{"id":13033,"date":"2025-01-20T01:57:58","date_gmt":"2025-01-20T01:57:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news4you.fit\/?p=13033"},"modified":"2025-01-20T01:57:58","modified_gmt":"2025-01-20T01:57:58","slug":"sofronio-vasquezs-rags-to-riches-tale-takes-a-twist-fans-uncover-surprising-details","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news4you.fit\/?p=13033","title":{"rendered":"Sofronio Vasquez\u2019s Rags to Riches Tale Takes a Twist \u2013 Fans Uncover Surprising Details!"},"content":{"rendered":"<header class=\"entry-header\">\n<div class=\"entry-meta\"><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"entry-content\"><ins class=\"982a9496\" data-key=\"7b37263cd8dfb0e2c01c2a9e6cd85805\"><\/ins><em><strong>The Voice<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0Season 26 winner, Sofronio Vasquez, made\u00a0reality TV\u00a0history as\u00a0the first Filipino and Asian to win the competition. It was an emotional moment for the singer, as well as\u00a0his first-time coach, Michael Bubl\u00e9.<\/p>\n<p>But while many Filipinos are celebrating Sofronio\u2019s achievement back in the Philippines, some started<strong>\u00a0questioning his \u201chumble\u201d background<\/strong>\u00a0of growing up \u201cwith virtually nothing, including no bed or indoor plumbing,\u201d per\u00a0his\u00a0<em>NBC<\/em>\u00a0bio.<\/p>\n<div class=\"syrn3iTW\"><\/div>\n<p>As it turned out,\u00a0<strong>Sofronio comes from a well-known political family<\/strong>\u00a0in his hometown in Misamis Occidental, Philippines. Here\u2019s why fans are convinced that his rags-to-riches story is inaccurate.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"the-voice-season-26-winner-sofronio-vasquez-is-related-to-the-late-mayor-of-ozamiz-city-philippines\"><em>The Voice<\/em>\u00a0Season 26 Winner Sofronio Vasquez Is Related To The Late Mayor Of Ozamiz City, Philippines<\/h2>\n<h3 id=\"four-of-sofronio-vasquez-39-s-relatives-were-killed-during-the-philippines-39-quot-war-on-drugs-quot\">Four Of Sofronio Vasquez\u2019s Relatives Were Killed During The Philippines\u2019 \u201cWar On Drugs\u201d<\/h3>\n<p><strong>Sofronio\u2019s mother, Aida Parojinog Vasquez<\/strong>, is one of the sisters of former Ozamiz City mayor, Reynaldo \u201cAldong\u201d Parojinog\u2014who was\u00a0shot dead during the Philippines\u2019 \u201cWar on Drugs\u201d\u00a0under ex-president, Rodrigo Duterte.<\/p>\n<div class=\"gTf4cQ4j\"><\/div>\n<div id=\"0f0fb4d313547876\" class=\"w-rich w-facebook\">\n<div id=\"fb-root\" class=\" fb_reset\">\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"fb-post fb_iframe_widget\" data-href=\"\" data-width=\"552\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"fb:post Facebook Social Plugin\" src=\"https:\/\/web.facebook.com\/v20.0\/plugins\/post.php?app_id=&amp;channel=https%3A%2F%2Fstaticxx.facebook.com%2Fx%2Fconnect%2Fxd_arbiter%2F%3Fversion%3D46%23cb%3Df8976b3ee736ab5b8%26domain%3Dwww.thethings.com%26is_canvas%3Dfalse%26origin%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fwww.thethings.com%252Ffe73cfbf345a6a083%26relation%3Dparent.parent&amp;container_width=750&amp;href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fphoto.php%3Ffbid%3D567671253315609%26set%3Dpb.100002182179111.-2207520000%26type%3D3&amp;locale=en_US&amp;sdk=joey&amp;width=552\" name=\"f5bc6e2986d504b6b\" width=\"552px\" height=\"1000px\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-testid=\"fb:post Facebook Social Plugin\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\" data-origwidth=\"552px\" data-origheight=\"1000px\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Fourteen other people were killed in the tragic \u201c2017 Ozamiz Raid\u201d in the province of Misamis Occidental, including Reynaldo\u2019s wife and his two other siblings, Octavio and Mona. Due to this connection, fans are now\u00a0<strong>questioning\u00a0<em>The Voice\u00a0<\/em>winner\u2019s rags-to-riches background<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<div id=\"1897-4006-81f747075f94\" class=\"display-card article article-card small no-badge active-content \" data-include-community-rating=\"false\" data-nosnippet=\"\">\n<div class=\"w-display-card-content regular article-block\">\n<p class=\"display-card-excerpt\">Although Blake Shelton and Adam Levine were loyal to \u2018The Voice\u2019, it is hard to top Ariana Grande\u2019s insane salary.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>A \u201cconcerned\u201d citizen from Sofronio\u2019s province even wrote a letter to the Philippine news outlet,\u00a0<em>Rappler<\/em>, after they published\u00a0a short profile about the singer, quoting Sofronio\u2019s\u00a0<em>Vogue Philippines<\/em>\u00a0interview where he said, \u201c<strong>I grew up in a\u00a0<em>squatters\u2019\u00a0<\/em>area<\/strong>, where anytime,\u00a0our home could be demolished.