Strong maternal instincts

(First of two parts)

It’s Mother’s Day this Sunday and this early I would like to send warm hugs and kisses to my showbiz mothers: Ms. Rosa Rosal, Ms. Marichu Maceda, Ms. Gloria Romero, Ms. Caridad Sanchez and, for a while (we completely lost touch), Ms. Celia Rodriguez. That’s my official list of showbiz mothers and I’ve already written reams and reams about how they’ve looked after me (especially Tita Rose and Manay Ichu) after my biological mom migrated to the US many years ago.

In the entertainment profession, however, there are a lot of other female figures who show maternal concern to the weak and the helpless (I’d like to say that’s me, but for sure you won’t believe me) and for those who just need constant mothering – regardless of age.

From my end, I have a list of showbiz people whose strong maternal regard I was fortunate to have felt. One of them is Gina de Venecia and below is my story on how she, too, almost became a second mother to me.

Ever since I can remember, I’ve always loved cracking to showbiz friends (especially to Lolit Solis) this joke about how I’d be inheriting someday the fabled Vera-Perez Gardens in Valencia Street in Quezon City. Oh, that always elicited laughter from people in the business. But I doubt if the real Vera-Perez heirs are amused by it.

The truth is, I’m very close to the Vera-Perezes and they help me with anything I need. Their prized gardener Nestor they let him work for me part-time. When I needed a driver last year, Santi Santos, a really talented interior designer and another Vera-Perez adopted son (he is the fair-haired boy and he gets to live in the Vera-Perez compound) recommended somebody I trust and who still works for me today.

Diet food? There’s this cabbage soup that Manay Ichu sends me and you are supposed to eat that until it starts coming out of your ears (but you lose a pound or so after that).

Marichu Maceda was actually my passport to the Vera-Perez family. Practically just fresh out of school, Nestor Torre recommended me to her to be the media director of the now-defunct Film Academy Classification Board. Taking one good look at me, Manay Ichu immediately sensed that I needed mothering and she instantly became a second mother to me from then on.

I am also comfortable with the other Vera-Perez women. Lilibeth Nakpil is my food directory. And when Chona Ampil got married and was relocating to the US, I bought all her books when she put these on garage sale.

The only Vera-Perez daughter I was unable to bond with was Gina de Venecia because when I welcomed myself to their family, I think she was living in the United States.

In 1993, however, they asked me to do a feature on Christopher de Venecia, who was then starting a showbiz career as a child star on GMA 7. (Now we are colleagues in this paper since he writes a column for the Young Star.) That was the first time I met Manay Gina. Then, in 2003, I interviewed her for this paper at her mother’s house (the revered Mrs. Azucena Vera-Perez) and she was surprised that I knew my way around the Vera-Perez Gardens and was chummy-chummy with everyone: Tita Mary, Tessie Duay (the cook) – practically the entire staff.

It was then that I told her about how Manay Ichu had become like a mother to me after my biological mom had abandoned me at age twentysomething and how I felt so lost after that. Oh, that broke her heart – although at the back of her mind she was probably wondering how a crazy person like me was ever allowed into the lives of the Vera-Perezes.

Immediately she volunteered to be a foster mother to me and I was so touched by the gesture. My first question to her was: "If you’re going to be my second Mom, are you also going to send food to my house?" She sent me a dozen red eggs that New Year.

For a while, Manay Gina and I were texting each other. I would then tell Manay Ichu how Manay Gina seems to love me so much and how caring she is toward me – in the hope that Manay Ichu would get jealous and bribe me wth cocido, which she cooks so well. She didn’t bite. Manay Ichu knows me from head to toe and was well aware that I was just scalping her for free food.

When Manay Gina’s daughter KC died in that terrible fire in December 2004, I decided to let her grieve privately. Then I think she got busy with their foundation – INA (an acronym for Inang Naulila sa Anak) – a group of mothers who banded together as a support group for each other after the early demise of their beloved children.

I haven’t been in touch with Manay Gina since then but she and KC are always in my prayers. Although KC returned to our Creator a rather bit early, I have to say she was one lucky girl to have – even in such short life – a mother as good, kind and loving as Gina de Venecia. (To be concluded)