Bus Driver Toughest Place to be a...

Josh West is the London bus driver who swapped his double decker

for a jeepney on the mean streets of Manila.

Everywhere they see a gap, they just go through.

In the chaos and confusion of one of the world's most congested cities...

Everywhere! It's like Paris.

..he formed an extraordinary bond with his host.

Now he is going back...

Brother!

..to see how his friend's life has been transformed.

I'm back with my family now.

And to once again take on Manila's killer traffic.

You can beep all you want, mate.

Josh West is a manager for a London bus company.

Another vehicle lock on, please.

But for ten days in 2010 he swapped his life in West London to live

and work with a Manila bus driver called Rogelio Castro.

'I was a different person when I came back.

'My eyes are now open to a lot of things around the world.'

'He's definitely changed by the whole thing,

'it think it was just to see how people live.'

Josh was quite shocked that his morning breakfast cost

what Rogelio earns in a day.

'He told me about him working as hard as he could to

'provide for his family and if he could, he would work 24 hours a day.'

It was a life-changing experience for me.

Soon, Josh will return to the Philippines for the next

chapter of a journey which began more than two years ago.

Back then, Josh used to drive the 148 through the heart of central London.

I like the route a lot. The reason I like the route, it's nice big

wide roads and you're going through the major areas of London.

It's enjoyable because you've got a sense of power,

a sense of responsibility, you're servicing the capital, if you like.

You do your little bit to make the capital run smoothly,

which means I'm playing my part and I like the idea of that.

The downside when you drive a bus is you tend to sit down a lot.

Great, boys! Let's go. Twisting those hips, keeping the body square with me.

'I did athletics, I did football,

'I played American football for years, I did basketball.'

Getting those knees up as high as you can!

'To me, keeping fit and training is a very important part of my life.'

'I like competing with people,'

I like competing against myself,

I like setting myself a challenge which I'm able to obtain

and then set myself another challenge.

Three...two...one...go!

Josh is about to face his greatest challenge

when he swaps London for Manila.

'I've got luxury driving a bus over here.

'I've got power-assisted steering,

'I've got a team of mechanics behind me looking after the bus just in case something went wrong.'

This is my bus.

So you press the button on the bus and it makes some beeps and whirrs and it tells me that it's ready.

Josh's bus is a hi tech state-of-the-art machine

costing more than £315,000.

And then I press the start button. First thing I should do is adjust the seat

so it's the right height for me,

and adjust the steering column so I'm comfortable where it is now.

Plug in my module,

and then it starts downloading all the information on there for me.

Check the ramp, press the button.

Every bus has a ramp in London,

so we can get disabled customers on as well.

I can check that...got the CCTV working now.

People don't seem to realise how hi tech the buses are now.

Check the monitor's working.

They're not just four wheels and a steering wheel, there's a lot

more than that, in fact there's six wheels instead of four.

For the next ten days, Josh West from London will live

the life of a Filipino bus driver.

I don't know how I'm going to react to it, but I know it's not going to be what I'm used to.

I'll definitely be out of my comfort zone, that's for sure.

To give him a proper send-off, his family

and his fiancee Lynn have arranged a surprise party.

'I love my family to bits.

'My family is a very large family.

'I work out to be number eight of ten.'

Josh is kind of looking for something bigger, I think,

in his life.

This is an opportunity to open things up for him.

Thanks, everyone. Thank you.

I know virtually nothing.

I can tell you what I do know.

I know that Imelda Marcos was president, or something like that,

and she had 200 pairs of shoes. I knew that.

After that, not very much.

The Philippines - 6,500 miles from London,

its capital is Manila.

It's the most densely populated city in the world.

Millions of cars, trucks, and motorbikes

jostle for space with seemingly little regard for any rules.

In the past 20 years, the population of Manila has

doubled as millions flock here from the countryside looking for work.

It is now officially one of the world's megacities.

20 million people call greater Manila home...

..and it's growing.

Josh has arrived in San Andres Bukid - a poor area in the heart of Manila.