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"rappler_pakiayos_ang_reporting\" class=\"w-rich w-reddit\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/embed.reddit.com\/r\/ChikaPH\/comments\/1hd7vly\/rappler_pakiayos_ang_reporting\/?embed=true&amp;ref_source=embed&amp;ref=share&amp;utm_medium=widgets&amp;utm_source=embedv2&amp;utm_term=23&amp;utm_name=post_embed&amp;embed_host_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thethings.com%2Fsofronio-vasquez-rags-riches-story-philippines%2F\" width=\"640px\" height=\"210\" scrolling=\"no\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\" data-origwidth=\"640px\" data-origheight=\"210\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p>The reader\u00a0called out the publication\u00a0for \u201cnot fact-checking,\u201d as they had previously written many\u00a0articles about Sofronio\u2019s influential family, including a\u00a0<strong>family tree that mentions his mother and his eponymous late father<\/strong>\u00a0(see last photo on the Reddit post above).<\/p>\n<p>While some say Sofronio\u2019s family could have truly struggled when he was younger (he told\u00a0<em>Vogue Philippines<\/em>\u00a0his father grew up poor),\u00a0<strong>many believe his story was sensationalized as \u201cpoverty porn.\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0They even cited a photo of him\u00a0sitting on a boat in Amanpulo, a luxury private island in the Philippines, although it was fairly recent (2022).<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"sofronio-vasquez-was-called-quot-the-king-of-auditions-quot-in-the-philippines-after-quot-countless-quot-rejections-on-singing-competitions\">Sofronio Vasquez Was Called \u201cThe King Of Auditions\u201d In The Philippines After \u201cCountless\u201d Rejections On Singing Competitions<\/h2>\n<h3 id=\"no-coach-turned-for-sofronio-vasquez-when-he-auditioned-for-the-voice-philippines\">No Coach Turned For Sofronio Vasquez When He Auditioned For\u00a0<em>The Voice Philippines<\/em><\/h3>\n<div class=\"body-img landscape mobile-optimized\">\n<div class=\"responsive-img image-expandable img-article-item\" data-img-url=\"https:\/\/static0.thethingsimages.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/sofronio.jpg\" data-modal-id=\"single-image-modal\" data-modal-container-id=\"single-image-modal-container\" data-img-caption=\"&quot;via Instagram\\\/@sofroniovasquez&quot;\">\n<figure><picture><source srcset=\"https:\/\/static0.thethingsimages.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/sofronio.jpg?q=70&amp;fit=crop&amp;w=825&amp;dpr=1\" media=\"(min-width: 1024px)\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/static0.thethingsimages.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/sofronio.jpg?q=70&amp;fit=crop&amp;w=825&amp;dpr=1\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/static0.thethingsimages.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/sofronio.jpg?q=70&amp;fit=crop&amp;w=825&amp;dpr=1\" media=\"(min-width: 768px)\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/static0.thethingsimages.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/sofronio.jpg?q=70&amp;fit=crop&amp;w=825&amp;dpr=1\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/static0.thethingsimages.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/sofronio.jpg?q=70&amp;fit=crop&amp;w=800&amp;dpr=1\" media=\"(min-width: 481px)\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/static0.thethingsimages.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/sofronio.jpg?q=70&amp;fit=crop&amp;w=800&amp;dpr=1\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/static0.thethingsimages.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/sofronio.jpg?q=49&amp;fit=crop&amp;w=500&amp;dpr=2\" media=\"(min-width: 0px)\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/static0.thethingsimages.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/sofronio.jpg?q=49&amp;fit=crop&amp;w=500&amp;dpr=2\" \/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static0.thethingsimages.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/sofronio.jpg\" alt=\"Sofronio Vasquez\" width=\"1200\" height=\"628\" data-img-url=\"https:\/\/static0.thethingsimages.