MANILA, Philippines - When she left show business, Precious Hipolito left the industry she grew to love with a heavy heart. After all, the former child star was part of the most popular teen-oriented variety show, which launched the careers of top celebrities today. “I entered the business at the young age of seven. My life was never the same again,” she says. But Precious defends that the decision to quit acting paid off eventually. “I wanted a normal life again,” adds Precious, who finished Communication Arts from the University of Sto. Tomas. Later on, she became an IBC-13 News anchor.
“As a broadcaster, people watch me deliver the news as straightforward as it should be. So I maintain the objectivity and credibility that a media practitioner should practice. My personal opinion of any subject matter should be kept to myself,” shares Precious, who has been doing TV broadcasting for eight years now.
And although she decided to take a leave of absence from news work because of her intention to become a public servant, Precious maintains the same brand of service and dedication she’s put into her broadcasting career. She declares, “I want to help poor yet deserving students acquire quality education by providing them with scholarships.” Precious is the chairperson of the Helping Hands Foundation, which conducts programs and projects to build a day care center in Payatas in Quezon City. She is actually not new in public service as she was a barangay councilor in her younger days, an experience that also changed her life. It was on her oath taking day that a city councilor by the name of Winston “Winnie” Castelo fell in love with her at first sight. The two councilors wed and nine years later, they are still happily married and with kids Winona, 10, and Paolo, seven.
“I’d like to think I’m doing well as a wife and mother. I came from a loving and happy family and I teach my children the same values my parents taught me. We spend time with each other in spite of our busy schedules,” relates Precious, who says that she lends her husband moral support by helping him in his many programs. “We conduct medical and dental missions, relief operations in affected areas badly hit by the typhoons, mass feeding programs and dialogues with leaders.”
For Precious, proper time management is the key to successfully play all her roles in life. “Life is not perfect for any of us. It’s important to know and implement one’s priorities in life,” she philosophizes. Although busy with a lot of things, she makes sure that leisure finds a spot in her to-do list. She loves going to new restaurants and spas for some R&R.
Precious loves to pamper herself and this she does through makeup. “Makeup makes a woman more confident about herself. It adds glow and glamour and enhances her beauty and style,” she says. Precious adds that she loves Ever Bilena products because it has a wide array of selection — from cosmetics to scents — that she can use every day. The chemicals, she adds, are very hypoallergenic that she doesn’t have to worry about her sensitive skin.
She particularly likes EB Advance Concealer and EB Advance Perfect Mascara. “In my line of work, it is important to keep my skin as smooth and unblemished on and off screen as possible so a concealer does the trick,” she says of the color-corrective concealer that minimizes the appearance of dark circles caused by allergies and heredity. “The mascara, on the other hand, gives more life to my eyes and emphasizes my lashes,” she adds. The brand’s mascara builds full and thick lashes without the brittle look and is enriched with Vitamin E to prevent lashes from breaking.
Precious believes that we should all live life to the fullest and count our blessings. “I don’t sweat the small stuff and instead pray and leave it up to God to provide for me the strength to withstand obstacles in my life,” Precious Hipolito-Castelo ends.