He's meeting his host, Filipino bus driver Rogelio Castro, and his family.

Hello, hello. How are you?

-I'm Edith.

-Sorry?

Edith.

Edith? Edith. Yes, yes. How are you?

OK, OK.

-I'm Rogelio.

-Hi, Rogelio, I'm Josh. How you doing?

Welcome to our house. It's small.

Small house.

The ceiling's very tall, so that's good. I don't have to duck. It's OK.

We go upstairs.

Rogelio's house measures just 10 feet by 10 feet

and is entirely self-built.

This is our bedroom.

OK, so you roll the beds out at night?

Yes.

Where would I be sleeping? Here? OK, this is cool.

This is our rooftop wash area.

Oh, your washing area.

This is...air drying the clothes.

Then if...sometimes we drink here.

Yeah.

Oh, OK, right. So all that's the financial area all here, yeah?

-We built this house little by little.

-Right, right.

It's small but you can build it as high as you want?

An estimated 50% of Manilans live in poor quality housing.

He's very proud of building his house himself

and I would be as well, cos I wouldn't know how to do it.

But in my head I'm thinking like the health and safety features of it. How safe is this house?

I mean, who comes and checks to see that your structure is OK?

Rogelio's going to take me where he works, where he picks up his bus

and I'm quite interested to see what that looks like.

It'll be very similar to what I have to do

when I get to work in the mornings and see my bus.

So this is your neighbourhood?

Yes, this is our neighbourhood.

How you doing? All right?

-Where are you from?

-London, England.

If Josh is expecting anything like his double decker,

he's in for another surprise.

This is my bus, a little bus.

The little one - this one?

It's like a big jeep,

I thought it was going to be one like a coach, sort of thing.

I didn't think it was going to be like this.

-What do you say?

-I think, where's the rest of it?

This is the jeepney - the workhorse of Manila's public transport system.

Originally converted from American military jeeps,

they are now custom built

and carry millions of passengers through these streets every day.

In just over a week, Josh will have to drive this vehicle,

on this own, through the city.

It's like being in the bumper cars at the fairground, isn't it, really?

I mean, your vision is just like...

..it's like looking through a letter box.

You feel nervous?

Is this all you have? This?

The stop light, you look, see the stop light.

-Yeah.

-You must be...

-You must do this, yeah.

-It's too small.

-Isn't that supposed to be...that's a piece of string you've got there.

String, yeah, yeah. Improvise.

Right, you improvise, right.

OK.

It's beginning to dawn on Josh that driving the jeepney might not

be as straightforward as he thought.

You have clutch, brake, and accelerator, but no handbrake?

No handbrake. Just shut off your engine then you take the low gear.

So that we can we can...er...move.

He's driving literally sort of like...that distance from the car in front.

Because if he gives it anything more, what you'll find is a car

cuts in front, gets his nose in front, cuts in front, and then slows him down.

And his half an hour journey becomes 45 minutes.

Notice you've got no bus stops,

so where would your first stop be along here? They wave you down?

Yeah, they wave me.

Do you pull over?

Yes.

He's constantly having to cope with other people

cutting in on him, bikes coming down the inside, horns beeping all the time,

and then getting the person there safely as well.

In a vehicle which is...which I consider to look unroadworthy.

It just sounds ridiculous that you have to go through that, it just sounds...

..ridiculous.

It's the end of Josh's first day and it's a chance for him

to meet the whole family.

In total, seven people live in Rogelio's house.

His daughter Rose Gay lives with her son, Russell.

And Rogelio's grown up son, Michael, lives here with his wife

and their daughter, Janelle.

All seven of them share three tiny bedrooms.

This is delicious. I love this.

Neither of Rogelio's children have been able to find permanent work.

This is my bus.

So nice.

You can see how tall it is.

Back there to the front to the back is about 10 metres.

We have over 150 buses in there.

It's...too big...garage?

Yes, very big, it's the size of a football field.

That big, yeah?

This is me in the cab.

THEY LAUGH

It's so fantastic.

I want to go to your country so that I can drive this bus.

