After graduating with an A.B. Philosophy degree from the Dominican House of Studies in 1982, "Fray Edwin" left the Dominican Order and worked as an emergency employee of NCSO (now Philippine Statistics Authority) as Data encoder while moonlighting as a laborer painting houses and commercial buildings and putting up advertising signages on strategic places. Later he joined Asia Pacific Circulation Exponents Inc., an exclusive distribution company for Asian Wall Street Journal and USA Today where he was offered opportunities for training that he benefited a lot from. In 1990 after a Hong Kong trip, he suffered a major stroke paralyzing most parts of his body. He then continued to be employed on a part-time basis as a handicraft designer when he was well enough to work. Plagued by a series of strokes after the first major one and not wanting those experiences to dampen his spirit, he endeavored to find health products that would help him recuperate and potentially build a modest income with Amway, Swiss Double Stemcell and Lifewave Stemcell Patch Photography.