S Magazine: Blog StarShowbiz Stars and Scoops

by Princess Violago

When I was born, the nurses in the hospital called me Princess because they saw me being treated like one by my parents. Thus, this was the reason too, why my parents named me Princess.

True to what they named me, I have really lived life like a real princess. I had the most expensive bags and watches at the age of seven. Cartier, Bulgari, Rolex, Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Versace were all familiar names to me. I was riding a limousine, Bentley, Jaguar, Porsche and Range Rovers, with guards and nannies at my beck and call. My nanny even had her own credit card to shop for me. I had everything a girl could ever wish for. It was like my birthday everyday!

Before, my parents were very strict in giving material things to my brother and sisters. But when my elder sister Corrina passed away, everything changed. My parents used to say that they had the loneliest Christmas after Ate Corrina’s passing. I was not born then, so I wouldn’t really know what life must have been like for them.

My parents realized that life is too short and they should give their children the best things in life. They also learned how to make the most out of life. This was how my siblings and I were given the “royal treatment” by my parents.

For most of my life, I had many realizations. But I would never ever forget the first. Truth be told, I only realized how hard life is when I had the opportunity to enter the very complicated but I guess very lovely world of show business. I got to meet people who really had to work hard for the things they needed that I never really gave importance to. Some of them have to support their families with housing, cars, etc. That was when I realized that I was so much blessed and very lucky to have parents who love and support me in everything that I love doing.  So what more can I ask for, right?  I’ve had it all. You name it.

Perhaps the life-changing moment that happened for me was when our country was struck by the devastating typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng last year. That was when I really felt the blessings that God has continuously been giving me, seeing people lose their loved ones, homes, clothing, money and food.  My heart felt very broken seeing those people who lost so much, especially those less fortunate people who have to start all over again.

Last October, I decided to celebrate my birthday with the typhoon victims, raising funds for weeks before the occasion.  My cousin, Rep. Joseph Violago, whose brothers, sisters and parents own several rice mills in our province of Nueva Ecija gave me a truckload of rice, while an aunt, who would like to remain anonymous, donated P100,000.

Upon learning that I was organizing a relief operation, Tita Melly Ablaza of Ablaza Pawnshop, Tita Fe Rodriguez of Burger Machine, Allan Tengco of Baliwag Trans, Tito Allan Lee, Tet Rodriguez, Tita Katherine Kan of Dream Bodies Spa, Janis Ian of Mega and Tito Bobby Nasal of Ysabella all pledged their support right away. They all made my birthday more meaningful. I can say that it was one of the best birthdays I ever had.

Read the rest of this entry »

by Karylle

Art connoisseur, I am… not.

In fact, the only reason why I know the word “connoisseur” is because I would misspell it all the time on my spelling tablet back in high school.  I’d love to write something about the lights and shadows of the painting, its mood, the era it’s from but a sophisticated eye for art is not something I possess. I’ve been to the Louvre in Paris, I’ve seen the Mona Lisa (La Gioconda) by Leonardo da Vinci, I’ve got the Pop Art Andy Warhol Tomato Soup can in my bedroom but that’s as far as my “name-dropping” can go.  So, I’d like to talk about the art that I’ve encountered in the past few months now that I’ve gone beyond my beautiful doodles of stick figures, hearts, dots and stars as well as my erasable Microsoft Paint colored shapes which could rival the MMDA art that fill our streets.

My Internet addiction has gotten me bombarded with photos on Facebook and Multiply.  Images upon images of everyday life… it makes me thirst for something more. Something more than what’s real: blurry photos that are not well lit, inanimate objects like food from various restaurants, people taking photos of themselves which they’ve perfected by stretching out the hand on the side of their face that they think is their best angle wearing an overly practiced smile, and faces or bodies “photoshopped” beyond recognition.

So here’s the story of my journey as I’ve immersed myself in the art world. I don’t think I did the steps in the right order but that’s the way the story goes.

STEP #1

I test the waters by diving right into the art pool.

