A mother's pride & joy

Is November halfway done already? In less than two weeks, it’s going to be December. Then it will be January — the start of another new year.

In 2010, we may be seeing the passage of personages and probably the emergence of a new batch. But as always the public will be watching out for female society figures because women are nicer to look at than men.

Decades ago saw the reign of the likes of Chona Kasten, Mary Prieto, Chito Madrigal, Conching Sunico, Joji Felix-Velarde and other society women. Then came the batch of Conchitina Sevilla-Bernardo.

Today’s women are of a different breed. Surely they come in all types: Some waste their nights away stoned in their favorite watering holes. Some are indifferent and couldn’t care less about what’s happening around them. But there are those who try to make a difference.

For me, the one on top of the list is Cristalle Henares, daughter of businessman Atom Henares and Dr. Vicki Belo. The former couple has an older son, Quark, and I got to befriend him earlier because he got into film directing and movies became our bonding.

Cristalle (born Cristina Alexandra) I didn’t get to know until later. After finishing her business course at the Ateneo, she went to Bukidnon to teach poor children there and that was so admirable of her. (Today, she is still into charity work and one of her major projects is sending indigent students to school.)

Surely, she led a charmed life — her parents saw to that. But in her pre-school years, she was given a nanny who always saw to it that the young girl was always dressed in her Sunday’s best and with pretty earrings even on regular days. Of course, the nanny couldn’t be scolded for that. After all, she was taking more than good care of her ward. But Vicki — despite her being a fashion plate — didn’t want a mannequin for a daughter. Dr. Belo — for all our perceived frivolity of her — is actually a sensible woman and she knew that there are real problems in this world that couldn’t be suctioned off even with her most powerful liposuction machine. That much she prepared her kids to face life’s battles.

With her feet both firmly planted on the ground, Cristalle volunteered to live for about a year in Bukidnon, gave up the comforts of home and survived on her P60 a day food allowance (she didn’t get a salary). It was difficult for Vicki to let go of her baby daughter for a year and she would fly to Bukidnon from time to time for a three-day mother-daughter bonding. Dr. Belo would sneak in calls to tell me how the city girl in her was freaking out because of the deafening silence there.

When she returned to Manila, I recall Cristalle visiting us in our old Startalk studio. She just stayed in one corner and said hello. Then it was time for her to leave, but panicked a bit when told that traffic in EDSA wasn’t moving. Another rich girl would have hired a chopper to fly her back home. In Cristalle’s case, she took the MRT.

In their posh Makati home, I expected she’d be enthroned in a sleeping quarters fit for a princess, but she chose a simple bedroom — the only highlight of which is her headboard that used to be a Balinese door and it is said to be haunted.

Cristalle would hardly feel the supernatural presence — if there exists one — because she sleeps mostly in Vicki’s bedroom. One late evening, I needed to get something from Vicki’s room upstairs and I was surprised to see Cristalle tucked in her mother’s bed — watching TV and ready to doze off. Yes, mother and daughter sleep together in the same bed and that is so sweet.

Just last month I was having dinner at their house when Cristalle walked into the dining area and plopped herself on Vicki’s lap like a baby. I know a lot of mothers would be so envious of Dr. Belo for having the sweetest little girl in the world. It’s not the material things that Vicki treasures most. What she values are her children.

Dad Atom in a recent interview for this paper said that “we have good children in spite of their parents.” It is to Atom and Vicki’s credit that they have two wonderful children. Even Quark is so down-to-earth and is really a nice guy.

And just to show you how dutiful a daughter Cristalle is, she even tried to go to med school to please her mother. Dr. Belo, of course, wants to pass on her empire to an heir who is also a certified doctor like (Quark is out of the question — he is really into the arts). Cristalle tried spending some time in med school, but when it turned out it was not really her calling, she cried her heart out to her mom, who understood and appreciated just the same the efforts of her daughter to please her.

Cristalle, however, did not disappoint Dr. Belo. When Belo Essentials was launched, Cristalle managed the operations and during the first year, its products won awards from SM for being so effective and popular with the market. The products — I use them — I swear are really good and whenever I don’t get my complimentary rations, I buy retail.

 Dr. Belo couldn’t be happier with the success of her daughter’s ventures. Cristalle is truly an amazing young woman (she’s 26). She’s tall and beautiful and could have been a beauty queen had she tried joining a pageant. She may be a baby to her family, but when she takes on a job, she transforms into a responsible, hardworking and mature woman.

This much I can reveal: There are quite a number of mothers who are asking me to play matchmaker between their bachelor sons and Cristalle (who’s not into a relationship at the moment). Sorry, but I’ve never been good at playing Cupid. I’m tempted to tell them that there are a lot of fish in the ocean, but unfortunately there’s only one young lady like Cristalle.