Regina Belmonte: Regina's reign

MANILA, Philippines - Maria Regina Carmela Francia Belmonte does not intend to live off the family’s illustrious name as commonly misconceived. “From my lolo (Mayor Sonny Belmonte), lola (Betty Go-Belmonte), dad (Miguel Belmonte)... There are a lot of people in my family who (have) made a name for themselves and I would like to live up to that (and) make a name for myself.” And she has begun to do so as young and fresh as 17 when she started her column Ashtray Girl (from Placebo’s “This Picture”) in The Philippine STAR in 2004. “I make a living out of what I love to do, write about things I enjoy. My dream was always to write and that’s what I’m doing now.” Recently promoted to editor-at-large for Young STAR, Regina is also a staff writer of Cosmo.ph and a contributing writer for Candy magazine and Candymag.com since 2008. Graduating last year with a Communication Arts degree from the Ateneo de Manila University, she was an active member of the Ateneo Musician’s Pool where she eventually became associate officer of documentation and publication apart from being a member of the Loyola Film Circle as well for her entire stay in college.

In one of her earliest articles in 2004, Regina received 60-plus e-mails, from 12-year-olds who were just discovering new music to a 60-year-old priest in Mindanao. “I like that piece because it was very personal. It was about sad music and when I feel sad I listen to sad music and that kind of makes me feel better, strangely enough because you realize what you’re going through has been experienced by so many other people so you’re not really alone as you think you are. I’m overwhelmed and humbled by the fact that something I wrote could have that kind of effect.” She lists writing a hit song as one of the things she must do before she shuffles of this mortal coil and has yet to be a vocalist of a dance-punk band. As in the words of her all-time favorite band Placebo, Regina gives her all “for what it’s worth” in everything she can.