Me and my painting that I made during my retreat with Tita Maribi Mapa-Garcia and the Assumption sisters in their beautiful retreat house in Baguio

Around this time last year, I went on a retreat in the Assumption retreat house in Baguio City to heal my broken heart so to speak.  One thing that people don’t really know about is that I painted for the first time while I was there. My retreat master was Tita Maribi Mapa-Garcia (Bethesda Springs of Hope). Tia Maribi—my partner in Centerstage Family KTV on both Jupiter and Tomas Morato as well as Mei Lin, Tomas Morato—is actually a painter. She just had another very successful exhibit at Le Soufflé called 3 is Company together with Father Paul Yntig and Father Armand Tangi, famous painter of The Laughing Christ, Jesus with a cellphone and on a motorcycle, and different images of Jesus in modern times.

I did not make enough paintings for an exhibit, but sitting on a rock on the hill looking at the pines of Baguio city where I had spent summers and Christmas vacations as a kid was my favorite part of the retreat.  Though I had the most colorful, kindergarten-like painting, I am proud of the paint stains on my jogging pants and fingers which made me feel one with the other artists of the world in their studios with their big ‘ol berets. I finally tried something I’ve wanted to do for a long time even if I was so scared of painting something ugly.

STEP #2

Okay, so maybe diving into something isn’t the best first step so, I took it easy by “putting my left foot in” in perfect Hokey Pokey song-and-dance style. Step #2 was to pose as Maria Makiling in the UP Los Baños Botanical garden for various painters and photographers.  I received an invitation from my Tita Angel Tatlonghari in behalf of the UP Alumni Association and the Mt. Makiling Foundation to be a muse! Imagine that.  Any fears of posing nude were squashed when I found out that Bill Gustilo would be making my baro with tulip sleeves made of the local fabric sinamay combined with chiffon. Of course, I gladly posed as Maria whom I’ve always watched in awe as a child every time I would visit my Lola in Laguna while she slept soundly on the mountain named after her.

I thought that wading in the art pool would be cool and refreshing, I didn’t realize that I had to pose all day from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Okay, it wasn’t so bad because I had short breaks in between insect bites and posing without batting an eyelash. I think I got gently scolded a dozen times for shifting my eyes which was not allowed.  It was difficult to focus my eyes on one spot while the onlookers were waving their hands in abandon causing me to be cross-eyed.  And of course there were the memorable kamote chips they served during lunch break which canceled out the difficulty of keeping still for half a day.

Bugs and eye problems aside, it was fun and a big honor to reprise my role as Maria Makiling, a diwata who is a fellow native of Laguna.  It’s a memorable character for me because it was actually my first-ever acting role for Senator Bong Revilla’s movie Agimat: Anting-Anting ni Lolo. Among the artists who shared the cause of preserving Mt. Makiling’s beauty that day were Cheloy Dans, Jess Abrera, Angel Cacnio, Cris Cruz, Dominic Rubio, Tessie Duldulao, Fred Liongoren, Jonah Salvosa, Adi Baens Santos, Boy Valino, Mar Bongalon, Gig de Pio, Ding Hidalgo, Romy Mananquil, Pit Santiago and Janice Young. The event was also graced by Batangas Governor Vilma Santos-Recto and singer Dulce.

Read the full blog of Karylle in the November 2009 issue of S Magazine.

by Ogie Alcasid

I’m into music and showbiz because of my sheer desire to create. I don’t think of myself as a genius. I love to compose, perform and act.  I have been in entertainment for over 20 years.

Whatever I do—whether songwriting, performing on TV, acting in films or others—those are all creative works. I believe that as an artist, one shouldn’t limit oneself to being a singer, or a songwriter or as an actor, or as comedian. I prefer to be versatile.

When I was still very young, around seven years old, I used to copy the way Rico J. Puno performed on TV. I also started writing songs when I was seven years old, just some silly childish songs.  Even though those were quite simple songs, they already had structure and melody. I believe songwriting is a gift from God. I love doing it.

Through the years, I have already written more than 300 songs. My idols in songwriting include Rey Valera, George Canseco, Basil Valdez and, of course, Rico J. Puno. Among the musical greats abroad, I really look up to and admire the songs of Barry Manilow, also of Billy Joel, the late Michael Jackson, Prince. Among musical groups, I admire Chicago and Earth Wind & Fire.

My dream is to someday work on a musical. Actually, I’ve been offered to do a musical before based on the various songs that I’ve written. If ever I’d be able to finally sit down to create it, it would of course be a love story; that’s what I like and I believe that’s also what everybody would like.