Drive that bus!

THEY LAUGH

That would be nice, wouldn't it?

It's 6am and Rogelio is beginning his working day.

He does it every other day if it's not raining.

If it's raining he does it every day.

He's his own mechanic as well.

He's doing far more than you'd ever do in London, that's for sure.

Many jeepney drivers rent their vehicles.

Rogelio owns his - through a loan-to-buy scheme.

A third of his daily income goes towards repaying the debt.

This is the first opportunity for Josh to see what's

expected of him when it's his turn to drive the jeepney.

Rogelio doesn't have time to stop to take fares.

The more passengers he carries, the more money he can make.

Each passenger pays around eight pesos, about 5.5 pence for the four-mile journey.

While he's doing all this driving,

he's also wrapped the money around his left hand

so he's got easy access if someone comes with bigger notes

and it's easier for him to change it.

Rogelio's route takes him through the centre of Manila.

To earn enough money, he needs to make at least 12 journeys a day.

He sets his own schedule, including unexpected stops.

He's run out of gas so what he's done is, in service,

he's pulled over and come into the petrol station and filled up.

Before he stopped he asked the passengers if it was OK to

fill up with diesel and they said yes, so it's very easy-going here.

There'd be riots, people would be climbing the walls in London.

People would be complaining to Boris Johnson and everything.

Rogelio earns around 1,500 pesos in fares a day

but once he's deducted money for diesel and the repayment

on his jeepney he usually takes home about 600 pesos, just over £8.

Rogelio's wife Edith shops every day at the market.

It's her job to make his income stretch to feed the seven people

living in the house.

What does Rogelio prefer, what is his favourite food?

-Chicken.

-Chicken, like me?

Yes.

Everything Rogelio earns is spent on food and household essentials.

On the money that Rogelio brings home, how tough is it to survive?

In recent years, Edith has suffered three strokes and cannot work.

She should spend 300 pesos every day on medicine

but she can only afford to spend 200.

Isn't that dangerous for you to sacrifice your medicine?

It looks like they're living day-to-day.

They work as hard to eat today and tomorrow the same

and the next day they do the same.

There is no time where they can say "I need a rest,

"I need to go on holiday, I'm tired."

If they don't work, they don't eat.

Before Josh takes the wheel of the jeepney, Rogelio wants him

to have a proper lesson at a driving school.

Can you not sit sideways?

Yes, I can but my legs are very long, you see, so I have to sit like this.

You should sit like this.

Like this?

So you can reach your clutch pedal and the brake pedal.

That's it, that's it. Push the clutch. Push, push, push.

Push the clutch first.

You cannot let go the clutch. You cannot let go.

Release the gas.

Despite Rogelio's confidence,

Josh is finding driving the jeepney tough.

Wait, wait, wait. Now.

It's a world away from the state-of- the-art bus he's used to in London.

'At the moment, I can't do it, at the moment, no.

'I wouldn't be able to do it. I wouldn't trust myself to do it.'

A bit of an experience?

It's more than an experience. I have never, ever driven that bad before in my life.

I swear, I put my hand on my heart.

You really know how to drive?

THEY LAUGH

While driving this vehicle, it's always jerking.

I know, I know, if you see the vehicle

I drive in England, it's three times the size of this.

-Is it automatic?

-Yes, it's automatic, but it's smooth.

That's why there is a problem here. Because this is manual.

I've got to put some practise in, that's for sure.

There's no way I trust myself out there,

especially with Rogelio's jeepney.

It's too precious for me to take it out there and do something wrong with it.

But after some more practice, the instructor thinks there's no choice

but to see if Josh can cope on the roads.

-Do you want to go out? Really?

-Yes.

-Are you sure you trust me?

Let's se how we go, let's see how we go.

Unfortunately, he's now about to hit the rush hour.

With nearly six million vehicles in the city, it's little wonder

the rush hour is horrendous.

Drivers in Manila spend on average 1,000 hours a year

stuck in traffic jams.

Everywhere, it's like ants! They're like...you know.

