Giving up a promising showbiz career and choosing to be a full time wife and mother to four kids has done wonders to Maricel Laxa Pangilinan. She is a picture of happiness and contentment, especially when she talks about her family.
But being wife to Anthony and mother to Ella, Donnie, Benjamin and Hannah are not the only things that keep Maricel busy. She has sidelines, too.
“I conduct seminars for parents and organizations; caregivers on work-life balance and anything that has to do with the home. I have a weekly column in the Philippine Star. I’m coming out with a new regular show on the Lifestyle Channel called Mom Works starting on June 18. We just launched this book called The Yaya Handbook. I also did a movie called Litson (under GMA Films) directed by Lorie Reyes. I played the mother of Paolo (Contis) and among my other co-stars were Karylle and Michael de Mesa. But those are all sidelines, this is my full time job – my kids and my husband,” she said with a smile.
Maricel’s exposure to her husband Anthony’s work paved the way for her to conduct trainings for parents. Anthony is into corporate trainings and is the president and chief-trainer of Business Works. He has been conducting human resource trainings for different companies in the country for more than 25 years already.
“When we got married, I retired from show business and I decided to tag along with him during seminars. And as I would listen to his seminar, I would learn a lot of things and apply it at home. A lot of things that I’ve learned in the home, I’ve learned through attending his seminars because they really work at home,” she said.
When Anthony found out that what he teaches during corporate trainings have helped his wife run the household, he then asked Maricel to talk about her experiences whenever he conducts trainings. Soon after, Maricel was already making Powerpoint presentations about these experiences and became a regular speaker during corporate trainings.
“It was then that we mounted our parenting convention. Tapos now he sends me to conduct seminars in companies. We then formed the parenting company,” Maricel shares.
The Parenting Company caters to all family-related seminars, while Business Works takes care of corporate trainings.
The Yaya Handbook
Among the many seminars conducted by the Parenting Company is a seminar for house helpers or yayas. The company has been offering this particular seminar in the last 10 years already. Maricel and the sisters of Anthony, however, decided to compile the topics of the seminar into a book so that parents won’t have to send their yayas to attend the seminars.
“In case magpalit sila ng yaya, nandun pa rin ang manual. Dati kasi pag nag-attend sila, natatakot sila baka umalis ang yaya. Pag-umalis ang yaya, sayang ang investment,” she said, adding that the book, launched just recently, comes with an employer’s guide, the yaya manual, and CDs to accompany the manual.
Maricel said it is very important to train yayas so that employers can help improve their lives.
“My yayas are part of our family. I officially have two yayas. My yayas have benefits. We help them improve their lives so that they could be proud of the work that they are doing. And because they help us enrich our lives, we want to enrich their lives, too. My yayas are gems,” she said.
She, however, jokingly added that she is the official yaya of the Pangilinan home and her husband, the official yayo.
A Model Family
Considered to be one of the model families in the country, Maricel said the tag comes with pressure.
“It is a privilege but at the same time a pressure for us because we’re normal people. We’re a normal family. We’re not perfect. When people try to look at you in a certain way, parang you don’t want to disappoint them. We can’t be unreal, we have to be ourselves. We try as much as possible to just be true to who we are in front and behind the camera. We’re not different. We do love each other. We just try to make a difference where we can make a difference,” she explained.
And how normal the Pangilian family is! The Pangilinan children, despite having celebrity parents and being celebrities themselves, also do household chores just like normal children do.
Maricel said that Ella, Donnie, Benjamin and Hannah have particular chores that they have drafted and agreed upon.
But one thing that Maricel and Anthony cannot stop their children from doing is joining showbiz. She said show business is already a part of who they are so children are given the chance to enjoy being in commercials and doing TV guestings as long as these don’t interfere with their studies.
But despite having their share of the limelight, her children, Maricel shared, are still very much like normal children. They are even treated like normal children in school.
“They are not aware how showbiz they are because we hardly watch TV. Where we go, we’re the same normal people. It’s not like it’s a big deal,” she said.
Homemaking as a career
A lot of people felt sorry when Maricel gave up her career in showbiz. But just when she retired from the glitz and glamour of the entertainment industry, she began getting commercials. Most, if not all, of the products she was asked to endorse have something to do with her being a mother. This, Maricel said, is a confirmation that she was doing the right thing – taking care of her family.
“I was not giving up a career, now I’m getting a new career which is homemaking. Homemaking is a wonderful career but not so many people see it that way. I just love my work because I get to stay home,” she said.
Maricel, who considers her home her laboratory, said she is able to speak about being a good homemaker because she practices what she preaches in her own home.
“I cannot write my articles if I don’t stay home because I don’t know what the kids are thinking or what the mothers need to know. I cannot write my books because my books are all about them. I cannot conduct seminars because I wouldn’t know what to talk about. And I cannot endorse family products because I don’t know what products they are. I endorse these products because I use them and they work for my family,” she added.
A wife, a mother, a trainer, a writer, an actress, a commercial endorser – this is what Maricel Laxa Pangilinan has become. She gave up a showbiz career to become so much more. (With Jen F .Vega)