"In fact, I often lift my thoughts and heart up there especially in troubled times, and they are plenty," she laughs. Madalas din naman akong nagpapasalamat sa Kanya for the blessings I receive. Marami din ’yon."
She may not be a devout Catholic in the sense that she would attend Mass daily and make novenas; definitely she’s not the ritualistic church follower and devotee, but the basic duties of a Catholic faithful she tries to do most of the time. She also feels a strong connection with God, her relationship with Him being "personal," as she describes. Having studied at the St. Mary’s College in grade school, at the St. Paul’s College in high school, and at the Centro Escolar University in college, where she took Dentistry, religion has been a dominant presence in her life.
"You can even say that I am a Marian devotee. I believe that Mama Mary is the greatest Intercessor, so I often run to her for help to clear up my beclouded mind." Therefore, Mama Mary as the Mother of Perpetual Help, the Immaculate Heart, Our Lady of the Holy Rosary and the Lady of Manaoag are her favorite images of her prime Intercessor.
"There was a time in my youth when I would literally run to Mama Mary in church. Nagsusumbong. Naghihinga ng sama ng loob. Nagrireklamo." That was when there existed a big gap and constant argumentation between her and her mother. "Si Mama Mary talaga ang nanay ko, feeling ko. At least with her, I could open up my heart, my secret of secrets without her chiding me back. She would simply listen and understand," she chuckles.
In hindsight, she recalls that that was the time when the daughter (she) was rebelling against a dominant, strong-willed mother, who had definite ideas about how to raise her brood single-handedly, run her family and household. "E ako naman noon, I was growing up, trying to be assertive. I was forming my own personality. Trying to be my own person."
She is now amused as she realizes that she ended up being as strong-willed as her mother. These days, she understands her mother more, now that she is herself a mother.
"Mothers always like to take charge, hoping to guide and protect her children from pain and harm. Maybe that was my own Mom’s perspective then, something that I resented and rebelled against," she reflects.
Curiously, in her current film, Birhen ng Manaoag, which is produced and directed by the come-backing Ben "M7" Yalung, she plays a mother at constant loggerheads with her teenage daughter who gets pregnant. So somehow, she could identify with how her character in the movie feels.
"Now I know how it feels to be protective of and solicitous over a loved one and yet be misunderstood," she laughs, a little misty-eyed though this time.
The mother figure is dominant in Cherry Pie’s consciousness, more than she cares to admit. One indication is how she regards her "Tita Glo."
Gloria Romero, Philippine movie queen of the ’50s and the local cinema’s iconic representation of the Virgin Mother during that period (mainly through her crystal clear image and her role as the Virgin Mother in the Opera House Lenten stage play, Ang Martir sa Golgota), remains her favorite film personality. Their bonding has gone beyond the professional. It is personal. Cherry Pie would not hesitate to run to her Tita Glo and cry over her shoulders in troubled times.
"These troubled times keep hounding me, ha!" she mischievously winks, but unsuccessfully tries to hide the sadness in her face.
"I regard the grand lady of Philippine cinema with much awe, respect and affection." Luckily when another storm came into her life recently, Cherry Pie was doing Ang Bahay ni Lola 2 with her Tita Glo. Again, she had someone to run to.
"You see, my Mama Mary has never really deserted me. She comes in various disguises to help me," she ended.