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/sofronio.jpg\" \/><\/picture><figcaption class=\"body-img-caption\">via Instagram\/@sofroniovasquez<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Sofronio pursued singing while juggling a dentistry degree at Misamis University in 2015, where he got a scholarship, thanks to his uncle\u2019s help. He started by\u00a0<strong>auditioning for\u00a0<em>The Voice Philippines,\u00a0<\/em>where no coach turned for him<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>He then joined another local TV competition called,\u00a0<em>Tawag ng Tanghalan<\/em>, as well as a singing contest segment on the variety show,\u00a0<em>It\u2019s Showtime<\/em>, both of which he\u00a0credits for kickstarting his career. However, after \u201ccountless\u201d losses,\u00a0<strong>Sofronio decided to move to the U.S. to finish dental school<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<div id=\"b3f3-4b26-ac8b504151bc\" class=\"display-card article article-card small no-badge active-content \" data-include-community-rating=\"false\" data-nosnippet=\"\">\n<div class=\"w-display-card-content regular article-block\">\n<p class=\"display-card-excerpt\">Blake Shelton has taken on a significant role in the lives of wife Gwen Stefani\u2019s three sons. Now off The Voice, his role is even more important.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cNow that I\u2019m thinking about it, I realized that<strong>\u00a0<\/strong>if not for dentistry, I would not be in America,\u201d he told\u00a0<em>Vogue Philippines<\/em>. \u201cBecause the main purpose of me coming to America is to do dental school. I wasn\u2019t able to finish [reviewing for my board exam] in the Philippines because I was doing\u00a0<em>Tawag ng Tanghalan.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n<section class=\"emaki-custom-block emaki-custom-pullquote\">\n<div id=\"custom_block_20\" class=\"emaki-custom pullquote\">\n<div class=\"custom_block-content pullquote\">\n<p>I was doing my reviews, and when I passed that [\u00a0<em>Tawag ng Tanghalan<\/em>\u00a0] audition, my reviews got cut off. After that competition, I thought maybe music is not for me anymore.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p>Sofronio asked his dad to pick which college degree he should pursue, saying: \u201cMy dad had an ambition:\u00a0<strong>he wanted to provide us a beautiful profession because they were poor<\/strong>. My grandmother and grandfather worked in the market.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"sofronio-vasquez-almost-turned-his-back-on-music-before-auditioning-for-the-voice\">Sofronio Vasquez Almost Turned His Back On Music Before Auditioning For\u00a0<em>The Voice<\/em><\/h2>\n<h3 id=\"sofronio-vasquez-was-working-as-a-dental-assistant-when-he-auditioned-for-the-voice\">Sofronio Vasquez Was Working As A Dental Assistant When He Auditioned For\u00a0<em>The Voice<\/em><\/h3>\n<div class=\"body-img landscape mobile-optimized\">\n<div class=\"responsive-img image-expandable img-article-item\" data-img-url=\"https:\/\/static0.thethingsimages.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/ll-1.jpg\" data-modal-id=\"single-image-modal\" data-modal-container-id=\"single-image-modal-container\" data-img-caption=\"&quot;via Instagram\\\/@sofroniovasquez&quot;\">\n<figure><picture><source srcset=\"https:\/\/static0.thethingsimages.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/ll-1.jpg?q=70&amp;fit=crop&amp;w=825&amp;dpr=1\" media=\"(min-width: 1024px)\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/static0.thethingsimages.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/ll-1.jpg?q=70&amp;fit=crop&amp;w=825&amp;dpr=1\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/static0.thethingsimages.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/ll-1.jpg?q=70&amp;fit=crop&amp;w=825&amp;dpr=1\" media=\"(min-width: 768px)\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/static0.thethingsimages.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/ll-1.jpg?q=70&amp;fit=crop&amp;w=825&amp;dpr=1\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/static0.thethingsimages.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/ll-1.jpg?q=70&amp;fit=crop&amp;w=800&amp;dpr=1\" media=\"(min-width: 481px)\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/static0.thethingsimages.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/ll-1.jpg?q=70&amp;fit=crop&amp;w=800&amp;dpr=1\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/static0.thethingsimages.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/ll-1.jpg?q=49&amp;fit=crop&amp;w=500&amp;dpr=2\" media=\"(min-width: 0px)\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/static0.thethingsimages.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/ll-1.jpg?q=49&amp;fit=crop&amp;w=500&amp;dpr=2\" \/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static0.thethingsimages.