Love stories are ideal subjects or themes for songs or musicals. Whether happy or sad, love and music seem to symbiotically contribute to each other and help each other. Whenever one writes music, it’s almost always out of love—love of God, love for others, love of nature.

Based on my personal experiences, I believe the basic root and the best inspiration for writing of music is love. When one is in love or when one is problematic because of love, those are the best times in a person’s life to compose and write music. Why? Because the music wouldn’t be fake. It’s not hard to write when inspired by love. It’s not something you just invent or imagine—it’s real, it’s overwhelming, it’s overpowering and true.

Of all my songs, my top favorites are Kailangan Kita, Huwag Ka Lang Mawawala, Kung Mawawala Ka and Bakit Ngayon Ka Lang.

If my life were a song, it would be My Way which was popularized and immortalized by the great Frank Sinatra. I think it’s the everyman’s song too. That song is melancholic, yet at the same time it’s also triumphant. A man in his life will always experience tumultuous ups and downs, and in times of troubles, just believe in yourself and do your best. It’s a great song by Paul Anka, and sang so well by Frank Sinatra.

As a singer, songwriter and music lover, I also admire my fellow musical artists in the Philippine entertainment industry. I look up to Lea Salonga who is a perfectionist; Gary Valenciano who has great groove and is very soulful; Martin Nievera whom I consider as the ultimate balladeer; Jaya, the Soul Queen; Janno Gibbs, the Soul King; and of course, there is Mr. Rico J. Puno, my childhood idol.

Rico J is Mr. Entertainment himself personified and he has—up to this very day—the best-sounding voice ever. I wish to add that in my book, the No. 1 in music artistry in the Philippines is none other than Regine Velasquez. She is remarkably capable of singing anything. It’s a rare gift.

Read more of Ogie Alcasid’s blog entry in the August 2009 issue of S Magazine.

by Joey de Leon

As told to the S EDITORIAL TEAM

Hindi namin inakala na tatagal ng 30 years ang Eat…Bulaga! Sabi ni Vic noon, “Okay na, makabili lang ako ng kotse, ayos na ‘to. Hindi naman natin tatalunin ‘yang Student Canteen eh.” Kasi galing kami do’n. “Sige, kahit ano. Raket lang ‘to, wala tayong ginagawa eh.” Naka-istambay kami. Natuloy-tuloy eh.

Alam mo kung sumuko sila Tony Tuviera (executive producer) after one and a half years, wala na. Hindi namin matalo-talo ang Student Canteen. Hindi kami sumusuweldo for one year. Kaya du’n mo naman nasubukan ‘yung barkadahan. “Sige lang, it’s not for the money.”

Until ano eh, may contest kami, Maid in the Philippines ‘ata. Doon namin nalaman na masa ang lunch. Sumikat tapos sinabayan namin ng macho dancing. (laughs) Wala pa si Hayden, 1979. Macho dancing, ‘yung mga galaw sa gay bar. Pumalo! Nilagpasan namin ‘yung Student Canteen. Nu’ng nilagpas na ‘yon, sinundan namin ng mga Xanadu, mga ganyan… Kasi ‘yun ang hindi ginagawa sa Student Canteen kasi singing contest sila. Kunwari, Tony Bennett of the Philippines. Kami kasi, well, sumabay kasi ‘yung Regal Films. Nag-uumpisa si Mother (Lily Monteverde) eh. Mga promotion ng movies, acting contests… Nu’ng lagpas naming ‘yon, hindi na lumingon ‘yon. Tuloy-tuloy na after one and a half years.

Siguro sa unang tingin, ang Student Canteen, formal eh. English show siya. Siguro magandang alternative kami dahil mga naka-mahabang buhok, mga naka-T-shirt. Ang salita, salitang kanto.

‘Yung title na Eat…Bulaga! ako ang nag-isip no’n. Hiningan kami ng titles eh. Iba-iba, kung anu-ano ‘yung titles. Student Canteen kasi ‘yung kalaban, galing din kami do’n. So ang ideya ko talaga kung gagaya ka, ang title mo, parang Student Body… Hindi ko pinansin yung “student” dahil magmumukhang gaya. Naglaro ako dun sa “canteen,” dun sa “eat.” Kaya nga surprise at lunch eh, Eat…Bulaga! Kaya naging Taglish ‘yon. Baduy na baduy ‘yung idea ko eh, sabi ko, “Kailangan ma-ano natin ‘yung A, B, C, D, E. Kailangan English at Tagalog.” Dumating na lang ‘yung Eat Bulaga eh. Naghanap ako ng isang bagay, ng isang linya na hindi maluluma. Kaya nga hangga’t may bata, may Eat Bulaga.

