Jessica Eribal: One fine Mama

CEBU, Philippines - Jessica Candelasa-Eribal describes her-self as shy and ugly during her high school years in Balamban town, southwest of Cebu. Although she was a neat-freak, she says she would still not belong to the attractive category. She, in fact, wanted to be a class muse, but would never be selected because “I was very dark and had ugly hair.”

An Industrial Psychology graduate, Jessica also remembers her first few days of college at the University of San Carlos when classmates would laugh at her terrible sense of style. A Cebuano fashion designer named Furne One, now renowned in the global fashion industry, apparently saw through the promdi freshman’s fashion-challenged ways and thought her height of five-foot-seven and beautiful caramel complexion would be suitable for modeling gigs.

This began Jessica’s foray into local modeling. “I learned how to use make up. My looks slowly improved,” says the former flight attendant.

Joining pageants was the natural progression. Jessica was a finalist in Mutya ng Pilipinas Central Visayas in 1998 and Miss Cebu Tourism in 2000, but was unplaced in both.

She got married in 2001 at 24 years old. Raising her son Joules Jurgensen and maintaining a household with her hubby Jojet became the center of her universe.

It was an invitation in 2009 to participate in a photo shoot that made Jessica realize how she had been slacking off in her physical appearance. “I was chubby then at around 135 lbs. When I saw my picture, I felt disappointed, so that inspired me to lose weight. It was an eye-opener that I was no longer taking care of myself. That photo shoot was a blessing in disguise because it pushed me to go back to the gym and go on a diet.”

Her self-confidence renewed after shedding a few pounds, she joined and won last year’s My Pretty Mama (she was named The Freeman Reader’s Choice, along with other awards), a pageant for married women here in Cebu.

Riding on her winning momentum, Jessica screened for Mrs. Philippines Globe 2013, a national pageant whose winner is sent to compete in the international Mrs. Globe beauty contest.

Jessica, 35, shares, “There were about 30 of us from Visayas and Mindanao who screened, out of which 12 were chosen to compete for the regional pageant at the Cebu International Convention Center last April.  From there, four of us (which became three after one backed out) won as regional finalists who will compete in Manila.”

In the national tilt, she was up against 17 other Filipinas who were either married or single moms. At first, Jessica admits she was intimidated by her fellow candidates who mostly came from Manila. The ladies were a mix of former models and familiar faces on commercial ads; one was a former Mrs. Asia International first runner-up, while another was a sister of action star Robin Padilla.

“More or less, they’re already known in the Manila scene. You could say they were the cream of the crop. Those of us from Cebu felt no one knew us there. We thought since they were in the capital, they had all the connections and had already established their names,” says Jessica of her initial apprehensions.

Her worries of not getting along with the Manila women were quickly proved futile. “I think when you get married, you become more mature. It was really different from those pageants I joined when I was still single. I was expecting that they would not be so nice but it was the opposite. I didn’t have a car there and was not familiar with most of the venues, so they would give us a ride during pre-pageant activities and share their food.”

She also formed a sisterly bond with the two other Cebuana finalists (one is Lubesly Tellidua who was unplaced at Mrs. Philippines Globe, but had just won Mrs. Asia International 2013 first runner-up last June 16 in Malaysia). “We helped each other. We had a good relationship and didn’t treat each other as competitors. We practiced together on how to walk and answer.”

The weeks before coronation night had them on a whirlwind of activities that included prep work, bonding sessions and charity immersions. In line with Mrs. Globe’s women empowerment advocacy, one organization they visited was Samaritana, a haven for abused women. Here, one of those Jessica interacted with was a woman whose own mother pushed her into prostitution. “She’s now renewed and rehabilitated and staying in the Samaritana mission house. It had me asking how a mother can do that to her own daughter.”

Her co-candidates also had their own tales, not all of whom enjoyed rosy marriages. “Hearing other women’s stories saying they feel imprisoned made me realize how blessed I am to have such a supportive husband. But our happy family life didn’t happen overnight. We also had our fair share of adjustments,” she reveals.

“Before I went back to pageantry, I also returned to modeling. I know that’s difficult to handle for a man, especially if I have sexy shoots. He was hesitant at first. I asked him to tag along during the shoots so he would know that my intentions are clean. From there, he understood how the modeling industry was. He approves of me joining pageants because for him, it’s also for personality development.”

During the pageant Q & A, Jessica was asked what having self-worth meant to her. Her short but sweet answer: “Having self-worth is valuing and loving one’s self. It is through this that we can bring out the best in us because if we love ourselves, we can also love others.”

That, and her over-all performance, was deemed by judges worthy of a third runner-up finish. As part of the top five, Jessica will take part in a lot of charity work and public appearances. Just recently, the winners shot a spread for Working Mom magazine.

Jessica, a Human Resources consultant who also tends a small online business, has gone far from her unsure and struggling days. “I wasn’t born with a silver spoon in my mouth. We were very poor. I have my flaws and weaknesses, and I’ve been through a lot of trials. I come from a broken family, the eldest of five girls, so I tried my best to finish school. I had to focus on my studies. My classmates would tease me for being a nerd so my modeling and joining pageants would be the farthest from their expectations.”

Her success and contentment, she credits to being a go-getter, having a strong personality and most of all, the love and support of family. Her husband, she says, has a knack for uplifting her spirits whenever she feels down.

“Believe it or not, he takes care of me very much at home. The mother is supposed to do the cooking, but before he goes to work he cooks breakfast for us. We don’t have househelp because our son is already big enough so we just help each other out at home. My husband is very responsible. When I wake up, there’s already food on the table.”

As to her secrets on keeping the unwanted pounds at bay, especially that she still hopes to compete in other pageants for married women after her contract with Mrs. Philippines-Globe ends, Jessica says she makes it a point to drink water or calamansi juice the moment she wakes up. She then eats a normal breakfast as her “fuel for the day.” For lunch and dinner, it’s usually healthy fare like oatmeal, wheat crackers, fruits or one protein dish. She hits the gym three times a week. Her abs exercises, she diligently performs daily at home. “Being slim used to be effortless, but now I have to double my efforts,” she laments.

Tedious though that may sound for a working mom and wife like her, Jessica believes married women should not lose track and let go, not only for their sake, but also for the sake of the people around them.

“Never stop taking care of yourself because that’s a manifestation of how you love yourself. You can’t fully love and understand others if you don’t start with self-appreciation.” (Photos by Joy Torrejos; coronation night photos courtesy of Jessica Eribal) (FREEMAN)