More than just a pilgrimage, the journey of Lorna Tolentino and her sons Raphe and Renz, along with Pinky Tabiano (a cancer survivor) and a few friends, to the Holy Land was a cleansing/cathartic experience.
“Especially for me,” Lorna told Funfare after the presscon for her PLDT MyDSL commercial, the first endorsement she accepted after the death of her husband Rudy Fernandez. (She had just done a pictorial for Flawless, the beauty clinic she has been endorsing for quite a while.)
Lorna (and her sons) are going through the painful stages of grieving and the visit to Holy Land was a big help.
In fact, a little “miracle” happened.
“Before we left,” recalled Lorna, “I was having terrible headaches, similar to migraine, so I went through an MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) and something like beads were spotted in my veins and blood vessels, parang little humps. When we came back, I had another MRI and the ‘beads’ and little ‘humps’ were gone, and so were the headaches. The doctor said I was as good as new.”
It was a trip that Lorna couldn’t cancel.
“After his Whipple surgery early last year, I and couples close to us planned to go to the Holy Land, including (Sen.) Bong (Revilla) and Lani (Mercado), and (Sen.) Jinggoy (Estrada) and Precy (Vitug). I never had a chance until Pinky told me that she and her friends were planning a pilgrimage.”
The back-breaking trip (which required the pilgrims to wake up at 5:30 a.m. every day) brought the group to Egypt and Israel where they visited several historic/religious places — Mt. Olive, Church of Ascension, Gethsemane, Church of Visitation, John the Baptist Church, Chapel of Flagellation, Church of Condemnation, Sycamore Tree, Burning Bush, the Dead Sea, Church of Annunciation and Mt. Sinai.
“It won’t be my last trip abroad,” added Lorna. “I’m also going to the States to personally thank the people who helped and supported Rudy and me when we were there for Rudy’s treatment.”
Besides the CD of inspirational songs that she’s putting out, Lorna is also preoccupied with putting up another Rudy Fernandez foundation, this time exclusive for poor cancer patients who can’t afford the cost of chemotherapy. The foundation is the Rudy Fernandez Scholarship Foundation.
Soon, even as she struggles to move on, Lorna will have to return full blast to showbiz. She’s having second thoughts about resuming her co-hosting job on Startalk, saying, “Parang hindi ko na feel mag-interview ng kapwa ko artista about the intrigues.”
Yes, there are tempting offers from both GMA and ABS-CBN.
“I’m still weighing things,” said Lorna. “Pinag-aaralan ko pa ang lahat.”
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Barely three weeks after her father, Francis Magalona, was diagnosed with leukemia, Maxene Magalona happily announced that he is responding well to the treatment even if there’s a “No Visitors Allowed” sign at the door of his room at the Medical City in Pasig City.
“His doctors are surprised at how well my dad is responding to the treatment,” said Maxene who’s graduating to an “adult” role in GMA’s new sine novela, Una Kang Naging Akin (the “televization” of the Viva movie directed by Laurice Guillen, and starring Sharon Cuneta, Gabby Concepcion and Dawn Zulueta), which requires her to kiss Wendell Ramos, her and Angelika dela Cruz’s leading man.
“It’s a good sign daw,” added Maxene. “Now, we’re just waiting for his doctor’s order for him to be discharged.”
Showing me Francis’ photo in her cellphone, Maxene said, “Look, di ba he looks very healthy? Para siyang walang sakit. He even looks younger. He’s restless, active na active as usual, and my mom (Pia Arroyo) keeps on reminding him to stop moving kasi baka matanggal ‘yung dextrose tube na nakakabit sa kanya. Malikot siya and he’s palabiro as usual.”
Maxene recalled that when Francis suffered from fatigue, she and the rest of the family dismissed it as “normal” because they knew what a workaholic Francis used to be.
“When we learned that he has leukemia, I felt as if the whole world caved in on me. Isa-isa kaming tinawagan ni Daddy. I was shocked. ‘Are you serious?’ I asked him. When he heard me crying, he said, ‘Stop crying. What we need now is the help of our friends. I pretended to stop crying but after he hung up, I cried and cried again.”
The Magalonas don’t regret having announced early on that Francis was ill.
“We didn’t have a choice,” said Maxene. “My dad needed blood very badly, so we had to make an appeal. We were overwhelmed by the response. Many came to donate blood. Tita Rose (Rosa Rosal) and Sen. Richard Gordon, who are both with the Red Cross, are such a big help to our family. We can never thank them enough, and those who continue to help and pray for my dad’s recovery.”
While her dad is bedridden, Maxene assured him that she’d be the one who will work and help in whatever way she can in his medical expenses.
As in the case of Lorna and Rudy, Francis’ illness has brought the Magalonas even closer.
“The fact that we have a strong faith in God helps a lot in giving us strength and keeping our morale up,” said Maxene. “My dad has read The Bible four times over. He has an unwavering faith in Jesus.”
(E-mail reactions at rickylo@philstar.net.ph or at entphilstar@yahoo.com)