I can’t help but feel so proud of Charice while she’s singing the Philippine National Anthem during the Inauguration of the 15th President of the Philippines, Benigno Simeon “Noynoy” Aquino III.

Watch the clip from ABS-CBNNews.com below…

So far, she’s the only singer who was able to sing Lupang Hinirang the right way according to the National Historical Institute. Charice has really gone a long way! Bravo for a job well done!

posted in Woman of Substance at 2:55 pm 0 Comment
Tagged: Charice Pempengco, Charice singing the Philippine National Anthem, Inauguration of 15th Philippine President Benigno Noynoy Aquino III, Lupang Hinirang sang by Charice, National Historical Institute

More than three years ago, I didn’t know I am capable of loving someone who’s not even of my own blood. Sure, I was considering the notion of adopting in the future. I still do, by the way. But then instead of adoption, an alternative rolled out in front of me… taking care of a little kid of a neighbor’s.

She’s been with us since she was a little more than a year old. She lights up our lives. In fact, my sister teases me that she’s my favorite. Well, she’s a sweet little kid who can shower you with so much affection that it could melt your heart away.

I just hope that she never changes.

posted in Woman of Substance at 4:30 am 0 Comment

This girl could have chosen fame and fortune over anything else. But no, she chose family and education. Emma Watson is now a freshman at Brown University. She is taking time out from her acting career to study. Smart girl that she is, she knows that fame and fortune can be taken away from her in an instant. But if she has the right foundation (education), she will know what to do to keep it in place.

I hope a lot of young people will emulate her.

posted in Woman of Substance at 4:18 am 0 Comment
Tagged: Emma Watson

I kept remembering her, my mentor. Whenever there are special occasions, her kind face and voice would always resurface from the deep recesses of my mind. She’s one of the few bosses I know who are truly kind to her staff. Plus, she will let you do things your own way. She won’t force her methods to you but would rather welcome whatever you can contribute to the group. I remember we were reviewing a financial report and I was changing Excel sheets back and forth using ctrl-page-down and ctrl-page-up. She told me she didn’t know that and was amazed by it. Other bosses would pretend to know it by observing what you’re doing and will keep quiet. Not her. She is a very generous, very gracious person. A true kindhearted one that is rare these days.

I had trouble before. I asked a loan from the company that would be deducted from my paycheck for six months. She called me up (she’s at the headquarters while I was at a branch office) and offered to loan me the exact same amount I need (out of her own pocket) without any interest and I can pay it for a year.

Tell me, how can I forget a person like my mentor? Too bad I lost my communication with her. Last I heard, she’s already working abroad for a well-known telecoms company.

posted in Woman of Substance at 10:35 am 1 Comment

She was fondly called Tita Cory (Aunt Cory) here in the country. She was actually former president Corazon Cojuangco-Aquino, the 11th president of the Philippine Republic and the first woman president of the Philippines and the Southeast Asia. A one-time Time’s Woman of the Year. And the face behind the Edsa Revolution that freed the country from a 20-year reign of the Marcoses. She was considered the Mother of Democracy here in the country.

Tita Cory succumbed to cardiac arrest, as a complication of her colon cancer, at 3:18AM today, August 1, 2009 at the Makati Medical Center.

May her soul rest in peace.

posted in Woman of Substance at 11:09 pm 0 Comment

A has been cocooned all her life. Even when she got married, she was pampered, never lifted a finger except when she had to breastfeed her child. She never worked because her family came from old money and her husband was just as rich. She was living a perfect life until she learned an ugly truth… her husband was dealing with illegal activities! When he was arrested, every thing he owned was frozen, to be given back to the people he duped. Naturally, she was devastated. Her parents are getting on their years and their riches were either used to finance their medications and several trips to the hospital or was wasted in a networking scheme.

She was faced with the hard facts of life. She needed work to support her child. She could not depend on anybody else now. So she did. She slowly learned all on her own. And A is now standing tall, having overcome her “incapacity”. She is now a legitimate businesswoman. She owns a pastry shop and has a local pharmacy to her name. I forgot to mention that she’s a licensed pharmacist and a pastry fan! She used the things that she knew by heart and love the most.

She’s come out of the sheltered life she lived and has emerged triumphant.

posted in Silhouette, Woman of Substance at 8:27 am 0 Comment

When I was a little kid, I used to be scared of my great aunt. She was very strict and didn’t want us running around the house while the old folks were taking their siesta. She just wanted for us to be quiet in a corner or at the terrace where we could not disturb anybody. Of course, being the kids that we were, hyperactive and all, we would sneak in some games every now and then, with one of us on the lookout for my great aunt.

We normally play chess, our very own gummi bears hide and seek, or take turns with my cousin’s game and watch. We used to call my great aunt The Terror. And would tell stories on how we outsmarted her.

But looking back, we all knew deep in our hearts that she just didn’t want for us to be hurt while there’s no adult to oversee us. We were just kids who couldn’t contain our love for games.

