A time to share the blessings

MANILA, Philippines - Cassandra Danielle Bautista Ynares could have the grandest birthday any two-year-old girl can dream of. But her parents, Rizal Gov. Junjun and Andrea “Andeng” Ynares thought holding a lavish party for their first-born (with another one coming next year) would be too much for a country suffering from the devastation brought by Ondoy and Pepeng.

In fact, some of the towns in Rizal province are still reeling from the effects of the killer typhoons.

“We’d rather share the blessings on this special day with our constituents, especially my daughters’ fellow kids. We’d like to see their faces light up with a smile,” four-and-half-month pregnant Andrea, First Lady of Rizal, told her guests at the University of Rizal System Antipolo campus.

She could have assigned her staff to buy the toys she gave away that afternoon. But she herself carefully picked the playthings the 700 young students from a daycare center in Barangay San Roque, Antipolo received on top of the food they enjoyed that day. Everyone, including the birthday celebrator, had fun watching the clowns and a dog show that featured lovable creatures they dreamt of bringing home as pets.

Cassandra’s kiddie guests entertained the crowd by staging a production number built around the hit song Nobody. The young celebrator clapped her hands with joy upon hearing her friends sing the Happy Birthday song before she blew her cake with Mama and Papa by her side.

Helping the family make the guests feel comfortable were Junjun’s youngest sister Mia and Jolo Revilla, Andrea’s nephew and Sen. Bong Revilla’s son.

As if the party was not enough, Andrea, Cassandra, Jolo and Mia went to Colegio de San Antonio in Dalig, Antipolo upon the invitation of showbiz writer Len Llanes. The group cheered up students from the Nursery up to the Grade Six level by distributing food and toys again.

Although he missed the affair because of a previous engagement in Baras, Rizal, Gov. Junjun sent his greetings to school officials and the students of Dalig.

This early, little Cassandra is learning to share her blessings with the less fortunate and to think of others before herself. It’s a lesson her parents will continue to remind her, not only on her birthday every Nov. 18, but for the rest of the year as well.