25 truths you didn't know about Betty Go Belmonte
Isaac Belmonte:
1. She wore Size 5 shoes and had small feet.
2. She loved to eat ice cream, vanilla most of all.
3. She was good-natured but when you pissed her off, you got an earful.
4. She had a pesky mole on her nose which she had removed.
5. She loved art and had Malang and Ang Kiukok among her barkada.
6. She defied Chinese tradition and married a Filipino.
7. She was five feet tall and maybe a tad taller than GMA.
8. She had no love for jewelry, and never had her ears pierced.
9. She picked the yellow logo of The STAR and the slogan, “Truth shall prevail.”
10. She was the in-house pedicurista of her husband and sons, who have in-grown toenails.
11. She was a tough woman and rarely cried.
12. She was fiercely loyal to all her friends.
13. Two of her favorite phrases were “Praise the Lord” and “I call a spade a spade.”
Miguel Belmonte:
14. Her real name was Billie Mary Go Belmonte.
15. She was a founder of both the Philippine STAR and Philippine Daily Inquirer, both her father (Jimmy G. Puan Seng) and grandfather were newspapermen.
16. Her favorite Hollywood actor was George Peppard, and her favorite movie was the musical Camelot.
17. Her closest/best friend was former President Corazon C. Aquino.
18. Former President Fidel V. Ramos is her godbrother, and former Senator Ernie Maceda was best man at her wedding to Speaker Sonny Belmonte.
19. She was a member of the Sigma Delta Phi Sorority.
20. She majored in English Literature at Claremont Graduate School in California.
21. She always insisted that the family attend church service together every Sunday; she read the Bible before making any big decision, and would follow the guidance no matter what.
22. She was not fond of wearing jewelry and did not own expensive bags or clothes; yet despite her humility and simplicity, she was once named one of the most powerful women in the Philippines.
23. She wrote the “Dear Billie” advice column in The Daily Express during the martial law years.
24. She was in front of Camp Crame every day during the EDSA revolution, distributing sandwiches and copies of the Inquirer, in her high heels!
25. The only painkiller she took during her fight with cancer was paracetamol.
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