Noong una, hirap na hirap eh, ayaw kumabit eh. Pero ‘yun na ‘yung pinili ni Tuviera at saka nu’ng lupon. ‘Yung panel ‘yun ang pinili nila. “Sige, ‘yan na.”

Noong una, parang hindi nila type. Kumabit eh, habang tumagal.

Lumipat kami from Channel 9 to ABS dahil nagbabangon eh. Hiningi nila ang tulong namin nung ’86 eh. Dati nga naaalala ko ang mga executives no’n, naka-polo lang eh, lumalapit kay Mother Lily humihingi ng tulong sa artista. Nu’ng sumikat sila, “Oops, amin na. We take over.” Eh siyempre, pinapili kami eh. Kay Tuviera kami sumama, so pare-pareho kaming walang trabaho. In-offer niya sa Siyete or nag-offer ang Siyete, hindi ko alam whichever. So nalipat kami ng 7.

Ako nga lang ang nangangarap. ‘Yung iba naninigurado, 2 or 7 ngayon, kahit saan di ba? Ako hindi, nu’ng naka-tatlo na kami from Channel 9 to Channel 2 to Channel 7, sabi ko “Ano, pag tapos na ‘yung kontrata sa 7, lipat naman tayo sa Singko.” (laughs) Sa akin, totoo ‘yun. Kasi ang akin, history ang iniisip ko eh. Kung sakali, kami lang ang TV show na naka-apat na network na tuloy-tuloy.

Sa competition naman, ang masasabi ko, two can survive. Ang joke diyan sa 2 eh, kahit anong gawin n’yo, 2 lang kayo. Totoo naman eh, kami 7. Pero love ko ‘yon, ABS. Tingnan mo nakatago ‘yung bato sa akin, diyan ako galing eh. Kaya pag may inaaway ako do’n at bumabalik sa akin, “Oops, mamasyal ka muna diyan. Andiyan ang pangalan ko sa pader.”

Pinag-uusapan nga namin na nag-evolve na ang noontime show. Dati toyo lang ang premyo. At saka pati artista ang bigay lang mga supot ng mga kung anu-ano. Eh ngayon nagpe-premyo ka na ng 1 million, 2 million. Nag-iba na eh. Kaya ang tao, na-e-entertain na, kumikita pa. Nagbago eh.

Read more of Joey de Leon’s story in the July 2009 issue of S Magazine.

by Martin Nievera

I am disappointed and sad that an extremely high moment in my life has been taken to an all-time low. Also, it’s sad how the people making such a big fuss about all this has made us focus on finding defeat in victory.

I was very surprised about the controversy that my singing has caused. Until now, I’m in shock. I think we are wasting time on this when we have more important world-changing issues to address. All I did was to sing the anthem from the deepest part of my heart as best as I could. I see nothing wrong with that.

I had no intention to perform the song to please or impress anyone. I was honored to have been chosen to sing that song by Manny Pacquiao himself. No middle man offered me or manager or recording company. It was my honor to accept this responsibility. So I wanted to make it great—not just okay lang, but great.

In my mind and heart was a proud Filipino. I wanted to be the smallest thing in that event so I could make the anthem the biggest. The moment was never about me. These lawmakers should never have made it all about me because it should only be about the champion in each Filipino as represented by Manny Pacquiao!

Do I regret going there? Absolutely not! I would do it again if asked to. The thrill and the pride I felt singing our national anthem while flags were waving and people cheering and Manny smiling was worth every drop of blood, sweat and tears. It was the ultimate honor!

Mr. C (Ryan Cayabyab) didn’t warn me about singing my version of the anthem—he advised me. Mr. C felt very strongly against my changing any part of the anthem. He said I could end it high the way I did, but not change anything else because I would get criticized.

