When people ask us to describe Boots Anson-Roa, we have an easy answer. If Wikipedia would list her down as actress, host, columnist, teacher, endorser and lecturer, we would place ahead of all these descriptions — “International Fundraiser for Mowelfund.”
Ever since the then San Juan Mayor Erap Estrada, with the support of friends Fernando Poe Jr., Dolphy, and other big stars, decided to set up a non-government organization (NGO) in 1974, Boots had already been involved. She and husband Pete hosted the marathon fundraisers of Mowelfund to address the welfare and educational needs of movie industry workers from the ’70s to the ’80s. She joined the board in 1994, and was appointed executive director in 2002. Today, Marichu Maceda is chairperson, and Boots president. Boots told us that she has been resigning from the post for the longest time, and Erap has been pretending not to hear.
“After having you around from the time he was mayor to vice president to president and now possibly back to mayor once again, it is simply illogical that he would hear you,” we laughingly told her. And besides, she has never stopped her fundraising, especially since Mowelfund lost control of the Metro Manila Film Festival, its lifeblood and source of funds in August, 1986 which heralded a slow death of the foundation. What to do? Fundraising was the only answer with Boots at the center of it all. It got to be so bad that Boots would celebrate her birthday at the Mowelfund garden asking her guests to donate to Mowelfund in lieu of gifts.
Recently, Boots went on a US holiday that included Hawaii, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Washington D.C., Northern Virginia and Ohio, and personal visits to elderly aunts and uncles, siblings and US-based children. But if one expected her to do just that, it was not to happen. She decided to sneak in some fundraising for Mowelfund “since I’m already there anyway.”
She borrowed the films Ded na si Lolo of APT Entertainment and Johnson and Johnson’s Botelya contacted her established networking with Fil-Am communities from the ’80s and came up with screenings at the Philippine consulate in Honolulu care of Deputy Consul General Paul Raymond Torres; the Gold Coast Hotel Las Vegas through Ben and Gloria Caoile; The Renaissance Auditorium in Alexandria, Virginia through Dr. Ellen Carag and Daisy Tucay; and Philippine Cultural Center in Cleveland, Ohio, through Mila Red, Tessie Ruiz and Dr. Nelin Retizos. And she brought home almost $9,000 for Mowelfund’s welfare program.
“The personal and vacation side of the trip was its own reward. The Hawaiian cruise with doctor friends was a big bonus. But the greater significance of my Hawaii sojourn was my sister Vicky’s and my long overdue visit to our 38-year-old half-brother, Neil Anson and stepmother Sally.” After an accident in 1984, Neil has been disabled and near comatose, and the visit after 20 years gave them great joy.
Again, after 20 years, Boots went to Baltimore with son Ben, “to visit my Dad’s elder sister, Dra. Angelita Anson Fontana, 92, who is afflicted with dementia. I was thrilled when she remembered me and called me by my first name when she first saw me. Despite memory lapses during our dinner and conversation, she never forgot my name and who I was. I had to control my tears every time she hugged me.”
Then she went on to Vegas, bonding with her Dad’s septuagenarian siblings Pepe, Luis and Clarie, watching the Broadway musical hit Jersey Boys, and with friend Gloria Caoile asking her guests to donate to Mowelfund during her birthday dinner dance at the Strip’s Gold Coast Hotel, which she started with a hefty family donation.
Washington D.C. and adjacent Northern Virginia were the highlights of Boots’ sabbatical with eldest daughter, Leah, husband Russel Cuevas and grandchildren Katrina, Ryan, Jessica and Rachel. Nearby live her youngest son, Ben, wife Michelle, kids Ethan and Mia.
Final leg for fundraising was Cleveland, Ohio where Association of Philippine Physicians and Philippine American Society were the principal organizations. Envelopes were distributed for voluntary donations. A young woman approached Boots to donate $20 with an apology that she was new in the community and still jobless but nevertheless wanted to help. The host Mila Red overheard the conversation and then and there offered her a job. “Talk about providence!” uttered Boots.
(E-mail us at bibsymcar@yahoo.com.)