Before Jojo de Carteret became a Sydney-based filmmaker, he was a five-year-old kid who got lost in Muñoz Market, was found by a jeepney driver, brought to an orphanage, and adopted by an Australian couple.
 
At thirty-five, he decided to fly back to Manila, discover his roots, and begin the search for his biological parents. The task seemed futile at first, until help came from different people and groups, including GMA Network and its radio news station DZBB.
 
Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho produced a three-part story while Mike Enriquez invited Jojo as a guest on his radio show.
 
60 Minutes, a current affairs program in Australia, featured the reunion and all the challenges and events that led to it. Its host Liam Bartlett interviewed both Kapuso journalists about the decision to help Jojo.
 
Jessica considered it “a wonderful story to tell."
 
“It’s a beautiful moment seeing the two mothers and Joel together and we wish there were more happy endings, right?” she said.
 
Mike, meanwhile, lauded the persistence of Jojo, thanked "God for the way it turned out," and noted how "stories like Joel’s make it worth it all."
 
“This was meant to be. We were just instruments for Joel and his mother and for everybody else… “There will be more Joels in our station, in our studio, in our lives… What we did for Joel, we will do for everybody equally, if not with even more intensity. That’s what we’re here for,” he concluded.
 
Watch a portion of their interview here.
 
In a Facebook post, Joel thanked GMA and both journalists for all their help.
 
“I like to thank Jessica Soho and the GMA team for standing with me till the end. I like to also acknowledge Mike Enriquez, Vice President of GMA Radio, who hears my story and invited me on his primetime radio show in the Philippines,” he wrote.
 
He also left a piece of advice for individuals who are in a similar situation.