For years, even Donita herself didn’t know the answer to that question. There were so many things she had to do, most important of which was to get back to her pre-pregnancy weight. She weighed 118 lbs. before getting pregnant; during the pregnancy, her weight ballooned to 180 lbs., which meant a lot of strict dieting, along with tennis and jogging to get back into shape. Slowly but surely, she did. But although she was perfectly content with being a wife and mother, there was also a part of Donita that missed the energy and excitement of being on MTV.
So when MTV called and offered her the chance to do a couple of episodes for a show called Pop, Inc., Donita didn’t hesitate. She couldn’t believe it when she got the call asking "Are you free to come into the studio (for work)?" Even before she put the phone down, Donita already knew what her answer would be. Naturally, she said yes.
Although this was not her first time to appear on MTV after the temporary hiatus she took to get married and have a baby, working with MTV again brought back a lot of memories. Donita was so excited that she told husband Eric Villarama about it as soon as she got home the first day after work. It was like the old Donita had come back. She couldn’t stop talking about it. Even now, she rhapsodizes about the experience of being in front of the MTV cameras again. "Wow, I had a lot of fun! It was like going back and attending a high school reunion. I was so excited! It was like skydiving. I could feel the adrenalin rush as soon as I walked into the studio."
That’s not to say that she is bored in her marriage. On the contrary, "I’m very happy with my personal life," she says. In fact, she was so happy that the thought of going back to work didn’t immediately occur to her. She spent several months trying to get acclimatized to her new role as a wife and mother. It’s something she doesn’t regret, since it was her choice.
But eventually, it reached a point where she began to feel bored. The long break she took following her marriage and motherhood made her feel like she was missing a very vital part of her. Whenever she would watch TV, she would ask herself if she would ever go back to doing what she used to do. She missed the business, plain and simple. "The passion (for my career) died out because I wasn’t active," points out Donita. "That’s why I was so eager to go back when I got the call from MTV."
Her stint with MTV imbued her with a new sense of energy and passion. All of a sudden, Donita is now excited to embrace all the opportunities coming her way. For instance, she recently shot a commercial for Dimetapp with JP, who proved to be a chip off the old block. "It’s always been my dream to do a commercial with him," says Donita, who even had to attend a seminar on child labor laws at the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) before shooting the commercial, which is now being aired on TV. Among the things she learned during the seminar was that as JP’s legal guardian, she had to see to it that 10 percent of his fee for doing the commercial had to be deposited in a trust fund and shown to the DOLE. Donita shares that she actually deposited every peso that JP earned in the trust fund and didn’t touch a single centavo of it.
Recently, she also had a brief stint as co-DJ of her good friend Mo Twister on 89.9 FM. For several nights in a row – and along with measuring milk and changing the diapers of JP, who accompanied her on this trip to the Philippines – Donita sat side-by-side with Mo in the DWTM radio booth and played DJ, something she enjoyed a lot. Donita was in her element as she chatted and swapped jokes and notes on music with Mo.
At this point, Donita is open to whatever opportunities are yet to come. Those include an international film, Seed of Contention, and another film with Star Cinema. She is also busy gathering materials for a recording project she plans to produce.
What are her other career plans now? She’d rather take things one day at a time, says Donita. "Actually, I’m kind of torn myself right now. I’m not sure what I want to do. I’m a US citizen, and I have (career) opportunities in the US. That’s always been my desire, to go back to the US since my family is there, and so is Eric’s. But the Lord has brought us to Singapore for a reason, and I’m just going to trust that God, as always, knows what He’s doing."