What Christmas gift would you give a stranger or a loved one?
Receiving presents at Christmas will always make us feel extra special. It’s a happy feeling to be able to find the perfect gift for our loved ones and people we care for. Christmastime is not only for family and friends, it is also the perfect time to share our blessings, most especially with those in need. We are living the life that Christ wants us to live by sharing, giving and making others happy without expecting anything in return.
Amy Perez-Castillo, TV personality
My Papa! I want to give him a European tour because, after working so hard for the past 45 years, he truly deserves that trip with my Mama.
Grace Molina, model, entreprenuer
I will give my mother a watch for Christmas, something I know she will wear every day, and will remind her of me 24/7. To know that we always have the gift of time to spend more Christmases together.
Ana Rocha, Rocha Design Group
A gift of hope for myself and every Filipino that there will be a solution to our traffic problems.
Romina Nanangas, Campaigns and Grey, PR consultant
For the future president, it’s a gift for the future but hopefully the recipient already has this: a conscience.
Cory Quirino, former beauty queen, TV host
If I could turn back time, it would be the gift of a second chance for my mother Conchita Rastrollo Quirino. Christmas holidays were always spent with her. Weeks before she succumbed to cancer in 2007, she said to me with resignation. “I want to live but my body is giving up on me. I should have taken better care of my health.” Her absence has left a void in our hearts. As we celebrate Christmas without Mom, we are left to contemplate her last wish — which was to start over if she had been given that opportunity. This is a message to us all — that we cannot retrieve the time we have lost. Therefore, life should be given meaning and purpose with every passing moment. That means today and all our todays to come.
Atty. Argee Guevarra
Oh, that’s an easy one. A one-way ticket back to Manila for my eight-year-old, US-based niece, Bea Guevarra, with a Christmas note that says: “It’s more fun in the Philippines!”
Grace Relucio Princesa, First Philippine lady ambassador to the United Arab Emirates and now assistant secretary for Legislative Liaison at the Department of Foreign Affairs
If there’s that one person, it would be a child of an overseas Filipino worker, particularly a child below 12 years old who was left behind. I would give his/her OFW parent back. Studies show that children below 12 years old need their parents, especially their mother, in order to have a balanced growth. Minsan kasi, ‘pag lumabas si Nanay, nagdidilim ang lampara ng tahanan. Sana ay magkaroon ng sapat na magandang trabaho dito ang ating mga kababayan, lalo na ang kababaihan, para hindi na sila mapilitang lumabas pa sa ating bayan.
Sarahbeth Salcedo Soriano, VP for operations, Baliwag Lechon Manok Inc.
I would choose to give gifts to our country’s public school teachers. The dedication they have for their work largely goes unnoticed, yet their role in molding the minds of our country’s youth remains invaluable. Those in rural provinces sometimes have to walk for hours just to be able to teach while some spend their own money to buy food for students who have none to eat at home. This Christmas season, let’s give our public school teachers the simple gifts of recognition and appreciation.
