Toni Gonzaga plans to return to school in 2023
Toni Gonzaga has recently opened up on her “greatest teacher in life,” the person who taught her that “life can be so simple” and yet fulfilling.
Who is your greatest teacher in life? is a tagline of Toni’s Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) 2022 entry My Teacher, and The STAR asked the film’s lead star and producer the same question recently. Her answer was quite unexpected.
“My greatest teacher in life now is Seve,” the TV host, actress and singer said in an exclusive interview, referring to her son with film director Paul Soriano.
“First, he reintroduced me to myself. I discovered the kind of mother I am because of him. I didn’t know I would be that kind of mother.”
She added that her six-year-old boy has also shifted her life view. “He changed my perspective in life — that life can be so simple. Because I remember ever since he was born, my dream for him always was… I would tell Paul (that) I never experienced traveling when I was a child and I wanted him (Seve) to experience it.”
Toni continued, “So, lagi kami nag-allot ng savings. Three times a year, five times a year, talagang ‘pag may naisip or may konting bakasyon, ilabas natin siya, ilabas natin siya ng bansa, dalhin natin sa iba’t ibang lugar.
“I thought that was… Well, that’s also a good experience, but one time, as I was showering him, he asked me out of nowhere, ‘What’s your favorite memory of me?’ I said, why are you asking? (He asked again) what’s your favorite memory of me? Then I told him, when you were born, when we first brought you to Hong Kong, when you went to this country, we brought you to ganito, etc., (I mentioned) all the beautiful places I brought him to. Yun ang sagot ko, ang dami. Every day is my favorite memory of you, I also told Seve.”
Toni, however, didn’t expect how her son would answer the question. “Tinanong ko siya, what’s your favorite memory of me? He answered, ‘Remember, you went to my room and then we were playing restaurant and I’m cooking?’ So, imagine, out of all the places, out of all the gifts, out of all the extravangaza na binibigay ko sa kanya, what he remembered the most was the time na naglaro kami ng luto-lutuan, in his room during the pandemic.
“Kasi naalala ko when I play with him, pag-nagluto-lutuan kami, wala akong phone, I wouldn’t have any phone with me… Dun ko na-realize that he taught me, it doesn’t matter where you are in the world and what you are doing, what’s important is when you’re fully present in the moment, enjoying your company and your bonding. That’s what matters to your son and that’s what he will remember growing up — that my mother is present. That’s the beautiful thing that he taught me.”
Meanwhile, Seve’s experiences at school and with his teacher served as one of the inspirations for My Teacher, her tribute film to educators, which is a co-production of her movie outfit TinCan and her husband’s production company Ten17P. It is also directed by Paul.
“I also remember pa-summer na yung school ni Seve. First teacher yun ni Seve from online to face-to-face (classes), tapos maghihiwalay na sila, nagyakapan sila, tapos umiiyak yung teacher while saying goodbye to Seve because the school year was ending. And naiyak ako na parang grabe kung paano niya mahalin ang anak ko na parang anak niya. Sabi ko, grabe ang dedication and passion ng mga teachers sa mga students,” recalled Toni.
Another source of inspiration was a ToniTalks interviewee, a former security guard named Edwin Salvador who finished college already in his late 40s.
“Security guard siya and he graduated as magna cum laude. And he was telling us na ang dami daw senior students na nag-aaral ng college… yung previous admin, nag-open pala — I don’t know if you’re aware of this — ng program para sa gustong bumalik sa school na matatanda. May ganun pala… Dun lang ako naging aware when I interviewed him because his story went viral online.
“And I also realized that there are people who really dream of going back to school even if they have grandchildren already. Tapos pag grumaduate sila magna cum laude, ang tatalino pala. Naghintay lang sila ng tamang panahon para bumalik sa school. Nakaka-inspire gumawa ng ganitong pelikula that shows the value of education,” she said.
All these led to the story concept of a teacher who is passionate about school and a senior person who’s dedicated to finish his schooling despite his age. In My Teacher, Toni plays Emma, a former OFW teacher who returns to her hometown to accept a teaching job at the local public high school. She gets assigned to handle the most difficult and deliquent class, wherein one of the students is Solomon (played by veteran comedian Joey de Leon), a 70-year-old man who not only wants to graduate, but also be literate and educated enough to have better communication with his estranged US-based daughter and grandchild.
“(Joey de Leon’s character is) longing for the love and forgiveness of his child, ako naman longing for a relationship with my father, so that’s how our paths cross (in the film),” said Toni. “He becomes my father figure outside the classroom and I’m his teacher inside the classroom.”
Interestingly, My Teacher has inspired Toni to go back to school.
According to her good friend and fellow TV host Bianca Gonzalez in a previous article in The STAR, Toni got “waitlisted for the fine arts program at UP Diliman, but upon her father’s advice (‘Di ka pwede mag-juggle ng pag-aartista, UP yan’), she decided to enroll in a communications course in Dominican College, which is right beside the Eat Bulaga studio.” This was when she was co-hosting the country’s longest-running noontime show. Toni would change her major to AB English when she transferred to Asian Institute of Distance Education. She would eventually enroll at UP through its Open University, taking up multi-media arts.
This incoming 2023, Toni intends to return to school. She has already scouted for possible colleges/universities. Given the time and chance, she also wants to take up law. She’s been reading books lent to her by a lawyer-friend of her husband and “nagugustuhan ko.”
“Parang ang sarap mag-aral ng batas. Ang galing kasi ng mga friends ni Paul na lawyers (that) when they talk to me, may foundation ng law mga sinasabi nila. ‘No, you can’t do that because according to the law…’ Tapos ako, ah ganun pala, you can’t sue them because base on the law, ganyan-ganyan… Ang galing pag-alam mo talaga yun batas.”
She readily admitted that to resume her schooling would require dedication, but during the interview, it wasn’t hard to see that she was serious about it.
“Next year, that’s my dream… babalik ako sa school,” Toni further shared with The STAR. “Yun ang nakita ko sa sarili ko. Yan ang target ko this 2023 – mag-aral dahil sa pelikulang ito. I want to go back to school because when we were doing this film, nag-re-research ka at nakikita mo na it’s really possible and ang daming bumabalik sa school.”
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