even for the littlest things. “I was chatting with my sister last night and she told me she felt I was a different person because of this program,” he said. “I said, ‘I think so too!’ and we both laughed.”
To the youth going through their own dark and aimless journeys, Gin leaves them with this message from the Masters in Taiwan.
“We all go through different seasons, so it’s okay to feel lost because it’s just one way to understand life,” he said. “Just make sure to keep an open mind on everything that you're experiencing. There's no such thing as good or bad experience. There is only experience.”
Who would have thought that this introverted young man would one day speak before a crowd this big? At the combined Charity Day and Humanities Class for Tzu Chi scholars and medical assistance beneficiaries, Juniel Rey “Gin” Gigaquit (on stage) talks about filial piety.
Guest speaker Gin Gigaquit recounts the moving experience of watching Tzu Chi volunteers care for the sick at Taipei Tzu Chi Hospital’s palliative care unit.
In Taiwan, it’s Gin on his way to visit Daai TV, Tzu Chi Foundation’s broadcast arm.
At a farm in Hualien, Taiwan, he participated in land preparation, then operated a walk-behind tractor.
(From left) Mark Cadaan, Kiven John Erojo, and Gin Gigaquit meet up for Cheaper AF, a nano-scale food waste treatment facility that they started on campus at Caraga State University.
Farming, environmental, and sustainable practices call for hands-on participation.
With Kids Who Farm, Gin Gigaquit (back row, third from right) monitored their City Green Pockets project at Agusan National High School. “We provide free arroz caldo to the students and encourage project participants to volunteer giving out free food,” he says.
Before leaving for Taiwan, Gin Gigaquit presented his project for the 2025 Tzu Chi International Youth Leadership Program to Tzu Chi staff and student interns.
Gin Gigaquit (front row, fourth from right) with Tzu Chi staff and student interns.