Vicky Morales, on being TV's fairy godmother as 'Wish ko lang!' turns four

"When I first joined the show, I remember getting out of bed only 3 to 5 hours after getting into it. I remember taking many bumpy rides to some very far places-even during heavy rain. I also remember walking for hours across slippery mountain slopes to reach a needy community. After a few days of that, I remember sitting alone in the car asking myself how long I would like to keep doing this," that's local TV's resident fairy godmother Vicky Morales looking back at her first WISH KO LANG! experience.

"But I'm still here-with even more excitement than ever before. I've just grown to love the show because of the smiles we see on people's faces, the friends we make along the way, the people who believe in us enough to have made us their Saturday afternoon habit, and all the other elements that make you forget this is work after all."

And as for her most memorable WISH episode, Vicky treasures Kevin's story. "When we first met Kevin, he was this simple boy in slippers playing basketball with friends somewhere in Pampanga. He and his Filipina mother didn't have much in life, but it had always been his dream to find his American father who had left home shortly after he was born. We took him to the States, not knowing if we'd ever get to find his father since all we had was an old phone number. We burned the phone lines. We searched and searched-and when we finally made contact, the next hurdle was convincing the father to face Kevin. I remember sleeping a total of only 9 hours over 5 days because we didn't want to go back to Manila without giving it our best shot."

Vicky continues, "But it all paid off because to this day, I can recount in full detail one of the most riveting reunion scenes I have ever witnessed. Right now, Kevin drives his own car, works for the American Army, supports his mother in Pampanga, and is still in love with the woman he left here three years ago. He has kept in touch with us over the years-and has just sent us his most recent photos showing him in uniform. He's still a work in progress-and if only for his life making a turn for the better, all my years in Wish Ko Lang have been well worth it."

Surely, GMA-7's top rating WISH KO LANG! has gone a long way since it was launched four years ago. And as the original reality wish-giving program in the country celebrates its fourth anniversary, it still continues to live up to its commitment of granting even the seemingly impossible wishes.

But for its fourth anniversary special, WISH KO LANG! prefers to go back to the basics. And as Vicky puts it, "It's been quite a journey. From Gensan to Japan, Capiz to Paris, Laguna to London, Quezon to Hongkong-Wish Ko Lang! has made the seemingly impossible possible. Wish Ko Lang! has reunited families and friends-and given away several sari-sari stores, scholarships, bicycles, tricycles, and even a brand-new fully-furnished house and lot. So as we start our fourth year, we thought we'd go back to the basics by celebrating the kinds of stories that have given the show its magic over the years-love stories, reunions, service to community, and celebrity."

And in going back to the basics, WISH KO LANG! has found its fitting anniversary special in Starstruck First Princess Yasmien Kurdi's childhood fantasy.

This afternoon, WISH KO LANG! is all set to fulfill Yasmien's longtime dream of becoming a flight attendant! Yasmien has already wanted to become a flight attendant since childhood but when show business beckoned, the Starstruck First Princess knew that it would take a while before she could fulfill her dream.

Enter WISH KO LANG!. When the program learned of Yasmien's wish, it knew right away that it's going to be something special and is a perfect fit for the program's anniversary special. Yasmien's first trip-Manila to Singapore!

On board her first-ever flight as a stewardess, Yasmien finds herself with Sandra Choy who is one of her most avid fans. Sandra is a half-Pinay-half-Singaporean teenager whose biggest wish, aside from meeting the Starstruck First Princess, is to meet her biological father.

In Singapore, a special bonding experience between Yasmien and Sandra follows with Yasmien even helping Sandra to look for her missing dad!

And as fairy godmother Vicky again prepares to wave her magic wand, another touching but nonetheless happy story awaits viewers this afternoon. But the magic, Vicky says, is not entirely hers "I feel a little embarrassed when I get called that (fairy godmother) because I know very well I don't own the 'fairy godmother' term entirely. I say this because behind every story we put on air, there are fairy godproducers, fairy godresearchers, fairy godcameramen, and other fairy godstaffmembers. I just carry the magic wand, but it's really the rest of the team that sees to it that there's magic each time I wave it."