They're just moving...everywhere they see a gap, they just go for.

Doesn't matter if they're indicating left or right, if they see a gap, then they go.

That was the scariest I've ever done,

I thought I was a going to lose my life. It was that bad.

The swerving, it was...

Thinking back on it now, I'm even more shaken now than I was then.

It was...I don't know. I don't know how I got through it, but I did.

Er...so...yeah. Not making much sense now, best time to go to bed.

Because of the congestion,

all vehicles in Manila have to be off the road one day a week by law.

It's a big bike.

On the days he can't drive the jeepney, Rogelio often

takes his grandchildren to the mall.

This is a treat for the grandchildren.

Rogelio wants to get his grandchildren a better education.

The school he'd like to send them to

costs £400 a year - way beyond his means.

Russel!

You work so hard.

If I was born here, I'd be in the same position you are in.

That's why it makes it tough for me. It's just by pure chance that I was born where I was born.

Yeah. Keep fighting.

With just a few days left until he has to go solo,

Josh is still struggling with the jeepney.

Ah, horsey horsey!

If I saw somebody driving like I am at the moment, I would say it's an accident waiting to happen.

Change gear, third.

Sorry, guys!

My legs are tired, my ankles are tired, my legs are tired.

My bum is sore.

-But me, it's 12 hours.

-12, I know.

-Almost every day.

Every day, 12 hours.

You...more practise.

My passenger is scared.

THEY LAUGH

..because the jeepney's like a horse.

If I saw me driving this bus, I wouldn't get on my bus just yet!

Unless they've got balls of steel, then I wouldn't go on this bus.

In recent years, millions of Filipinos have migrated to

Manila from the countryside in search of work.

Many end up in the city's vast sprawling slums.

Josh has come to Tondo - home to 90,000 people per square kilometre -

one of the most densely populated places on earth.

People here have been forced to extraordinary lengths just to survive.

This is rubbish scavenged from the bins of fast-food restaurants.

They're going through the different cartons and stuff

and emptying out all the bones out of the bags into pots.

This is food that someone else has already eaten.

The smell is horrible, bad.

You just gets wafts of rotting food. And like...

There's a dog going into the bowl now, and nicked a piece of chicken out of the bowl.

This isn't just people scavenging for food. This is a business.

It's called pagpag - food from other food that has been thrown out.

It's chopped, washed and recooked.

And it's a huge seller.

Does it taste good, do you enjoy it?

A bowl of pagpag sells for about 5 pence.

For many of the people living here in Tondo, this is likely to

be their only meal of the day.

Probably one of the worst experiences I've seen in my life.

So you're the chef? You make pagpag?

This is...this keeps her alive.

She's doing this and she's in pain as she's doing it.

Rogelio himself migrated to Manila from the country

and today he's taking Josh back to the village he grew up in,

200 miles north of the city.

He only gets to visit his mother once a year.

All of his brothers, sisters and cousins have come out to see him.

-My sister.

-How you doing?

-And this is...

-How you doing?

-Josh, my friend.

There's a lot of people here.

A lot of people, a lot of names.

My mother.

She's like...this is the like the size of my mum, my mum is the same height like this.

My mum is about the same height, and we're like this.

-My mother is like mama's loving.

-Sorry?

Ah, your best friend?

Yes.

Today there are few jobs in the countryside.

Those workers who've stayed survive as rice farmers or fishermen.

Rogelio used to fish on this beach as a boy, and grew up with many of the men here today.

No, not for me!

Making a living here is tough.

If you come back with a big catch, what's the maximum money you can make?

When I look out here, it's absolutely beautiful.

I find it really amazing that people want to leave this and go

and live in a very tight community.

I hope you do come back here and live,

because I want to come back and visit you.

Thank you.

When I have kids, I'll bring my kids here as well

and we'll all have a barbecue.

And eat prawns, and...yeah.

-You will come?

-Yeah, we'll come. We'll definitely come.

'He says to me he loves it here. He finds it peaceful, you know.

'He doesn't want to go back to Manila.

