In the season of Mother’s Day last Sunday, May 12, and just before the elections on Monday, actress and philanthropist 34-year-old Heart Evangelista elaborates her relationship with two mother figures – one being a politician – the late Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago.
“I’m very, very, very blessed that I met such a queen like her,” Heart tells the media, “Every time I’d go through a breakup, it’s so funny because she would pick me up. She was really like a queen. She would have all of these, like, bodyguards, which I never saw anyone else but her. She would pick me up in the middle of the night, and I would sleep in her house.”
Heart elaborates that when a relationship would go wrong, the politician would tell her “that [she] should really love [herself], treasure [herself].”
On the same day, one of the visual media artist’s 3.5 million followers asked her, “What are the values you want to impart with the youth?” In which she answers with a photo with Senator Miriam listing down 10 lessons.
She states,
- 1. It’s okay not to know everything.
- Be kind (I know it’s hard, but try harder)
- Work is really hard, that’s why it’s called “work”
- Do something you love. Make time for that so it will feed your soul.
- You won’t live forever, so do good, be nice, make people happy so once you’re gone, they will smile thinking about you.
- Take lots of pictures.
- Fight for love.
- Write on your diary. It will be your story one day.
- Dress like a queen. Don’t care what people say. Express yourself.
- Be grateful
To honor both Senator Miriam and her own mother, Cecilia Ongpauco, the Kapuso star applauds being raised by empowered female figures, saying, “I think growing up being surrounded by all these, like, really strong women, eventually, that’s what I feel I became. You really have to love yourself, really treasure yourself as a woman because whatever you face in life, ups and downs, at the end of the day, you have to know who you are and your worth.”