Boy Abunda

Posted By www.BoyAbunda.net on January 13, 2008

I got a sweet short note from Cristin Obispo which I’m printing here en toto.

Cristin’s letter:

Dear Boy,

Tell Kris I love her, too.

Thank you Cristin for watching our shows. It is because of you that we always do the best we can. It’s heartwarming and humbling at the same time that we are able to touch people’s lives. Frankly, after many years of doing TV work, I’m still not comfortable with the idea of having fans, after all, my concept of being a fan is my being a rabid Noranian. I will never get out of this realm of being a fan. When Ate Guy was still based here in Manila and she would grant me interviews, she would always inadvertently unsettle me. I am first a fan — second an interviewer to Nora Aunor. And if it’s improper — please allow me this one.

Cristin, the truth is, I still have to work on a lot of things in hosting, interviewing, presenting the shows that I do. But yes, Cristin, some 15 years ago, no one and no one would have believed if I said that I wanted to be a TV host. In the first place, I didn’t know I wanted to be an on-cam talent until Bobby Barreiro, then of Channel 7, broached the idea to me whose only qualification was his passion for talking. Oh I went through the wringer. The biggest and most hostile detractor was myself. Beneath the veneer of the loquacious upstart was an insecure wanna-be who was afraid to be rejected because he was told that he wasn’t good-looking enough to be on-cam, that he was Bisaya and his accent was annoying, that his Tagalog was awful/his English was too “Waray.” Everything seemed wrong. I prayed hard like I was going to deliver my first illegitimate baby. I moved forward with all my might, believing that God was kind and life could not have been worse with what I went through in the past years of my life. What was there to lose, I asked myself. So I plunged into the unknown knowing that God was going to catch me.

Aside from myself, there were other people who didn’t want me to succeed. Yes, Cristin, there are people who will pull you down with all their borrowed strength and pretend to be your friends. Or one who would feign ignorance or someone who would say, “For your sake, I don’t want you to be embarrassed. Don’t get me wrong, but I’m just concerned.” There are a lot of those who pretend to care for you but who are actually envious.

But don’t be consumed by the hostility of some people. There are those who will lift you up. There are those who will say, “You’re good. Try it.” Or people who will celebrate your good points, who will pray for your success. Some of them are friends, others are strangers. People who allow you to dream and believe. People who will laugh with you whether you rise or fall as if life is one happy carnival. There are people who will see something unique and special in you. They are kind people. They are people who allow others to shine — in the process, they shine themselves. And believe me, Cristin, God is always watching.

When I was being kicked and battered, I never for a single second wavered that He was ever going to leave me. I had no one but Him, Nanay and Bong, my partner.

So in the beginning, I was trembling — inside and out. But the only way to survive, I figured, was to fight from the point of view of what was true and real. And what was true and real? I was Waray, I was Bisaya, I was not mestizo, I was not good-looking — but I was unique. And I worked hard, I was open, I was driven, I loved to laugh, I was easy to work with, I read a lot; I wanted to be a beauty queen, I was streetsmart, I was God-fearing, I was brave and I badly wanted to make it.

I had a mother in faraway Samar who didn’t ask for anything but whom I wanted to give everything.

Today, the ride is still rough and tough. But the years have been kind. I’m now more equipped and skilled to parry the blows and relish the applause. And I don’t forget to laugh at myself, at the world.

And the truth is, I’m still Waray, I’m still pango — but what the heck — I’m still here.

And how can I ever forget my first one-on-one interview on TV in my segment called Inside Out on Show and Tell on Channel 7? My guest — the young and beautiful Kris Aquino. And I’m not going to say that the rest is history — not yet, because we’re still moving on and still in the race.

Thank you, Cristin.

Source: DIRECTLINE By Boy Abunda
Published Monday, January 14, 2008
The Philippine Star

Categories: DirectLine by Boy Abunda
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