Lessons Tintin's mom taught her

MANILA, Philippines – I have always deeply admired people who openly care for their parents. This I saw in Christine Bersola-Babao even when she was a mere 17 year old the first time we met. We were cast together in Repertory Philippines’ production of The King and I. Although I was already a lawyer then while Christine was a working student from U.P., we gravitated towards each other.

She was mature for her age, extremely hardworking and very intelligent. I remember how she talked constantly about how her Mom (then already separated from her father) was bravely raising Christine and her two siblings all by herself. In our whispered conversations during rehearsal breaks, I felt her deep respect and love for her mother.

After the Rep stint, it took several years before I saw Christine again in person. We bumped into each other at David’s Salon in Katipunan Ave. and, lo and behold!, I finally got to meet the mom. Expecting a tired old hag bitter at the world, I was pleasantly surprised to see an effervescent, and youngish-looking lady instead. As regulars at the beauty parlor, our encounters became frequent. While Christine would be dressed in black or white and other neutral colors, her Mom would be in daring colors of bright yellows, lavenders, oranges and fuchsias. She laughed her heart out. She pampered herself. She had joie de vivre.

Although I am also quite close to my mom, I secretly admired the bonding between the two — acting as if they were sisters out on the town. With Christine’s success as a showbiz personality, the difficulties they went through during Christine’s younger years seemed to be a very distant memory.

In my one-on-one interview with Christine at the Fleur de Lys beside Belo Medical Clinic in Tomas Morato Ave. (of which Christine is a new endorser), Tintin, as she is now popularly known, remembers those struggles. “My mom went into several businesses. She was a relentless viajera who bought things abroad to sell at her Greenhills boutiques. She even bought American soldier’s stuff by the bulk, traveling back and forth to the American bases and Manila. Even before we had all those ukay-ukays, my Mom was already in the business of selling second hand goods,” Christine recalls.

“She earned so much and was able to amass real properties, some by mortgage. But when the economy went south, we were hardest hit. We lost everything including our home in North Greenhills. We moved from one place to another. Sometimes our money was insufficient to pay rent. But my Mom never gave up. Every time a business folded up, she had another one getting on. I grew up watching and admiring her. She was always a beacon of hope for me. The recipes in life I learned from her.”

And so it does not come as a surprise to know that now that Christine is in her 30s, she has already been following in her mother’s footsteps. She has all these businesses to her name: Precious Memories (Bridal Bouquet and Gown Preservation), Aquasoft, Christine Cologne, (soon widely available via F101 DIRECT SELLING), a Lotto outlet in Pasig — 30 percent of all earnings of which go to charity) and her children’s books — which is a business-advocacy.

I knew that Christine herself graduated valedictorian from O.B. Montessori, was a Community Excellence awardee from Assumption High School (for service and charity) and a cum Laude Masscom graduate at the U.P. Diliman. But I was totally astonished that her mother also had awards quietly tucked under her belt. Mama Ching was a consistent honor student, also a valedictorian at MLQU and graduated magna cum laude in 1970 (the year Tintin was born) with a degree in Education from University of the East. (Whew!) She finished her Law proper at the UST even as she was busy raising her three children. (She has yet to take the bar exams.) During the early years of Christine’s life, Mama Ching left her career as a teacher to personally take care of Christine, and read books to her every day. In the acting and showbiz area, she won a school award for Best Actress for playing Sisa. Mama Ching was also a former Ms. Channel 11 (Wow!).

When Christine was only nine, she helped Mama Ching in her Greenhills boutiques. It was here where Mama Ching instilled the value of patience in Christine.

Narrates Christine, “We had customers who would try on so many apparel, including those dressed on the mannequins that were, oh, so difficult to remove, but would leave without buying anything. This I took in stride as my mom taught me that the customer is always right.” Mama Ching also taught Christine to pray and be good to everyone, especially their helpers and lowly staff. For Mama Ching, there is no excuse for being abusive at people who work for you.

Christine has received countless awards and reaped nationwide admiration for her advocacies in kid friendly-TV (as a five-time Anak TV awardee) and her efforts on environmental protection, literacy, charity, public service, social entrepreneurship and health awareness through her television and radio hostings, her being a children’s book author, and for being a staunch supporter of Gawad Kalinga, Philippine National Red Cross, the Shepherd of the Hills Orphanage, Bantay Bata and DZMM Aksyon Ngayon Medical Projects. What many people do not know is that there is a single mother behind all these accolades.

(E-mail me at [email protected] or text 0927-5000833. Help build houses for the poor through the Gawad Kalinga by calling 718-1738 to 41 or text 0917-5239777.)