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/ll-1.jpg\" alt=\"Sofronio Vasquez\" width=\"1200\" height=\"628\" data-img-url=\"https:\/\/static0.thethingsimages.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/ll-1.jpg\" \/><\/picture><figcaption class=\"body-img-caption\">via Instagram\/@sofroniovasquez<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Sofronio revealed to\u00a0<em>Vogue Philippines\u00a0<\/em>that he was \u201calready working as a dental assistant\u201d when he found out that\u00a0<em>The Voice\u00a0<\/em>was open for virtual auditions. \u201cMy professor told me, you\u2019re always singing,\u201d he said of that time. \u201cAnd\u00a0<strong>randomly, I just happened to see a post: virtual auditions for\u00a0<em>The Voice<\/em><\/strong>, so I signed up.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNow, I\u2019m here. Everything was falling into place,\u201d Sofronio continued. The\u00a0musician\u00a0went on to share that\u00a0<strong>he was \u201cnervous\u201d during the auditions<\/strong>, especially after numerous rejections back in the Philippines. \u201cI was really nervous, because I tried for\u00a0<em>The Voice<\/em>\u00a0in the Philippines and I had no chairs,\u201d he recalled.<\/p>\n<p>Although he said his relationship with his coach, Michael, was \u201cperfect,\u201d he admitted he was \u201cintimidated by him\u201d at first. \u201cI was intimidated by him because he\u2019s my idol, I always sing his songs back home,\u201d Sofronio said.<\/p>\n<section class=\"emaki-custom-block emaki-custom-pullquote\">\n<div id=\"custom_block_29\" class=\"emaki-custom pullquote\">\n<div class=\"custom_block-content pullquote\">\n<p>I thought that if I worked with someone who\u2019s very intimidating, I cannot show off my full potential.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p>Fast-forward to their preparation for the finale, Michael said: \u201c<strong>As a coach, [Michael is] very personal with the song choices<\/strong>, the arrangements, especially with this finale song set. I have full trust in Michael\u2019s choices for me.\u201d And what a success this duo was!<\/p>\n<p>As the winner of\u00a0<em>The Voice<\/em>\u00a0Season 26, Sofronio gets\u00a0a recording contract\u00a0and a $100,0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Voice\u00a0Season 26 winner, Sofronio Vasquez, made\u00a0reality TV\u00a0history as\u00a0the first Filipino and Asian to win the competition. It was an emotional moment for the singer, as well as\u00a0his first-time coach, Michael Bubl\u00e9. But while many Filipinos are celebrating Sofronio\u2019s achievement back in the Philippines, some started\u00a0questioning his \u201chumble\u201d background\u00a0of growing up \u201cwith virtually nothing, including [&hellip;] <a class=\"g1-link g1-link-more\" href=\"https:\/\/news4you.fit\/?p=13033\">More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13036,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"video","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[474],"tags":[],"reaction":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-13033","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-video","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"post_format-post-format-video"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news4you.fit\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13033","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news4you.fit\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news4you.fit\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news4you.fit\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news4you.fit\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13033"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news4you.fit\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13033\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13039,"href":"https:\/\/news4you.fit\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13033\/revisions\/13039"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news4you.fit\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/13036"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news4you.fit\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13033"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news4you.fit\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13033"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news4you.fit\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13033"},{"taxonomy":"reaction","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news4you.fit\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Freaction&post=13033"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}