MONTHS into the quarantine, Angeline Quinto has found herself musing about her journey, going back to how she was when she started in showbiz, and bonding with her Mama Bob, her adoptive mom.
“My goal back then was simple: I just wanted to have a regular job, so I could help Mama Bob and provide for her when she’s no longer able to work. I didn’t really see myself singing on television,” the 2011 “Star Power” winner said in a recent Inquirer interview. “I was OK entering contests; I would have been content with hotel gigs.”
“So, every time I see what I have now, I find myself wondering, ‘How did I get started. How as I able to have this house built?’ I remember the first time I spent the night here in my dream house. It all comes back to me. And it still feels like a dream,” Quinto added.
She admits to, at one point, becoming fascinated with luxury bags, shoes and clothes. But the pandemic has taught her a lesson: reassessing the things she values in her life.
“Naging maluho din ako, aaminin ko po. And when the lockdown began a couple of months ago, I realized that I couldn’t use any of them. I realized that these expensive things aren’t important; they will not make me genuinely happy,” the singer said.
“I have been in showbiz for quite some time now and I think I ended up adopting how other people [live their lives]. I’m really a simple girl and now I’m going back to how I started,” the 30-year-old entertainment personality explained.
What is priceless for Angeline right now is getting to spend time with her family and loved ones. For her, it’s another chance to bond with her Mama Bob because they had different schedules in the past.
“Before the lockdown, I would usually go to work while she’s still sleeping. And when I return home, she’s already asleep. Now I sleep beside her every day. I have been doing all the chores. We chat more often. And even if she tells me the same stories over and over, I pretend that I am hearing them for the first time,” she revealed.
With the lockdown and with ABS-CBN’s franchise renewal troubles, Angeline has entered the digital world and opened a new chicken delivery business. She feels happy to have started these ventures which she expects will keep her busy.
“I’m said that there’s no ABS-CBN now. I’m not used to not working. In my nine years with the network, I believe this is the longest I have stayed at home. But I’m thankful that there are people who are ready to help me and mentor me as I put [up] my business and online show,” she said.
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Actress Liza Soberano is among many showbiz personalities who are finding other ways to connect with their fans.
She does it via vlogging, which her manager Ogie Diaz prodded her to do to remain visible with her audience.
“During the pandemic, I realized that I couldn’t connect to my supporters anymore because we aren’t seeing each other, I don’t have a project. I want to put an effort for them because they’ve put in so much effort for me. I want to put in more to make them more happy, for entertainment,” Soberano explained in an interview for The Philippine Star.
Aside from providing entertainment for her fans and supporters, vlogging also gives Liza an opportunity to give a platform for her advocacies.
“At first, I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t know what to think of it, but as time when by during quarantine, I realized that there’s more to life. I realized that there are a lot of things I haven’t figured out about myself, of course, and about the things I want to do in the future. And of course, I realized that it’s important to start brand new,” she said, adding that one of her concrete plans is to finish her studies and becoming a counselor in the future.
As she wades more into social media, she thinks people should be more sensitive to other people’s feelings on social platforms, especially since studies have shown that anxiety is on the rise during the pandemic.
“The people around you should also be more sensitive of what to say. Be more conscious of the words to say to other people. We should try to be nicer to everybody especially since we are all going through the same thing,” the other half of the love team “LizQuen” said.
She added: “It’s not good to pick up on other people’s flaws, making fun of people. It’s time for everyone to connect more together in battling the crisis.”
And as she is one of many people in the industry and elsewhere who have lost their jobs during the pandemic, Liza wants to send out a message of hope to people who are in this same situation.
“I just want to let them know that there’s something to be hopeful about. It doesn’t really matter what people say. What matters is what is important for you,” she reflected.
