Her failed relationships, the most recent of which was with a Singaporean, has shown her how carrying on with someone whose character is worlds apart from yours is like climbing Mt. Everest. You can try, but you’re bound to fail. That old monster called culture clash will always get into the picture and ruin everything.
At 26, Donita has come to realize who she is and what she wants from life. "I pray that the right guy comes along, the one God wants for me," she reveals. And this time, there should be no more compromises, the kind that spelled disaster to her past relationships. This time, Donita says, she wants something to last a lifetime.
She’s also now more conscious of her roots.
"I’m proudly Filipino," she proclaims, and proves it by speaking in Panggalatok, her mother’s dialect.
The Filipino in her has made visits to the Philippines a weekly habit. When she faced a group of writers for the presscon of her upcoming movie, Regal Films’ Hesus Rebolusyonaryo, Donita was all set to leave for Singapore, the very next day, Sunday.
Donita flies in Thursdays from Merlion Country and leaves three days after, week in and week out.
It can get mighty lonely in Singapore, where Donita takes the public transport and emerges unscathed (read: no hair-pulling nor pinching from fans). So she gladly takes on acting jobs to fight homesickness.
It’s a totally different story when she goes home to the Philippines. Children – even those from Laguna shanties – are all over Donita, asking her about Britney Spears and ‘N sync (pronounced hesitatingly, with accent to match). This, she found out while shooting Hesus Rebolusyonaryo, where she plays a poor deaf-mute-blind country girl who becomes lead actor Mark Anthony’s conscience.
It broke Donita’s heart to see the children emerging from their floating shanties to shake her hand and ask for autographs.
It pained her even more to see that their improvised comfort rooms are nothing but makeshift holes in small nipa huts.
It was here where Donita spent two days shooting the 14 sequences for her role as Inang Bayan. Save for speaking lines in dream sequences where she appeared before Mark Anthony, Donita let her eyes do the acting for her.
"It was a big challenge," she explains her comeback movie after 1999’s Legacy with David Hasselhoff. "I admire director Lav Diaz, and I wanted to help Mark Anthony in his first solo film," Donita relates.
Another plus was the ease with which she tackled the role. As the deglamorized girl who guides Mark Anthony’s character, Donita says she didn’t have to create an image, or assume airs for the role. Besides, it’s always nice to trade that Armani for a plain duster once in a while.
The role itself was nothing to sneeze at. "It’s symbolic," Donita explains, "of what will happen to our country if 10 years from now we don’t solve our problems."
Since she wants to concentrate on her Philippine career this time, Donita is thankful for her follow-up movie, Nine Mornings, with Piolo Pascual. This time, Donita appears in a film close to her heart, as the plot revolves around the traditional Simbang Gabi.
Donita has always worn her spirituality like a badge of honor. In fact, she toyed with the idea of turning preacher. But she changed her mind after concluding rightly, that she can spread God’s word better if she remains the celebrity that she is.
Thus, an autograph-signing session with Donita sometimes involves a sharing of her faith.
One incident shows how powerful her influence can be in mending broken lives. A magazine photographer’s marriage was on the rocks when he saw Donita and asked her for a date.
"I told him instead to attend church with me, that it’s not what he thinks and it’s actually fun," recalls Donita.
The mesmerized guy did go to church with Donita one Sunday, but not to praise and worship, but to know her more. He never thought those frequent trips to the Victory Christian Church will change him forever. In a tearful testimony, the guy told the story of how he has reconciled with his wife, thanks to the guidance from fellow church members like Donita.
It is such stories of conversion that make Donita rightfully proud. Somebody up there must be doubly proud of her, too.