What makes your mom special?

Since my father was very busy with work, my mom Lovely was faced with raising five kids. As children, when our school bus was unavailable my mom would drive us to school. Mom guided us on our assignments, bought the things we needed, took us to the pedia for checkups, took good care of Dad and in spite of her full schedule she still found time to work on the side to help my dad with the household expenses. I failed to appreciate her kindness and generosity until I, too, became a mother. I’m blessed to have my mom and I hope that I can one day be as perfect a mother as she has been to us.

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Ciara Sotto Oconer, singer

A lot of qualities make my mom (Helen Sotto) special, but to my mind right now, it’s her consistent dedication to her family. From how she looks after my dad, to how she takes care of her children, and even now, to how she spoils her grandchildren. A very recent example of this is that even with her very busy schedule, she still finds time to prepare home-cooked meals for everybody and anybody. Straight from out-of-town campaigns, she goes straight to the kitchen to cook for the family with her TLC.

Stacy Rodriguez, fashion entrepreneur, founder and designer of glasnostapparel.com

Everyone in our family knows my relationship with my mom (Fe Rodriguez) can get quite crazy. We can be lounging around watching Gossip Girl, sharing a mutual hatred for Serena one minute, then battling each other over a shoe I borrowed and neglected to return the next. That’s exactly what’s so great about her. She disregards our excuses, never lets anything slide, and even better, she never gives up on us. She trusts her intuition and stands by her beliefs, giving her an unshakeable will that she uses to guide us to the right path, despite our obstinate resistance. She wieIds her influence over us not because she thinks that she is always in the right; she does this because she wants what is right for us. They say mother knows best, and those who don’t believe it clearly haven’t met my mother. She embodies this statement by practising what she preaches. She holds many titles; she is a mother, friend, wife, Catholic, model citizen, entrepreneur, style icon, and my idol. With each title, she elicits immense amounts of love, trust, and respect from everyone around her. She is my gold standard, not only for motherhood, but also for womanhood. She will not sit idly by after preaching of love and devotion to the family or of good values and beliefs. She takes action and leads by example. She is special to me not only because she is the perfect mother; she is the perfect woman.

Bettina Araneta Aboitiz, socials secretary, Office of the President

My mom’s (Cristina Araneta) lovable trait is that she is young at heart. She enjoys hanging out with her kids and our friends and she has become like part of the group.

Rubby Sy, CEO, Flawless

If I look at Flawless over the past few years, we have excelled beyond anything I initially dreamed, and I am humbled and grateful for where I am now. I ascribe my success to a winning attitude, which my mother, Lourdes Conde Sy, instilled in me with her trademark faith, kindness and gentle strength. She used to tell me that her biggest gift to me was education. She instilled a sense of healthy competitiveness by affirming my achievements but always encouraging me to do better — to give my best effort always. Now that I’m a mother myself and my own son is on the brink of manhood, I find myself honoring and imparting the lessons of hard work, compassion, of comparing myself to only myself and striving to do better.

Marga Panlilio Valdes, entreprenuer

My mother, Pamela Panlilio Valdes, is the eldest of nine children and comes from a strong matriarchal family. Like her own mother, she is an exemplary woman with a fiercely generous heart and indomitable spirit. She remains the cornerstone of our family and raised her children to be independent and compassionate individuals. To quote C. Paddleford: “Never grow a wishbone, daughter, where your backbone ought to be.”

Alfonso Martinez, student

For me, the most lovable trait about Mom (Liezl Martinez) is her unrelenting vigor to set me straight when I’ve done wrong. I’ve made mistakes in my life, big and small, but my mom is always there to help me and guide me throughout it all. Most of the time I feel like she is nagging me, but I know she does that because she loves me so much. If she didn’t care about me at all, she wouldn’t even notice if I was gone and never came back home.

Bea Tiu Laurel, student

What makes my mom (Cheska Laurel) special is the fact that she can be my best friend even as she is a strict parent. She has found the perfect balance between being a mom and a friend to me.

Louie Ysmael, restaurateur, club and bar owner

My mom Chona Kasten passed away in 1987. Mom was special in so many ways, but the best thing about her was her remaining very calm and unaffected during hard and stressful moments. She never lost her cool, whether it was disciplining us, reacting to gossip or personal problems. It was always grace under pressure — and with great humor to boot!

Janine Dizon Hoschka, jeweler

My mom (Jul Dizon) was special because she (with my dad’s help) prepared us — her five children and 16 grandchildren — for a life of responsibility, integrity and love of family. In her last few days on earth, she wrote to God, telling Him that she was offering all her children’s love, her greatest gift for all the goodness in her life. Even though she is in heaven now, I know that she is still guiding all of us with her love and wisdom.

Tesa Totengco, sales director

Mom (Zenia dela Cruz) is my best friend, confidante, and role model. She challenges me by living an active, curious, adventurous and fun-loving life. She inspires me with her loyalty, sincerity, honesty and generosity. If she sounds too good to be true, well she is...too good and true.