Paolo Mangubat

Paolo Mangubat is Deaf, and grew up in Marikina using Filipino Sign Language at home and at school. He studied fine arts for two years and then spent three years applying for jobs, most of which, he says, were turned down at the interview stage or never got that far.

He joined the first cohort on the Manila centre’s ninth floor in September 2024, one of 18 Deaf labellers who trained over six weeks with two interpreters now on Rungwell’s staff. He works on segmentation, drawing exact outlines around objects in images, which he calls “drawing for people who need it to be correct, not beautiful”.

His quality scores have been among the highest on the floor since his third month. He spoke to us through one of the centre’s interpreters, and asked that we say so.

His object is his sketchbook. He draws on the jeepney to work, and once drew the whole of his team, from behind, at their workstations.