Love — Brazilipino Style
Theirs is a romance that movie scripts are made of. Towering beauty Jaque Borges had spent nine years traveling around the world and had modeled extensively in her native Brazil, Europe and Asia. While on a beach trip to Batangas, the fashion model met thirty-something businessman Mario Cunanan. Theirs was a chance meeting over breakfast at Punta Fuego, an initiation into lively conversation progressed into daily meetings and found its ultimate fulfillment in marriage.
Jaque reminisces, “Our courtship spanned less than a year. It didn’t take me long to feel that he was the man that I was praying for. We are both Christians and share the same values. This made it easy to understand each other. Of course, the prospect of committing after a whirlwind romance was a little bit scary and sometimes I would ask myself if I did the right thing. But I believe that when you find the right person, you’ll simply know. I feel so blessed and loved by him.”
Mario shares, “After we met in Batangas, I invited Jaque for dinner. I liked her personality, and she clearly is beautiful. What started as physical attraction quickly evolved into something deeper. When I got to know her better, I realized that we had so much in common in terms of values and how we bonded with family. We saw each other every day. We felt that God orchestrated everything and we believe that this is truly a blessing from God. It was God’s perfect timing because we were both ready, so I thought to myself why delay marriage?”
Jaque continues, “After a month we went to Balesin with his family, and I was nervous as it was my first time to meet them. They were so amazing and made me feel comfortable. I could see how his family was similar to mine. I’m very close to my family and it has been very hard for me to stay away from them as long as I have. When I saw the way Mario’s family would take care of each other, I thought that I would be so lucky to have them as my family. And that should we end up together, my children will be raised in the same environment that I was.”
Jaque’s family was surprised and happy when she told them about Mario.
“During a trip to Thailand, we missed our flight and Mario was very nervous and disappointed because we weren’t sure if we would be able to get another flight. However, we were able to get to Thailand. During our trip, I could feel that he was nervous but I did not know why and every time I inquired, he would insist that he was fine,” Jaque shares.
It was when they got to Phi Phi Islands that Mario proposed to Jaque. He was carrying the ring in his pocket all along, just waiting for the right time to pop the question.
For Jaque, there is much to love in her adoptive country. “Now, in the Philippines, I have a new family and a close set of genuine friends. I am in a land that is home to the friendliest, warmest people. I feel blessed to live in a tropical country much like Brazil. I notice that Filipinos smile a lot. They can smile in times of hardship and sorrow. I think it is wonderful. They share their feelings. Very much like what Brazilians do. In fact, I believe that Filipinos are very similar to Brazilians. In my opinion, Filipinos are the Latinos of Asia.’’
In the works are plans to further Jaque’s love for cooking with the goal of eventually putting up a business dealing with Brazilian cuisine. Still active with her modeling career, Jaque’s dreams also include developing a clothing line and starting a family.
For Mario, the transition from dating to marriage has so far been a smooth one. He is looking forward to visiting Brazil where he will meet more of his new family members. When asked if he felt much in the way of cultural differences, he laughed as he was hard pressed to think of anything that stands out. He ends, “Maybe because both Brazil and the Philippines were both colonized by Spain and both have a Catholic background. That’s why I think we got along pretty well.”