'So the simple answer would be stay here, if you love it that much,

'but the problem being is there's no work.

'There's no industry here, there's nothing he can do here.'

This is upsetting.

He works 12 hours a day to live in a box

with eight other people cos he loves his wife and he loves his family

and he can't afford to live in a place which is better for him.

But a man that works that hard shouldn't have to,

he shouldn't have to work that hard for the little bit that he's got.

Back in Manila and it's Josh's final day.

He is going to drive Rogelio's jeepney solo,

with passengers across Manila during the rush hour.

'I'm still unsure of the route, still unsure of my driving skills,

'still unsure of being able to do it completely,

'so it's going to be really difficult.'

Check the oil first, yes?

'This is his livelihood, it's his family's livelihood,

'so there's a lot more people counting on this jeepney getting out and making money.

'If I do something to his jeepney that prevents him from doing that,

'I don't think I could live with myself. I'd be heartbroken.'

The jeepney has remained largely unchanged in the 70 years

since American GIs drove them around these streets.

Today Josh West from London will be taking the wheel as a jeepney driver.

To succeed, he has to remember all the different fares,

handle the change, follow the route

and cope with the jeepney's temperamental gearbox.

Got to get my money ready.

So I have...

60 pesos.

I'm on my final solo run. I am going all the way to the south pier.

I'm not looking forward to this one.

Come on. Let's go.

At the first stop there are passengers waiting.

OK, first ones.

They have no idea that Josh is in fact a London bus driver

who ten days ago had never seen a jeepney, let alone driven one.

Let's see if I...

See if I have to ask them for the money or will they just give it to me.

She's given me seven pesos.

HORN BEEPS IMPATIENTLY

All right!

God, you'd think it's like a racetrack, the way he wanted me to get off that line.

And where you going to go? 300 yards! Not even that. 150 yards.

My heart's pounding a lot faster and there's a lot of adrenalin

and I'm getting the sweaty hands thing as well.

I think every time I stop, if I get the opportunity to get the sweat out of my eyes, I'm going to do it.

How you doing?

He didn't want a lift! He just wanted to look at the odd-looking Filipino driver.

-How many?

-Three.

He's handed a big note - at the busiest point of the route.

Whoo! 50!

Now he has to juggle driving whilst finding the correct change.

So...I should give him 43 change, cos the minimum fare is seven.

So I've got 40.

And then I've got the three, and hand those back.

And hopefully I've done that right!

At the end of the route, Rogelio is waiting for Josh

and the safe return of his jeepney.

But Josh has got a problem.

I don't know where I'm supposed to go.

I'm going straight, aren't I?

I'm in the wrong lane.

Am I sure I'm going straight?

Yes.

Luckily his passengers seem to know the route better than he does.

I'm in the wrong lane.

It means crossing four lanes of traffic in Manila's rush hour.

Whoo!

They're still alive, and no-one's broken into a sweat.

This is round table!

Just a minute...oh, dude, please. One thing or the other, mate.

Look at that. One satisfied customer. He's got off and he's alive. Look! He's even smiling.

But after his initial problems, Josh seems to be back on track.

Well, that went reasonably well.

Really got to stop crunching those gears. I'm going to mess up the man's vehicle.

When I see how well he does it, and then I do it.

And I'm nowhere near that level.

Every time I push my foot on the pedal, I'm learning something new.

Not far to go.

Ah! He's coming.

Aha! There he is. Aha! Aaah!

Last stop, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for joining.

You're welcome!

How was that, eh?

You're a good driver.

'It started to click after a little while

'and I kept hearing Rogelio's voice in my ear.'

A sense of accomplishment is there, that's for sure.

It's the end of Josh's trip.

In ten days he's gone from being a London bus driver

to driving a jeepney through the congested streets of Manila.

And during his time, he's seen

and experienced some of the problems faced by millions of people

living in the most overcrowded city in the world.

Edith! How are you doing, darling?

I'm about ready to go, guys.

I'd just like to say thank you for looking after me so well,

and showing me round Manila.

