Thank You, Mama

Pop Princess Sarah Geronimo’s latest TV commercial of a pawnshop is a very catchy one. Its emotional appeal is excellent because it shows her loving mother doing everything just so she can provide for her daughter’s needs who is joining a contest. And when she finally wins the contest, the next scene shows her mother applauding her daughter’s performance with the ring she redeems from the pawnshop glittering on her finger.

I really love this commercial. You can’t help but stop and watch it. It’s appealing because it is a known fact that majority of us love our mother more than anybody else. So it’s hitting two birds with one stone—it is able to sell the product beautifully, at the same time it touches the sentimental heart in us. Bravo!

That commercial is timely too because tomorrow we will be observing Mother’s Day. If you are able to see this commercial again, you can start contemplating on the joys of having a mother. Tomorrow will be the perfect day to thank the most important woman in our lives for a job well done. If you don’t have enough memorable experiences with your mother because she is gone or away, just remember that there is reason for everything that has happened. Knowing that you are alive and kicking today is worth thanking for. Without that woman who carried you in her womb for nine months, you should not have been able to see how wonderful the world is. In one way or another, my mother, your mother and the rest of the mothers have made sacrifices for the good of their beloved children.

In fact, how many celebrity mothers have chosen to bid goodbye to showbiz to devote enough time to motherhood? A lot. Yes, Kris Aquino and Claudine Barretto are still in showbiz; Dawn Zulueta is also making a semi-comeback but above all else, their family is their priority. For that, they impose a strict schedule for tapings and appearances so that the time devoted to their respected families will never be affected.

Gretchen Barretto, who is considered a controversy magnet, may be wrong in some aspects of her life, but you can never fault her when it comes to nurturing her 13-year-old daughter Dominique. At the height of her reported break-up with Tony Boy two months ago, when she chose to remain in the Philippines rather than go with her longtime live-in partner to America for another medical check-up because she wanted to stay with Dominique, I had doubts on the sincerity of her statements. But when we were able to talk to her last month during the promotion of  her “Unexpected” album under Star Records, it was then that I realized how devoted a mother La Greta is. It was then that she declared she can never go full blast in showbiz because she has a daughter to take care of, she has to be there for Domique especially now that her daughter is in her teens. 

Cliché as it may sound but the saying “mother knows best,” will forever be true; which reminds me of Ms. Boots Anson Roa’s character in Viva Films and Star Cinema’s blockbuster hit to date, “When Love Begins.” She portrays the mother to Aga Muhlach’s role who’s suffering from cancer. In one hospital scene, she talks to Mitch (Anne Curtis), while Ben (Aga) is sound asleep at a couch nearby. Suddenly, she thanks Mitch for making her son happy. Mitch, who is a young socialite, can’t help but ask “Sinabi niya po sa’yo?” And the mother says no, saying she just felt it.

That is what you call motherly instinct. And most of the time they are right.

Now let me be the first to greet all the mothers out there a Happy Mother’s Day. To my Mama Sally, I say thank you so much for raising me, for loving me and for supporting me all these years. I love you mama!

Mr. , Ms. Ticao

Island Tourism

I was in Masbate almost two weeks ago because I was invited by Psalmstre Enterprises—makers of New Placenta Beauty products—to be among the judges of the first-ever Mr. and Miss Ticao Island Tourism held in San Jacinto Masbate. I would say it was a tiresome and long trip because we had to ride on a pumpboat from Bogo, Cebu to Placer for almost five hours, then another hour and a half land trip to Masbate City. From the city, it’s another 45-minute pumpboat ride to Lagundi in Ticao Island, and from there another one and a half-hour land trip before finally arriving at San Jacinto.

Still it was fun was because our delegation, composed of model agents and make-up artists, was gregarious. It was a never-ending chika and tsismisan session, especially on our trip back to Cebu via M/V Indonesia of Trans Asia (a very comfortable trip, thank God!). I never got to see all of the beauty of Ticao Island because I was too tired from our trip that I chose to lie in bed the entire afternoon. And also, nobody invited me to tour their spots. I felt the LGU there was interested in TV cameras rather than the magic of words. Well, that was understandable and I’m not complaining because my invitation in the first place was to judge the pageant.

Anyhow, one positive thing I could say about Masbate is the people. Okay, it was a pageant so expect that gays would abound, but I did not hear catcalls nor I see any disrespect from the guys there.

No foul words uttered, unlike here wherein gays are most of the time the butt of jokes, even if they behave in public. But in Masbate, there were none. They just say hi and smile when they pass you by . That should be taken in as a plus factor for a place like Ticao which is pushing eco-tourism in the island.

   But back to the pageant. The top two spots in the pageant interestingly went to the Cebuano representatives. Of the eight bets from Cebu, four males and four females, six made it to the final 8. They made a mark there, much to the dismay of the candidates from Luzon who I supposed, judging from the backstage drama that I heard about, were expecting to win. One make-up artist from Cebu even told me after the pageant that the managers of the male candidates from Luzon were complaining why their “alagas” did not make it to the final 8, when they were models and title holders in their place? My answer is, so what?

Let me make it clear that of the eight judges, only two were from Cebu (me and Yuri of GMA-7 Istayl Nato) so nobody can say that the pageant, which was by the way, hosted by colleague Roger Serna, was a fixed game or “lutong macau.” The Luzon candidates failed in the final Q&A, while the Cebu bets excelled in it. It was as simple as that. So I say, I’m proud to be Cebuano. Before I say bye-bye, thank you Psalmstre Enterprises for having me one of the judges! Till next time.

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