Pea returns to visit Albert, the man from her previous week's video on the Philippine economic crisis who earns about $6 a day. Many viewers couldn't believe anyone could survive on so little while raising two daughters, and they asked how they could help. Pea walks through Albert's situation as a single father with two asthmatic girls, what their medical care costs, and how he gets by, then has the channel step in to cover a nebulizer and medication.
Why she came back
- Pea's last video was about the current economic crisis. Some viewers said it wasn't affecting them. Pea says that's fine if you make $1,000 a month, but not if you make $6 a day like Albert.
- Viewers asked how he survives raising two little girls and whether they could help.
Albert's family
- Kuya Albert and his daughters Alexia (8) and Aliasha (7). Pea calls them "the triple A."
- The girls' mother left to work. At first things were okay and she sent money sometimes. Then she got together with someone else and they split up.
- The kids last saw their mom in July 2024. She sent money until last December and nothing since.
- Pea points out this is the reverse of the usual Filipino story. Normally the Filipino husband leaves and most Filipinas end up single moms. Here Albert is the single dad.
The girls' asthma
- Both girls have asthma, and Pea can hear them coughing during the interview.
- Triggers: chicken, excessive dust, and overplaying outside in the heat. Sometimes they come home struggling to breathe.
- Pea notes how bad that is in the Philippines, where chicken is basically the number one food and everything is dusty.
- Albert found out Alexia was asthmatic when she was about 1 month old. She was confined in the hospital and nebulized, and as a sickly baby they went back to the hospital every month.
- He thinks it's hereditary. His father is also asthmatic.
- When the girls have an attack he prays, because he doesn't want to take them to the hospital. It would really hurt them financially. He tries to handle it at home if he can, but he won't jeopardize their health and knows when it's really time to go.
What the medical care costs
- Nebulizer: compact and portable, the cheapest kind. Albert estimates 4,000 to 5,000 pesos and up. He doesn't own it. He borrows it from a neighbor.
- Medication: the generic used to cost 25 pesos and now costs 50, a 100% increase. Branded medication costs more.
- Dosing is every 6 hours until the girls calm down and breathe normally.
- Hose and mask: provided free by the government when there's supply. Otherwise around 90 pesos (Albert mentions 50 to 100-plus). The girls can't share masks, and a hose is supposed to be replaced about every month. When he can't afford a new one, he improvises by washing it with water and drying it.
How he survives on 325 pesos a day
- Albert earns 325 pesos a day, about $6. He says flatly that it's not possible to live on.
- He has already tightened his belt. He borrows from friends and family to make sure the kids are fed and can get their medication.
- He is also studying while working, so he can get a better job for the kids' future. On top of that he pays fare to get to work and to school.
- Pea: "My math not mathing."
- She says she knows the feeling. Viewers have asked how her own family survived, and the answer is borrowing. It's a cycle: when money comes in you pay it back, and family and friends support you in the meantime. That's how it's done especially in the provinces. Sometimes you save on food by planting your own, but 325 pesos still won't cut it.
What the channel does
- The Filipina Pea channel will buy the girls their own nebulizer so Albert doesn't have to borrow his neighbor's.
- Pea will cover the cost of the girls' medication until medication prices go back to normal.
- She tells the girls to stay in school and keep loving their papa.
- She praises Albert for staying. Not every Filipino guy stays. Some leave and dump the kids on their own parents. She calls him a role model to all men.
- She frames the video as a window into everyday life in the Philippines.
- After the sign-off, she hands Albert money for the new nebulizer and medication, plus extra to help with high food prices so they can "have a feast tonight and many more nights to come."
Outro skit
- Pea plays a stewardess guiding viewers to "the exits of all your worries about life in the Philippines." The captain asks for a thumbs up, subscribe and notification bell, and Patreon is "the wind beneath my wings." In case of an emergency landing, "place your head between your knees and kiss your ass goodbye."