It's been a pleasure to know you two. You've been um...great hosts.

Thank you.

'There's a definite friendship or bond I've made,

'and I'm definitely going to miss that the most.'

Bye, Janelle. Bye bye.

'I think we have similar ideals on life and it's strange that

'I've only met him for a short space of time and I've got a level of trust with him

'that I might have with my best friend, and that won't be broken.'

Bye bye.

Take care.

We started off as strangers, became friends and ended up as brothers.

It's as simple as that.

It's now more than two years since Josh returned from Manila.

He's stopped driving buses and has become a manager.

And his life has changed in other ways, too.

Seeing how much time and effort Rogelio puts into his family

made me realise that I could have that, too.

When he got back he married his fiancee Lynn...

Hi, Ruby.

..and now they have a baby daughter, Ruby.

But Josh never forgot Rogelio and his family in Manila.

I said I need to give him something which he probably would never obtain in his lifetime.

Josh hit the ground running - raising funds for Rogelio

through sponsored events.

What else could you do? How could I go through that whole experience with that guy, live in his house,

drive his jeepney, which is the only income he had coming to his family,

and then turn my back on him.

I just don't see how you can do it.

Despite being 6,000 miles apart, their friendship has grown.

It's like a bromance, if you like. I get an e-mail from him

or a text from him or something like that and it lightens my day.

And even in a big extended family it seems there's room for one more.

Now after two years of fundraising, it's time for Josh to head back

to Manila to see just how much Rogelio's life has changed.

In the last two years, life hasn't stood still in Manila.

Since Josh last set foot here, the population has grown

by around half a million people.

And it's more congested than ever.

I've got a sense of anticipation, it's a good feeling,

the night before Christmas sort of thing.

And you know you're just buzzing on the adrenalin of what's going to happen.

I just don't know what to expect.

I'm smiling to myself all the time.

Right. Let's go see.

Nervous. Excited.

I must be very close to Rogelio's now cos I'm recognising some

of the houses, and people in their village, and they are recognising me.

Brother!

Hello!

How are you? You all good?

-OK.

-Yeah?

It's good to see you.

Welcome back, brother.

Good to see you, Edith princess. How are you?

Come in, come in.

Wow, it's changed in here - no fish tank. How are you, Edith? You OK?

Yes.

Yes? You're looking younger, Edith!

I'm in love!

There are two new grandchildren in the house.

Can I hold him? It's OK - I have one of these at home, so I know how to do it!

Where's Janelle and Russel now?

-They have class.

-They're at school? I can't wait to see them. They must be big now.

They always asking, "Where uncle Josh?"

Uncle Josh!

I'm happy to be here. In my heart, I'm happy. Very happy.

Today we talk face-to-face.

One of the new arrivals has a very familiar name.

Oh, there you go, Josh. Eh?

Yaz contacted me and asked me to be godfather.

So, I didn't know what to say.

I was like, wow... I'd be honoured.

And she sent me some pictures of the christening, and...

It was really good. I was so proud, I was so happy.

Rogelio's daughter-in-law and her daughter have also moved in.

Your granddaughter.

Say hi.

Oh, you're shy.

So how many of you live here now?

-Ten.

-Ten? Wow, that's a lot of people for such a small place.

How do you manage? Do you share the same room?

You divided the rooms up? OK.

Russel! How you doing, sir! Janelle, how you doing?

Come here, come here, you! Oh! Big girl, oh, my goodness.

How've you been, Russel? You been good? How was school today?

Daddy look after you? Yes, yes?

Oh, wow! Look how big you got!

As if the house wasn't crowded enough,

Rogelio has started a new business to help feed the extra mouths.

The front room now doubles up as an internet cafe.

Even though we have limited space, we sacrifice

so we can earn some money for the needs of the kids,

-For the baby.

-Oh, yes.

For having the computers in his home, the owners let Rogelio

keep 40% of the takings.

See, this is my jeepney, a different colour now.

But most of the family income still comes from the same trusty source.

It looks good.

So the sign's gone on the front. There is no eagle on the front.