I can appreciate her more now. She’s already in her senior years. And she smiles and laughs a lot more now than when she was still younger looking for so many precocious kids, me included. She’s no longer The Terror. But the mild-mannered old lady who now has a ready smile for the kids who had grown up already.

posted in Woman of Substance at 6:49 am 0 Comment

When I saw John and Elizabeth Edwards on Oprah before, I was charmed by the couple. I felt as if they represented the all-American family. John was so charming and sweet in that Oprah episode and I was so touched by the love that he’s shown his sick wife. I cried when they reminisced what happened to their son who died. And then the rumors about John having a mistress surfaced…

I don’t know how he was able to stomach cheating on his sick wife. It was a monstrous thing to do! Luckily, he was exposed for who he was. He deserves the flack he got and still gets for hurting his wife when he knows that she’s now on a short lease in life.

I applaud Elizabeth for standing proud amidst the scandal surrounding her husband. I do pray that her life be extended and that she be given more strength and courage. And that somehow she find happiness in her remaining time here on earth.

posted in Woman of Substance at 5:46 pm 0 Comment
Tagged: Elizabeth Edwards, John Edwards

In times of personal crisis, we all go back to our roots. Have you noticed that? Somehow, we always find ourselves on the way home. Home can be anywhere for you and me. It can be your parents’ house. It could be your province where most of your family members are. It could be your own house somewhere. Anywhere still home.

She will surely go back home when she confirms it. I just know she will. Because she was already talking about not getting a nanny but would want her kid to grow up with her grandma. Her mom. And I am happy for her. The child may be the bridge that both are waiting to tighten the gap between them.

posted in Woman of Substance at 11:41 pm 0 Comment

Friends enter your life for a reason or for a season. I know that this woman entered my life for a reason. I am basically a lazy person. I do what I want to do, WHEN I want to do it. I’m afraid I need a constant reminder that I need to step up and be more than what I am right now. This woman is here in my life right now because I need that reminder. And she is the best reminder He can give me to jolt me into action.

I salute this person for being a good example work-wise! I will try to keep up

posted in Woman of Substance at 12:53 pm 0 Comment

Her name is Amie. She’s an only child and her parents are both abroad, traveling extensively. She’s left at the care of a trusted nanny. She grew up thinking her parents have more important things to take care of and cannot be bothered with her. But she is not bitter about it, just resigned to the fact that she’ll be all alone, without a family. She just couldn’t understand why even cousins, aunts and uncles, and her grandparents won’t even visit her. She just consoles herself with the fact that she’s free to do whatever she wants to and she has money, because that’s one thing her parents do not forget to give her.

She had her bout of rebellion. No, she didn’t take drugs, was never an alcoholic though she learned how to drink when she turned 16… but she goes in and out of relationships like she’s just discarding old clothes. She’s never contented. Until she met Norman.

Norman is a very protective guy. He grew up with the knowledge that he is the protector, being the eldest and his dad already gone. He knew Amie because they both have the same set of friends but that’s it. He also knew that she had a huge crush on him, ending on them having that one night stand that both tried so hard to forget but couldn’t.

Three years after that eventful night, they got stuck in a downpour. Amie’s tipsy already, being her birthday and all. Norman was quite angry because his friends left him behind, his car was at the repair shop. He saw Amie getting in her car. He went to her and asked for a ride home. Amie was shocked because Norman was ignoring him ever since that night. Norman was also shocked to find himself alone with her for the first time since that night.

Want to know what happened?

posted in Girl talk, Woman of Substance at 8:18 pm 7 Comments

There is something about the smell of freshly brewed coffee. It reminds me of the time when I was young and all I had to worry about was waking up on time so I would not miss the school service. I remember my grandaunt, we call her Tita Luming. When my brother was sick and was always in and out of the hospital, my parents would sleep there. My siblings and I were left in the house with our Tita Luming. You know how kids are, when you wake them in the morning, no matter how long they have been sleeping, chances are they will continue sleeping or complain loudly about being woken up. That was how we were kids. We were just blessed that our Tita Luming was and still is a patient woman. She really made sure we all went to school bathed and well-fed.

I wish all kids who have busy parents (or like mine who were occupied with taking care of a very sick son) have someone like our Tita Luming who’s patient enough and loving enough to take care of the 5 of us.

posted in Reminder of the Past, Woman of Substance at 4:13 pm 2 Comments

I love my mom. She was not the perfect mom, not even close to the average mom. She had so many flaws that at times, I was even more of a mom than her. But I would never had her any other way.

She was an only child, an unwanted at that. She had a hard time making friends because at the back of her mind, she kept thinking people would know about her parents, separated, never speaking to each other. And since her parents didn’t want her, what more other people?

She married my dad not only because she fell in love with him, but also to escape home. My grandma saw her ex-husband in my mom and the latter was an easy target. She was verbally crucified for her dad’s mistakes.

You know what we (me and my siblings) did to when we were told about all these? We loved her and gave her everything she wished for. When she died a few years ago, she told my aunt (my dad’s sister) that even if her parents didn’t love her, her children did. To this day, when I am reminded of that, I still cry.

I love you, mom, and I will always do. Wherever you are right now.

posted in Woman of Substance at 2:35 pm 5 Comments

She was named Windy May by her parents because she was born on a windy day in May. She is a woman who embodies the word resourcefulness. She was born from poor parents and yet, she did her best to send herself to school. When she graduated, she sent her remaining siblings to college.

She is always there for her family. She hurdled so many obstacles in life. Climbed that steep mountain to surpass all the challenges hurled at her.

If there is one woman that I admire the most, it is her. Windy May.

posted in Woman of Substance at 10:51 pm 0 Comment