Cherilyn had everything ready to graduate. Only one month remained.
On May 29, 2026, while returning home to Barangay Bagacay from Lipata port in Culasi, Philippines, a vehicle accident took her life. She had completed all the requirements to receive her degree in Business Administration at the University of Antique, Tario Lim campus.
Her teachers and classmates did not let her absence be complete. They had a life-size cardboard cutout made, dressed in her gown and cap, just as she would have worn them. On June 29, her father, Cesar Cahilig, carried it throughout the graduation procession and went up on stage to receive the diploma on her behalf, while her family waited with flowers and framed photos. Her younger brother, Cerino, who studies at the same university, later said that Cherilyn dreamed of lifting her family out of poverty. Now he is the one carrying that promise: as soon as he graduates, he will look for work to help ensure that his two younger siblings also finish school.