But after we both agreed that no matter how I sang it, I would be criticized anyway, he gave me his blessings to sing the anthem the way I planned to for as long as I sang it from the heart. That is exactly what I did. I did not arrange the song in a way that I would shine or benefit for my career. I even had them take out “The Concert King of the Philippines” from my name in the introduction.

I arranged my delivery of the song in a way that my Philippines would shine. Not for career or money, but for pure Filipino pride.

Mr. C is the most admired and respected man in the business. I am so embarrassed that he had to be put in the middle of this controversy. It has gotten so out of hand that even Mr. C himself had to explain in the Inquirer (in an article written on May 10, 2009) that I had his blessings and the consequences for my actions I face alone. The only thing that boggles my mind is this nagging question: If the NHI plans on using Mr. C against me, then how come Mr. C never even mentioned the NHI to me? All he or anyone had to say was, “You can’t change a thing because it’s against the law.” I think that would have made a huge difference in all of this.

Read more of Martin Nievera’s blog entry about the controversy surrounding him in the June 2009 issue of S Magazine.

by Charice Pempengco

Charice describes her mother Raquel as a superwoman for raising her and her brother Carl (left) by herself

It’s exciting to be in the world of entertainment because I love singing. Even though some people think that I have already become a star, I am and will always be a fan and admirer of inspiring and truly talented singers and entertainers here in the Philippines and abroad.

We Filipinos are natural singers and musicians. I believe the Philippines is really a land of good musicians. Ordinary people here love to sing, especially on the videoke. Another country I’ve been to which I admire for good music is Italy. I can’t forget when I guested on the TV show of Oprah Winfrey, she remarked to me: “Little girl with the big voice.” But if you go to Italy, that’s one place where you can finds lots of small people with big voices.

Of all the singers in the whole world, my No. 1 idol is Celine Dion mainly because of her attitude and for what she has achieved. Despite being an international superstar, she was very motherly towards me; she treated me like a daughter. She even gave me her cell phone number. (The Canadian singer invited Charice to sing Celine’s international hit, Because You Loved Me, with her during her concert at the Madison Square Garden last year. Ed.)

The other international singing sensation whom I sincerely adore is Whitney Houston, not only because of her tremendous talent, but also because I sang her popular song, I Will Always Love You, in amateur contests—and won many times.

Among our Philippine singing stars, I admire Sarah Geronimo whom I call “Ate Sarah.” She is such a good person. Whenever we would meet, she’s the one who would go out of her way to greet me, so I’m very honored. Whenever Ate Sarah sings, you can really feel the emotions of her song. I love listening to her extraordinary singing voice. She is just so talented. I am grateful for and will never forget Ate Sarah’s advice to me: Huwag daw lumaki ang ulo ko, to always be humble.

The other local singing diva whom I admire a lot is Regine Velasquez. She’s already a legend and everybody idolizes her including my mother Raquel “Kaye” Relucio Pempengco. My mommy has bought almost all of Ate Regine’s CDs and tapes and watched her videos. She’s a sweet person. Not many people know that she’s actually a shy person. Her voice is so powerful—sweet but powerful. Before our trip to Los Angeles last February, Ate Regine invited me to dinner at her home and cooked carbonara for us. She’s an amazingly good cook, too!

Ate Regine’s advice is for me to stay on in the United States, because she said that’s where the big opportunities are for singing. However, at the moment, I have no plans to migrate to the US. I just travel back and forth because I’m not yet sure what the future of my career will be there, and I really love being here in the Philippines.

Read more of Charice Pempengco’s blog entry in the May 2009 issue of S Magazine.

by Cesar Montano

It is not only because Bohol island is my home province that I love it so much. It also just happens to be one of the most beautiful places on earth. Although I was born in Santa Ana, Manila City (August 1, 1962), every vacation of mine has been spent in Bohol since I was six years old. Home is Poblacion Landican in the municipality of Baclayon. It is by the sea. It is timeless in charm and beauty.

My mother Emma de Montano hails from Carles, a town in Iloilo, while my late father Genovevo Q. Manhilot was born and raised in Bohol. They had both migrated from the provinces to Manila.

