Crusader for life
When her name was called as a QualiBet Crusader, Khristine Gabriel went up the stage with a big smile on her face. More than 30 minutes before the awarding, she and I were huddled together in one corner of The Loft in Manansala, Rockwell, Makati City, on the verge of shedding tears while talking about her life experiences.
Khristine is the business development manager slash spokesperson of Ever Bilena. Her contributions to promoting a safer and better Philippines through her company’s cosmetic products made her a Crusader awardee. Beneath her well-put-together veneer, however, Khristine is a more beautiful person inside. Boldly spelled out in her personal conviction is the apparent drive to succeed — no matter how bleak or hopeless the situations may be.
“I had a very simple childhood. No fancy toys. I had never tasted hotdogs up until I was in Grade 4, that was when I asked my classmate to try her baon,” shares Khristine as she takes a bite of pass-around canapés at the event.
When she was nine years old, her mother and two older sisters left for the US to seek a better future. Khristine was left under the care of her father and her brother. (“I am the youngest and the age gap between me and my brother is 10 years.”)
“My mom came back 10 years after to take care of my ailing father who died two weeks after. From the time she left and came back, I only spent two weeks with my mom — one week to celebrate my high school graduation and another for my 18th birthday. But I don’t harbor any bitterness towards my mother. I love her dearly and it is my heart’s desire to provide her with a good life as long as I can. I believe that everything happens for a reason,” Khristine humbly says.
At a very tender age, Khristine learned what responsibility was all about — including fetching pails of water from a neighbor’s house, a task she did even after midnight. She survived the hardships of life because she had — and to this day she still has — a thankful heart and a happy disposition.
Even when she had barely anything to eat in school, Khristine remembers how a positive outlook in life can make a difference. In grade school, she sold brownies and polvoron to her classmates. She wrote love letters for her classmates for a fee when she was in high school. She required a bigger fee if it was a book report they were asking her to do. In college, she would buy rice at the cafeteria of the University of Sto. Tomas (where she finished AB Communication Arts in 1998) and relied on the complimentary soup. She would eat what was left on her friends’ plates. But for the real kindhearted ones, “they would slice a portion of their food for me as soon as their orders arrived.”
The turning point in her life, Khristine says, was when she got pregnant when she was in third year college. “I didn’t want my family to think of me as a failure so, with my brave personality, I continued to pursue my studies even with my protruding belly. My boyfriend left me when I was four months pregnant. That started my ‘extra rice’ days when I would save my baon for my future child so as not to be a burden to my family. I dealt with studies just like a normal girl, notwithstanding the shame and dealing with prying ‘righteous’ eyes.”
Khristine remembers with amazement and amusement when she experienced labor pains in the middle of class. Her classmates walked her to the nearby UST Hospital and stayed with her until she gave birth. They became godparents of her child. After giving birth, she only rested for a week and resumed working on her degree as if nothing happened. She graduated on time.
She ventured into many jobs but Khristine, a naturally happy person, loves to remember the odd ones. Once, she recalls, she helped a friend in planning marketing strategies during the day for her “classy gentlemen’s night club” and at night, she would give personality development training to the GROs in their workplace. “It was so much fun until a friend’s father, who was a loyal patron of the club, spotted me in the facility. During one of their family gatherings, he tried to catch me to know where I was working. He thought I was one of the GROs. I just laughed.”
Khristine is never bothered by labels or people’s opinion about her. She maintains humility and a happy disposition in life, no matter what.
“When you have a peaceful mind and a grateful heart, life appears to be more orderly. You are able to see the bigger picture and you are able to prioritize effectively. When you’re angry or you don’t have anything good to say, just keep it to yourself. Speak when you are hot tempered and you will have the best speech you will forever regret. I have my mistakes, weaknesses and fears but I am so content with the life I have now. And it doesn’t matter where I came from, it is always my dignity as a person that counts,” she philosophizes.
With her attitude towards life, she has a clearer perspective on how to exact difference in the lives of people she loves.
“My father is my hero. He believed in me and developed my confidence,” she beams with glee.
She is quick to add: “But it is the turn of my mother to shine this time. How painful it must have been for her to leave her nine-year-old daughter. But knowing that love is sacrifice, I know that mothers are God’s greatest blessing to mankind.”
Khristine has never stopped counting her blessings. Also on the upper crust of her many blessings is her partner in life, Dioceldo Sy, the chairman and CEO of Ever Bilena Cosmetics Inc. “He instilled in me the importance of hard work, wise management of finances and word of honor. If you say something, keep your word because integrity or lack of it can make or break you.”
“If you were not with Ever Bilena now, where would you be?” I ask Khristine.
“I would be a host. I’ve been hosting since I was a kid, from barangay fiestas to campaign sorties; from karera channels to basketball leagues. I have hosted all sorts of occasions and parties, even eulogies,” she says with a hearty guffaw. She consciously muted her laughter when QualiBet’s Pinky Tobiano (who believes that safe products are a consumer’s right, not just her privilege) and MMDA chairman Bayani Fernando occupied the center stage to start giving out awards to the Crusaders.
Other Crusaders included Marikina Mayor Marides Fernando, health watch advocate Obet Pagdanganan, actor Edu Manzano, family and healthy lifestyle advocates Anthony and Maricel Pangilinan, doctors Greg and Gina Pastorfide, magazine editor and beauty advocate Carla Sibal, Arce Dairy owner Priscilla Arce and restaurateur Maritel Nievera-Shani.
“What does this award mean to you?” I ask her.
“The award came at the most perfect time when many businesses are down due to economic slump and China issues on melamine and other toxic chemicals being maliciously tagged as key ingredients in cosmetics. QualiBet attested that our products, specifically our lipsticks, to be lead free. That is a very strong claim. Our products are regularly monitored by BFAD and undergo the process to ensure safety and quality. It always feels good to be recognized not by what you are wearing or driving but by the good works you have done — that is the most essential in life,” she says.
For Khristine, the road to success was presented to her via a long and bumpy ride but she had continuously believed that she would hit the finish line. In fact, she has crossed past the finish line of poverty. But she loves to look back — without pretensions, without pride. Only, with fortitude to better herself, her craft every single day.
(For your new beginnings, please e-mail me at bumbaki@yahoo.com. Have a blessed Sunday.)
