Paolo Roxas (left) with his dad Mar RoxasPhotos courtesy of Rogelio Medina
Paolo Roxas (left) with his dad Mar Roxas – Photos courtesy of Rogelio Medina
I REMEMBER when I reported for work as a writer at the Department of Trade and Industry’s Press and Information Office in Makati City, I rushed to the elevator and I saw then-DTI Secretary Mar Roxas, my boss, with his son Paolo (who finished an economics degree from Yale University), a handsome teenager at that time.
Mar and Korina Sanchez were not yet sweethearts. Korina was working for ABS-CBN as a broadcaster.
Paolo recently celebrated his birthday and he is helping his constituents in Capiz. One time, I saw him in a video with his cute young brother and sister Pepe and Pilar (children of Mar and Korina).
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At young age, Mikee Cojuangco, daughter of Peping and Ting-Ting Cojuangco, was already aware of what was happening in the Philippines: “I just came from a family reunion on August 21, 1983, the death anniversary of my grandfather. Others fetched Uncle Ninoy (Aquino) at the airport.”
She continued: “We, the younger ones, were left in Dasmarinas Village, Makati. When my cousin’s mother went home, my cousin asked the whereabouts of Uncle Ninoy. Then her mom said, ‘He was assassinated!’ We were shocked. We couldn’t do anything but listen to the news on Radio Veritas.”
For Mikee, it was different for a nine-year-old concerned about the welfare of the country and current events.
She also remembered that two years before her uncle’s assassination at the tarmac, they visited her Uncle Ninoy in Boston, Massachusetts: “I was only seven years old… Uncle Ninoy was serious to me. He didn’t treat me like a child. Whatever he thought about politics, he discussed it directly whether I understood what he said or not. I really value the fact that he treated me like an adult. We were really taken good care of. He had plenty of ideas. He was so deep. I was so inspired.”
She said, “We should not forget the Filipino people who displayed the moral courage to do what they thought as right regardless of the consequences, especially when the going was rough, for the sake of freedom and democracy.”
She is now a Filipino sports official, equestrienne, model and former actress/TV host. She brought home the gold at the 2002 Asian Games in Busan, South Korea.
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Liberty Insurance Corp. president and CEO Josefina M. Salvador, a CPA, says: “Everything that I do I need to write down and polish it, to know what I am supposed to do within the day and when to finish it, so that becomes my guide. In that manner I know it is a stressful environment because of the attitude that I’ve acquired. I know what to do and the direction to take. But there are occasions we cannot avoid it, there are deviations from the normal things that we do.” Because of the working attitude she has acquired, she is adaptable to the stressful environment beyond one’s control. Since she is a CPA, the correlation of numbers is meaningful to her for numbers would her tell if something is right or wrong.
Sundays for Jo is exclusively for family matters. She sees to it that she does not bring her work problems at home. She does domestic work, cooks, washes clothes and attends to her kids’ basic needs. She and her family go to church together and visit her parents’ house which is a few meters away from their own home. When her kids were still young, she remembers she personally taught them and had to take a leave of absence to prepare them for their exams in school. Now all her kids are successful professionals in their own fields.
As to her personal philosophy in life, she says she is a simple person who sees to it that she musters all her efforts to help our less fortunate brethren in the best, small way she can as she prays and gives her trust to the Lord for everything, she believes, has a purpose. By praying and asking guidance from the Lord is how she manages Liberty Insurance Corporation, a non-life insurance entity that adheres toward leadership, integrity and commitment.
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Former broadcast journalist and war correspondent Ignacio “Toting” Bunye is my uncle (my paternal grandfather belongs to the Bunye clan). I met him again during the recent arts exhibit of his visual artist son-in-law, Atty. Jose Ferdinand Rojas II, a former general manager of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office, who is the husband of Atty. Trisha Bunye.
He served as congressman and mayor of Muntinlupa. He also became press secretary and Monetary Board member of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.
His mother is a pre-war movie actress with the screen name Gloria Imperial whose younger sister Mila del Sol was also a movie darling of her time.
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Actress-singer Beverly Salviejo is an Aliw Awards Hall of Fame awardee. She appeared in the sitcom “Urbana at Feliza” (which starred Mitch Valdez and Nanette Inventor) as Lou Veloso’s maid. Since then, she had been invited in some TV shows and movies. She was interviewed by GMA-7’s Jessica Soho.
I saw her in many TV series like Forevermore, Imortal, Toda Max, Pintada, Princess and I, My Little Juan, Got to Believe, FPJ’s Ang Probinsiyano, Pusong Ligaw, and Daig Kayo ng Lola Ko. I recently watched her in GMA7’s Wish Ko Lang where she won a recognition for her acting ability. She also won in the 7th Asia Pacific Luminare Awards where the three of us (Elizabeth Oropesa, Beverly and me) won recognitions.
I first met Beverly in Tahan-Tahanan (a haven for kids with cancer) in East Avenue Medical Center in Quezon City where we both volunteered to entertain the patients.
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One evening at nostalgic sing-along bar Music Box The Library, owned by Jerick Gadeja and Andrew de Real and managed by Arnold Anota, on Quezon City’s Timog Avenue, I joined some members of Vince Tanada’s Philstagers, singer-actress Sarah Liroe Javier and other friends in relaxing after a tireless series of shows of Juan Luna Isang Sarsuela.
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The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by the author do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of Asian Journal, its management, editorial board and staff.
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