Among my fondest memories of childhood is taking a bath in the baluarte, where the local lighthouse is also located, in front of the church of Baclayon. Built in 1595, this is said to be the oldest Catholic church in the Philippines. This church is particularly memorable to me because it was where I had proposed marriage to Sunshine Cruz, my future wife. It was October 1999. I was then filming the movie Muro Ami there. I was the lead actor in that project directed by Marilou Diaz-Abaya.

The word “Baclayon” comes from the Visayan “baclay” which means “to walk”. Because the center of our town then and now has always been the church, people had to walk or to “baclay” to go there. In Spanish colonial times, wherever the church is located, that was the center of town. I was inspired to paint the church of Baclayon and that artwork is now displayed in my Bellissimo Italian Restaurant in Quezon City.

In Baclayon church, an old pipe organ was busted and in bad condition for several decades, as if forgotten by time. The daughter of Makati’s prominent Zobel-Ayala clan—Bea Zobel Jr.—heard about it and sent somebody to Austria to study for six years on how to repair it. In 2008, this guy came back to the Philippines to work on our pipe organ. Because of the Zobels’ generosity, music from the organ fills the church once again. In behalf of all Boholanos, I wish to thank Bea Zobel Jr. and her family for restoring this part of our heritage.

Find out more of Cesar Montano’s love for his hometown in the April 2009 issue of S Magazine.

by Gerard Salonga

When I got the call asking me to write about my love for music, I first thought, “Sure, piece of cake, I’ll have lots to say.” When it came time to sit down and actually write, it turned out to be more difficult than I could have imagined.
How does one describe in plain words one’s love for something like music? After all, music is something that expresses the inexpressible, and to reduce something like my feelings for it into something merely verbal seemed daunting a task. How was I going to do this without it sounding like an autobiography? I wanted it to be honest and candid, but not seem self-congratulatory.

It would have been easier for me to describe my love for my wife, or my mother, or my dog Rocky for that matter… but here we are, so let’s give this a shot, and if anything, it may at least allow me to share with you a little bit of how I feel for this thing we call music. Many a feature article and souvenir programme have described my education and professional experience, so I’ll spare you from all that. Here we go.

How did we meet? I have no recollection of the first contact I ever had with music. For all I know it could have been from inside my mother’s womb as she listened to the radio. I do remember my first listening experiences. It was in our living room, where I would be fed a diet of The Carpenters, James Last, ABBA, Chopin, and Chinese opera. These were on reel-to-reel tapes, which were the thing back in the mid-‘70s (I was born in 1973). I remember my dad teaching me how to turn on the machine and thread the tape so I could listen whenever I wanted.

There I would be, listening for hours to The Sound of Music, or a recording of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5, sitting totally still throughout the whole thing. I was four. My mom thought I had some form of autism, because if the machine weren’t plugged in, I would thread the tape, and turn the reels to the end, singing what was supposed to be on the tape. I actually remember singing Beethoven 5 all the way through while turning the reels. Sometimes it would all be in my head, and I wouldn’t sing anything, which I’m sure was quite alarming to my mom.

One afternoon, there it was. I didn’t see it come through the front door. I walked into the living room and it stood there, a shiny upright piano. My sister Lea began taking lessons on it but I wouldn’t get my hands on it till a year later. I still remember vividly that first lesson. Mrs. Miraflor came over for Lea’s lesson as usual, and after they had finished she called me over and sat me on the bench. She showed me each of the notes in the C major scale. I was in love. On our piano, the G above middle C had a different tone, and from that day it stuck in my head. To this day, G (not A) is my surefire reference pitch.

More of Gerard Salonga’s love for music in the March 2009 issue of S Magazine.

By RICKY LEE

In my thirty-plus years of writing screenplays, I have never lost the desire to go back to what I always wanted to do — write fiction. Every now and then I would threaten to write a novel, but I never got around to doing it. Until last year. That’s why my first novel, Para Kay B (o kung paano dinevastate ng pag-ibig ang 4 out of 5 sa atin), is sort of a homecoming for me.

It is back to writing from your guts — with no worry of producers breathing down your neck, or directors reinterpreting your vision. In fiction, I am utterly, dangerously, solely responsible.

These past three years I hibernated. I still did my work as creative manager for ABS-CBN, handling such teleseryes as Maging Sino Ka Man, Lobo and Kahit Isang Saglit. But during my off hours, I started writing the drafts for three novels simultaneously. I easily get bored so that’s how I usually operate. Even in writing scripts, I would work on two to three at the same time.