Oh, no. There is a Philippine flag already.

The other sides, here.

The toughest place to be a bus driver.

I love it, I love it.

So now you have got this on here.

Do you get people recognising your jeepney?

Oh, yes. There's so many people that asking me

I'm the one that company of yours, I told them, yes, I am the one.

So you are a tourist attraction now?

Oh, yes.

-OK, Josh, come see our room.

-OK.

Yeah, this is the room that you sleep last time.

Feel at home.

I will. Don't worry, I'll make myself comfortable.

You got some pictures up here.

Oh, yes.

My brother.

Your brother? No, that's my brother.

-Good night, sleep well.

-Yes, I'll see you in the morning. Take care, brother.

Does it feel strange being back?

Yes and no. Yes, because I didn't think it was ever going to happen,

but no, because I'm at my brother's house.

The changes that have happened are so many.

First of all there's ten people living here.

Rogelio's eldest son, his wife is here, and daughter.

So we've got baby Josh.

He is obviously cute - he's named after Josh.

Edith seems very happy now.

She's taking her medication now.

So positives, positives, positives.

Hopefully get a good night's sleep without the cockerels crowing at night like they did the last time!

But there were to be bigger

and more surprising changes in Rogelio's life.

After Josh's visit to Manila, Rogelio became the most famous

jeepney driver in the Philippines.

Eat Bulaga is one of the biggest shows on Filipino TV.

# Last Friday night, Yeah we danced on tabletops

# And we took too many shots Think we kissed but I forgot...#

Presenter Ryan Agoncillo is a huge celebrity in Manila.

And it turns out he's a bit of a documentary fan.

I think it was one of those nights where my wife was asleep, it was

really late at night, and I remember clicking on it, watching it,

and to be honest, I was choked up and confused.

It was funny and embarrassing at the same time, I mean...

It's not a nice thing to look at for us

but it's something that we have to accept that

a lot of our fellow Filipinos go through every day.

It was even more heart-wrenching for me when you started realising that

he had such a good life in the province before he went out to Manila.

So Ryan invited Rogelio onto the show.

Not only that, he bought him a brand new fishing boat so he could move back to the country.

Now that Josh is back in town...

Recount the story for Eat Bulaga.

..Ryan has invited him onto the show too.

My name's Ryan.

Yeah, I know!

On Eat Bulaga things start normally enough.

You can see Josh West down in the BBC.

Hey, Josh. Good afternoon.

You're back after two years in Manila. How do you feel, Josh?

The last time we saw you, you were quite emotional.

It feels like I'm back with my family now, my Filipino family.

I really appreciate the hospitality.

The main thing that I learned was that it doesn't matter where you go in the world,

you can find a connection with somebody.

That's what I did with Rogelio. He's a mentor to me, somebody I look up to.

He's a special man. I love doing my best to help him.

Thank you very much, Josh. We're here now.

You want to learn to dance the way people do?

Josh, you will now learn the cha-cha.

Cha-cha!

But after the interview - Eat Bulaga enters a world of its own.

Aaah!

Eeny, meeny, miny, mo!

It feels like a long way from the TV studios to Rogelio's village.

But Josh has come to see the new fishing boat donated by the show.

Ow! Ooh!

'I can see the draw of being here.

'People dream of coming back and raising a family in the country.

'There is nothing better than the kids having the freedom to go and play.'

It's kind of surreal. I just didn't think this would happen.

I never thought I'd get the opportunity to ride on it.

And here I am!

Thank goodness I don't get seasick.

Which could easily be done!

But even with a brand-new motorboat,

the life of a Filipino fisherman isn't easy.

So we are going to let a wave take us in now.

Whoa! Ooh!

Oh...right down the crack!

This is the second time I've been here

and I still think this place looks like paradise.

So Rogelio has stayed in Manila,

but rents out the boat to his nephew for a share of the profit.

Rogelio also needs to live in Manila for the sake

of his grandchildren's education.

Uneducated? This guy is uneducated?

I did not finish my studies, brother.

