Philippines Student Brings Life-Size Cutout of Deceased Mum to Graduation Ceremony

Paulo John Alinsog, a Filipino graduate, has gone viral on social media after posting a series of photos of himself with a life-size image of his mother at his graduation ceremony. Paulo's mother had passed away in 2016 and his stepfather was not available to attend his son's graduation ceremony.

When Paulo, a management student of Philippines University, realised that he would miss his mother during the graduation ceremony while his friends would be accompanied by their parents, he decided to take a picture of his mother pasted on 157-cm tall cardboard cutout.

The gesture of the teenager left his classmates, teachers and scores of netizens around the world surprised, touched as well as emotional. Paulo took to Twitter to share pictures of himself in a graduation robe and cap while he held the life-size cutout of his dead mother right next to him.

According to SETN, people who were touched by the story, left messages such as "She will be proud of you.”

The news agency further revealed that Paulo and his mother were very close, as she had raised him on her own.

Talking to Coconuts Manila, Paulo, who graduated from the Lyceum of the Philippines University, said that it was his dream to have his mother by his side on graduation day. He approached a printing company and asked them to make a life-size cutout of his mother.

SETN reported that as Paulo and his mother were too close to each other, he wanted his mother to be present at his graduation ceremony and had made a deal with her that he would print her photo on a piece of cardboard exactly her size.

When the cutout finally arrived after a few days, Paulo said he was moved to tears by its beautiful appearance. “I had that standee made so that I could at least feel my mom’s presence on graduation day because my graduation from college was our dream,” he told Coconuts Manila.

Paulo said his mother was a single parent and had provided for his education despite several hardships. Although she was remarried, she never asked money from her husband to fund his private school and university education.