For five years, Caleb Dingmoc stood at tourist spots in Baguio City, patiently selling handcrafted keychains to strangers.
Each sale helped him get through another day. Each keychain represented another step toward a dream that seemed to take longer than expected.
What many customers never knew was that behind the smiling vendor was a young man from Mangali, Tanudan, Kalinga, quietly holding on to a childhood dream—to one day wear the uniform of a public servant.
Today, that dream hangs not from a keychain, but from his shoulders.
On July 9, 2026, Dingmoc graduated as Top 3 among 338 members of the COBRC Class 2025-01 "DESENTRADOS" after completing the Bureau of Corrections' demanding eight-month training program in Muntinlupa City.
For the 29-year-old iTanudan, the recognition was not the result of overnight success. It was the reward for years of patience, sacrifice, and refusing to give up.
In an interview with Guru Press Cordillera, Dingmoc shared that joining the uniformed service had always been his dream. But while waiting for recruitment opportunities, he chose not to sit idle.
Instead, he earned a living by making and selling keychains in Baguio City.
For five long years, he waited.
Then the opportunity he had been hoping for finally arrived.
When the Bureau of Corrections opened recruitment for Class of 2025, Dingmoc did not hesitate. Knowing opportunities do not come often, he gave everything he had just to earn a place in the training program.
Getting accepted, however, was only the beginning.
Inside the academy, every day demanded physical endurance, mental toughness, discipline, and sacrifice.
Dingmoc recalled that the hardest part of the journey was enduring the physically exhausting drills while coping with limited food and the loneliness of being unable to communicate with his family.
Yet even in silence, he felt their unwavering support.
Knowing that his loved ones were praying for him became his greatest source of strength.
"During our academic phase, I struggled on how to balance our classes and physical training because it's not so easy. Honestly, I felt exhausted at times that there were moments I uttered the word 'makapauma,' but I kept going," admitted Dingmoc.
Despite the exhaustion, Dingmoc pressed on.
He never imagined he would finish among the top trainees. But perseverance has a way of rewarding those who refuse to quit.
When graduation day finally arrived, the former keychain vendor who once waited patiently for customers found himself standing proudly among the academy's finest—recognized as Top 3 of the entire class.
Today, Dingmoc is preparing to begin a new chapter as a Corrections Officer I, carrying with him not only the discipline he gained during training but also the humility shaped by years of hard work.
His story is a reminder that no honest job is ever too small and no dream is ever too distant for those willing to work patiently toward it.
For Caleb Dingmoc, the keychains he once sold did more than provide a livelihood.
They unlocked the door to the future he had been waiting for all along.
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