Let me tell you something I know.

You don't only get educated from buying no books,

and reading - that is not the only type of education you can get.

You are one of the most intelligent persons I know

in the whole world, OK.

Never say you are uneducated.

Because your life experience is more valuable than anything else.

But for his grandchildren, a formal education is crucial

to escape from the cycle of poverty and lead a better life.

And this is what Josh has spent the last two years raising money for.

When I was here before, one thing you said that you would like to do is put your grandchildren through school.

And I said to myself, I plan to take that burden away from you.

Just that little bit.

And hopefully with the two of us working together, it becomes easier.

How do you read my mind! I'd love that, I'd love that.

I'd love that.

I'll tell you what I am going to do.

I'm going to do my best to make sure that Janelle and Russel

get the money they need to carry on and go to college.

I will do my best by baby Josh,

cos I find it a massive honour

that Michael has named his son after me.

Just don't have any more kids, I can't afford it!

And one day, we'll meet, very happy old men. Yeah?

Back in Manila,

Janelle and Russel are taking Josh to see their new school.

Come on, guys.

The fees for the private school

are way beyond the wages of a jeepney driver.

OK, Rogelio.

Although Rogelio's daily life is still hard,

Josh has decided to focus on the future.

'When we were here the last time, the only thing that Rogelio ever asked for

'was the opportunity for his grandkids to go to a good school.

'So I decided on myself that I would do that for him.

'I made a big commitment, a commitment which isn't just months, isn't just years,

'I'm talking in double figures here, we're looking 12 years probably.'

All in all, Josh will need to raise more than £10,000.

That was a shock, I wasn't expecting that.

Yes, it's a big commitment and sometimes yes, I do think

"Oh, my gosh, anything can happen between now and 12 years."

Then I'll get a text message from Rogelio saying how pleased he is.

I'll get pictures from Janelle and they'll write me

a letter saying, like, "Thank you Uncle Josh for helping me out."

And I realise I'm doing the right thing.

The children in this school have expectations

way beyond being a humble jeepney drive.

They could be engineer, doctors, teachers, dentists.

-Surgeon.

-Surgeon, very good job.

-Doctor of baby.

-A baby doctor? A paediatrician. That's a good job.

It was nice that a few of them had some ideas

of what they wanted to do in the future, so hopefully

in 10-15 years, they do obtain those jobs that they spoke about.

That would be a fantastic end to their story.

It makes me realise the project that I started is a very good one

and I'm going to have to continue it, until it's finished.

OK, all these books are for you two.

This is for Edith, OK?

But before he leaves, there's one last thing Josh needs to do.

-Just a little bit practise.

-You start in second?

-Oh, yes.

-Yes, now third gear. No, no, no, yes.

-It's down the middle.

Yes, yes.

Not so fast. I feel it.

No, just joking. I know you can do it.

It moves a lot. While you're moving, it does this.

'It's rattling a lot more than it was before.

'It's doing a great job keeping his family alive,'

but I don't see more than five years in that.

I have another idea in mind, I don't want to say what it is yet,

but maybe a new jeepney, a bigger jeepney, that would help him.

'In 20 years' time for Rogelio and Edith,'

I hope they're retirement age and they're back in the province.

Everyone is comfortable. I wouldn't want them to be sparkly well off,

that's not what I'm asking, but comfortable that they

don't have to worry about where the next peso is coming in.

That would be good start for the next generation of the Castro family.

-I forget how difficult it is.

-No, that's not difficult.

Brother, I'm telling you it's difficult.

You're wet, like me.

You have tissue here, brother.

Oh, my God.

You are a very good driver. You did it, twice.

Next time, Cornish fisherman Andy Giles.

18 months ago he swapped his state-of-the-art

trawler for a dugout canoe in Sierra Leone.

I thought, oh, my God, here we go.

He saw illegal trawlers threatening the existence of a whole community.

They are firing catapults at us now.

Now he is going back to see how life has changed.

Swim up the fish.

And he finds himself on the front-line in a war against illegal trawling.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd