Friends to the rescue

A few months ago, my province of Eastern Samar was ravaged by heavy rains that put many towns and barangays under water, some places for the first time in a century, according to old men who were young boys before the Second World War. Some streets in my hometown (now a city) of Borongan which is the capital of the province, were submerged in water, something that baffled residents. What caused the horrible floods, we all have to find out. But that’s a different story all together.

When I heard the news that thousands of families were homeless, I called friends for help. It is amazing how people respond so quickly in times of catastrophe. I am grateful to God for blessing me with friends who are generous and kind. Kris (Aquino) who regularly sets aside a part of her earnings for charity was the first to say, “Boy I will help.” I pushed my luck by calling some 30 plus friends and all of them responded. Mike and Julie Defensor immediately sent help. Pagcor chairman Ephraim Genuino and Dodie King sent 200 sacks of rice through the Borongan NFA office. Sen. Edgardo Angara immediately asked his niece Rizza Moises to send food, blankets, noodles etc. Sen. Manny Villar assigned his chief of staff Avic Amarillo to send relief goods. Manay Gina de Venecia called to say she was sending some help. Gov. Chavit Singson is always dependable. Friends sent various kinds of assistance, from cash, blankets, used clothing to sardines, noodles and rice. Drs. Manny and Pie Calayan, architect Nestor and Mrs. Marion Mangio, Wilfred and Wilson Chua of Xando, Ruth Velasco Co, Carol Yao of Nikon Home Appliances, Dr. Steve Mark Gan, Nini Borja of Intermatrix, Drs. Willy and Liza Ong, Dr. Anthony Leachon, medical director of Pfizer, Boy So of La Carmela de Boracay, Bobby del Rosario, Joel Cruz of Aficionado, Dr. Junjie of Aescultura, Susan Lao of White Flower, Manay Lolit Solis, George Siy of Facial Care Center, Gapuz Review Center, Jing Panganiban, Ayet Evangelista of Century Canning Corp., Jun Oñate, Enrico Roque of Bodega ng Bayan and Mike Sicat, to all of you, thank you from the bottom of my heart.

We hired a 10-wheeler truck that transported the relief goods to Borongan, Eastern Samar. My sister, Mana Fe, Vice Mayor of the City of Borongan took charge in the relief distribution. My Nanay Lising Abunda was also a big help and so were my partner Bong Quintana and our househelp who did the re-packing of the various relief items. Leonaldo Ador Jr. my Mana Fe’s assistant, supervised the transport of goods from Manila to Borongan.

I believe big time in the goodness of people. I also learned that this is a better world because people are willing to reach out to one another, that we are so interconnected; that we cannot ignore each other’s goodness and problems. I remember Barbra Streisand in one of her fund-raising concerts, where she said that we should take care of one another because if we don’t, who will? Think about it. Totoo!

Puregold’s 3rd Grand Tindahan

Some 15,000 sari-sari storeowners and re-sellers gathered at the World Trade Center last week in Puregold’s 3rd Grand Tindahan ni Aling Puring Barangay Asenso Sari-Sari Store Convention 2008. I hosted the opening ceremony with Susan Co (vice chairman of Puregold, Price Inc. Club) and Leonardo Dayao (Puregold’s president) welcoming sari-sari storeowners, entrepreneurs, guests and friends. Guest of honor was Senate president Manny Villar, whose mother Nanay Curing still fends her sari-sari store to this day. Puregold should be commended for the yearly convention that gives store owners a chance to improve their business not just with discounted goods from all participating exhibitors but from the various negosyo sessions and seminars, new business venture seminars and Tindahan ni Aling Puring. The three-day convention had non-stop raffles, product sampling and tasting. But of course no convention or fiesta of this magnitude can be held without the presence of stars like Maricel Soriano, Edu Manzano, Gerald Anderson, Carmina Villarroel, Archie Alemania and Kris Aquino. Congratulations,  Aling Puring!

Tintin’s new TV shows

Tintin Bersola has two new TV shows, Busog, Lusog produced by ABS-CBN Foundation in cooperation with the National Nutrition Council, and Look Who’s Cooking. Busog, Lusog is a parenting and proper nutrition advocacy show that educates people about food, nutrition, hunger and poverty. Co-host of Tintin is Ruben Gonzaga and the show airs Saturdays at 8 a.m. Look Who’s Cooking, on the other hand, is a cooking/trivia talk show, aired Saturdays on ABC 5. It is produced by DGFX Media.

Stars who have appeared on the show are Sitti, Jamie Rivera, Nyoy Volante, Dr. Hayden Kho, Regine Tolentino, Claire de la Fuente, Mariz and of course Tintin and Julius’ daughter Anya.