The first novel was about four historical periods in our country and how the powers that be always erase history for their own sake. The second was a political satire entitled Aswang. The third was Para Kay B, a collection of five love stories. From 2005 to 2007, I kept shifting back and forth on the three novels; it was only in 2008 that I started to focus mainly on Para Kay B.

As I wrote, I listened. I talked to students, teachers, fellow writers, fathers, mothers, lovers, lesbians, nurses, carpenters. I wanted to write a novel that would sound just like the people around us. I focus-grouped my early drafts with students and young professionals, my target reading market; and then I’d go back to my computer to rewrite. Then listened and focus-grouped some more; and then rewrote again. For the title of the novel, I even surveyed three options among more than a hundred friends and colleagues. I didn’t want to be so arrogant as to think that I knew everything. I wanted to know; I hungered to know. And I tried to put that in writing.

I went through this entire process because I wanted to be read in the MRTs, in jeepneys, in hospitals, in flights going to the US. I wanted to be read by the lolos and the lolas, the ninangs and the ninongs, the kapitbahay, the guy who has not touched a book in his life, the girl who just wants to be loved. I wanted my fiction to be like music — accessible to everybody. People would tell me — nobody reads novels, especially in Filipino, unless assigned in school. I wanted to take up the challenge.

For me, music and writing go together. I can’t live without either one. On my first trip to New York, I spent hours in a record store smelling freshly-minted vinyl records. I did the same thing with the first printed draft of my novel — I  smelt it and knew everything was all right in my world.

Music does that for me. Being a probinsyano at heart, having been born and growing up in Daet, Camarines Norte, I wake up at 5 or 6 a.m. every day. I am most creative in the morning. My daily ritual is to have music from my CD player playing beside me as I type on the computer. Usually it’s rock; the beat pushes me, the energy enlivens me. Music and writing — they always go together for me. But sadly I am not a musician. I am just a writer.

Read more of Ricky Lo’s blog entry in the February 2009 issue of S Magazine.

by Chin Chin Gutierrez

Tragedy can happen to anyone, rich or poor, to a celebrity or a private individual. But grace can happen to anyone too. In what seems to be a test, a trial or a tribulation, one could recognize grace. And this can be done with a deep sense of gratitude.

I learned that we need not suffer anything to distract or draw us away from knowing that each of us is a child of God: a loving being in a loving world. I wouldn’t say this with utmost urgency and importance if it was just simpler said than done. God’s love is the very anchor of grace and gratitude in this journey and one doesn’t need a tragic experience to know the joy that comes with living this truth.

I saw the fire that razed our house two years ago this month as a grace, for beyond what I know and truly accept, life took away what was no longer necessary. And this may perhaps be for the good of all. Yes, this is not just my story and not just about me.

When I was a little girl, my grandmother and I used to spend time putting together those jigsaw puzzles that had a thousand pieces. It was always so difficult to begin with, all those colors and shapes scattered around. Lola Nena would always say, “Be patient, let’s have fun… Start with the corners. Look for all the ones with a flat side so we could create the frame and see the size of the picture of the puzzle.”

But then soon after the frame was done, I’d start getting confused. “That’s why it is called a puzzle”, Lola would chuckle, “but if you look at what colors are similar and find the clues of the guide picture in each perfect piece, that would help you see that no two pieces are alike.”

What she told me made me feel that every piece of the puzzle was so special and perfect, and I valued the joy of finding even just three clusters of pieces to join together for along with a beautiful picture in the making was a beautiful soul sitting right beside me — with whom I would laugh and sing in awe at what we would find next, on whose lap I would lay while she told stories, and through whose eyes I would see the loving gaze of God.

Each of us is a special and perfect piece of this puzzle called life. Life is beautiful. And I’ve learned that we can see how we could all fit together in accordance with the beautiful vision that God has already given to us as we look at this picture through the eyes of God’s love. To see Creation through the heart of our Creator which is love… and compassion.

In this light, I cannot really say I’m going through a recovery stage because I truly recognize that I’m already “covered”. It may seem idealistic or impossible to respond in this way but with what I went through, I could sincerely witness that when we lose everything that we seemingly have become accustomed to having, we realize what life is not about.

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