Shamaine Buencamino learns to take care of her health

Former US First Lady Michelle Obama once said, “There is no limit to what we, as women, can accomplish.”

That has been proven, time and again, by empowered, indefatigable and passionate women who raised the roof and broke boundaries in the challenging endeavors they undertake. They have become the voices of strength and inspiration.

Veteran character actress Shamaine Centenera-Buencamino was the recent celebrity guest (along with skin expert Dr. Vicki Belo) in the International Women’s Day special of the monthly forum, Usapang Puso sa Puso, presented by the Philippine Heart Association (PHA), with the topic, “Break the Bias: Babae, Kakaiba Ka nga Ba?”

Married to character actor Nonie Buencamino, Shamaine lamented there was a time crying her heart out repeatedly for dramatic scenes in a film or drama series took its toll on her health.

“A lot of times, the scenes were always very dramatic,” disclosed Shamaine, who was a regular cast member in FPJ’s Ang Probinsyano, for five years. “If you can cry in the scenes, the director will let you cry in the scene. But it takes a toll on our health. It is usually the women who cry, while most of the action (scenes) are given to the guys.

The veteran actress with Iza Calzado in between takes for the filming of a recent MMK episode.

Photos from Shamaine’s Instagram account

“In my case, the way I do it, I drink a lot of water before the take. Since I am an actress, I have the ability to turn it off. Once the scene is finished, it’s done. There were times when the incidents, especially if the situation in the story was very close to you, nararamdaman mo talaga. Ang bigat ng pakiramdam.”

When Shamaine’s daughter, Julia, died in 2015, doing drama became doubly hard for her. “I was handling my grief at that time,” she said. “I didn’t realize that it would affect me physically.

“When I did an episode of Maalaala Mo Kaya, where I had to cry in almost all the scenes the whole day, the next day, I failed to report back to the taping.

“They had to rush me to the ER (emergency room). I was throwing up. I couldn’t drink water. Nararamdaman mo talaga ang bigat sa ‘yo. We have to be on our toes handling our health because we have to do emotional scenes most of the time in front of the camera.”

Evidently, the 57-year-old Shamaine noted there have been a lot of prominent and challenging roles given to actresses. She has played a wide gamut of memorable female roles. Just recently, she played a bad girl, for a change, in director Jon Red’s Adarna Gang, an iteration of the classic Ibong Adarna.

“Gone are the days when women were portrayed as the weaker sex in front of the cameras,” Shamaine maintained. “Malakas na ngayon ang portrayal ng babae. But we still do a lot of stories, especially those set in the provinces, where women are still sexually abused.”

Shamaine remains thankful that she continues to act in front of the cameras. Even this pandemic, she has been getting acting offers.

“God gave me this ability to latch on and bring out my tears and become very emotional once in front of the camera. Madali po sa akin ang umiyak, kahit na noong bata pa ako. But I didn’t realize it would affect my health in a certain way.

“I have hypertension now. When I do a very emotional scene, like recently, I taped an episode for Maalaala Mo Kaya, at the start of the taping, I needed to cry at once.

“By lunch time, masakit na ang batok ko, nararamdaman ko na. Of course, I already took my maintenance (medicines). I cannot tell them, ‘I cannot do these crying scenes anymore.’ That’s my job.”

Sadly, gender inequality happens worldwide, not just in local show business, as observed by Shamaine. “If you compare the abilities of male and female and you put them in the same position, the male usually gets a higher fee. I don’t know why.

“Maybe because women are more accepting and quiet. Mas tinututukan natin na magawang mabuti ang trabaho natin, saka na lang ang bayad. I don’t have the specific figures, but a number of male actors here, mas malaki ang bayad than sa mga babae.

“For me, it’s not really a matter na pantay tayo. It’s more of complement tayo. I’m not as physically strong as a man, but I can help my husband (Nonie Buencamino) to be more organized where to put things. We were made to complement and help each other.”

Shamaine bats for gender equality in showbiz to increase awareness. “We should encourage each other, especially women. When we feel discrimination, we should voice it out. Pwede namang sabihin na may ngiti at magandang tono.

“Ano man ang reklamo mo, kung sasabihin mo sa magandang paraan, mas matatanggap ‘yun at mas pakikinggan. Sino pa ba ang mas magsasalita para sa atin kung hindi tayong mga babae?”