For love of Malou

When Malou Navarro Santos treated her well-wishers to a dinner for her 60th birthday (yesterday, Feb. 3) at the Novotel Friday last week, nobody dared “roast” like what happens in happy occasions like that. Instead, the guests heaped praises on her. Well-deserved, indeed!

Like the TV shows and movies (the Vice Ganda-Coco Martin starrers Beauty & The Bestie and Super Parental Guardians, etc.) that she produces in her capacity as the COO of Star Creatives, the affair was star-studded (as expected) and a smash-hit (as predicted). Malou is credited, for among other long-running/top-rating shows, Maalaala Mo Kaya (MMK) which is hosted by her Ate Charo (Santos-Concio) since its inception in 1991. (Trivia: Like Charo who, besides being an awarded actress, has a string of beauty titles to her names [Baron Travel Girl, Miss Green Revolution, etc.], Malou can lay claim to a similar honor, having been Miss Education in UST where she graduated with a B.S. Hotel & Restaurant Management degree.) 

The Novotel dinner recorded a 100-percent attendance among the Kapamilya Block, led by Gabby Lopez (chairman), Carlo Katigbak (CEO), Cory Vidanes (ABS-CBN COO of Broadcast), Deo Endrinal (Business Unit head), Roxy Liquigan (Star Music head) and Johnny “Mr. M” Manahan (Star Magic head). On hand to help the Birthday Girl entertain the guests were the Santoses led by Charo (now Chief Content Officer and president of the ABS-CBN University after she retired two years ago).

Here are some fond recollections about Malou:

• Charo: “Too many to name just one fond memory. Bathing in the rain. Playing hide-and-seek, piko, patintero and tumbang preso. Reading our favorite movie mags with flashlight after everyone had gone to bed. Making the Guy & Pip albums and keeping them under our beds. Hahahaha!!! Watching together TV and movies of our beloved stars from LVN, Premiere, Sampaguita, the independents and Hollywood. Kami ay tunay na mga tagahanga!”
• Deo: “Tita Malou is not just a mentor. Her work has been an inspiration to me when I started producing narrative content 15 years ago. I distinctly remember to have been inspired by Tanging Yaman in 2000, and since then I have made it a point that all the teleseryes I produce for ABS-CBN will not only entertain but espouse positive family values as well.”
• Ai-Ai delas Alas: “Tita Malou is a very, very strong person pero mahilig tumawa at pag masaya sobrang masaya. Noong first showing ng Tanging Ina, kasi-signal No. 3, sobrang tuwa siya na tumawag sa akin. She congratulated me. Sa sobrang tuwa niya, hindi ko maintindihan kasi sigaw lang siya nang sigaw, hahahaha!!!”
• Roxy Liquigan: “Tita Malou is a hard-working and disciplined boss. She loves to discover new things, new methods that will help her and the company. She pushes us hard to give our best.”

Happy birthday, Malou! Enjoy your Senior’s Card.

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