‘Romance & Countrymen’

A woman of many passions, Sen. Loren Legarda says that she may have found her “Prince Charming” at 58.

“Perhaps,” was her response when I asked if she had already found “him.”

We were at the cover shoot for PeopleAsia magazine at The Henry in Pasay City, where she posed like a real pro (she was a commercial model at 15, after all) before the unerring lens of Jun de Leon.

As expected, Loren, who is on her final full term at the Senate, has quite a checklist for what she’s looking for in a man. “My ideal man is someone who is comfortable in his own skin, someone who has no ego and is kind and gentle. He has to be intelligent because there has to be conversations. He has to be on par with my brains, someone who has integrity and would not have to be a typical philanderer because he’s insecure,” she says.

Loren also states unequivocally that if asked to give up her career for love by Mr. Right, she (unlike three out of five Filipinos, according to a Social Weather Stations survey) will give up her career.

While the identity of her “Prince Charming” is still under wraps, six other people featured in PeopleAsia’s February-March issue have already found their partners and have settled into their own versions of happily ever after.

PeopleAsia celebrates Valentine’s Day and the Year of the Dog — just a couple of days apart this year — by training the spotlight on various kinds of love for its February-March 2018 issue.

Whether it’s To Sir with Love or Laws of Attraction, UP president Danny Concepcion and his former student Gaby Roldan prove that real life trumps the movies when it comes to finding the “one.” They first met at the UP College of Law. “He was the youngest professor,” Gaby tells PeopleAsia, recalling the first time they saw each other. “My friends and I thought that all the new professors were always trying to impress students. We’d always make fun of him. We’d always stay in the back and just sleep since the class was in the afternoon,” she says. (Danny, in jest, says that he thought Gaby always had sore eyes because she often wore sunglasses to class.)

Rajo Laurel and Nix Alañon(left). Photo by Mark Chester Ang,Tanguy Gras and Happy Andrada(right).Photo by Jar Concengco

Gaby, however, soon found herself taking Danny a lot more seriously when she discovered that he sponsored Masses for a church in Obando, Bulacan as his way of sharing his blessings. “This guy is interesting. He looks like he has character,” Gaby told her mom.

They recently celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary, and are loving parents to three sons (Jag, Carlos and Alfonso) and one daughter (Isabella).

On the other hand, what Sofitel Philippine Plaza food and beverage manager Tanguy Gras and fashion designer Happy Andrada may still lack in years, they make up for with passion, devotion and a kookiness that seems unique to their relationship. One glimpse at their individual Instagram accounts would reveal the two dressed in matching onesies, or as Mickey and Minnie Mouse (among others) for their date nights.

Actually, the couple (who first met in 2012) started off on the wrong foot. Tanguy was supposed to borrow a suit from Happy for an upcoming trip to Hong Kong, but never showed up. This certainly ruffled Happy’s feathers.

A few years later though, the two would once again meet during a Christmas Tree lighting event at the Sofitel and have had two weddings since — the first at San Agustin Church and Sofitel Philippine Plaza in November 2017, and more recently, in Las Vegas.

“People may think we’re crazy. She’s as crazy as I am! But we’re the type who don’t mind what other people say,” Tanguy shares with PeopleAsia, revealing that aside from going out in costume for movie nights, they also spend much of their time cooking up a storm at home.

Also gracing the pages of PeopleAsia are fashion designer Rajo Laurel and interior designer Nix Alañon.

It was almost love at first sight 12 years ago when the then 33-year-old Rajo saw 23-year-old Nix by his lonesome in the midst of the rambunctious crowd in a bar on that fated night. “I thought I saw a ray of light when I saw Nix dancing. I went up to him, confidently introducing myself. I was attracted to him already,” Rajo reveals to PeopleAsia.

Opening up about the rocky time in their relationship, Nix admits that the loneliness of being away from Rajo was overpowering. “All of a sudden Rajo was no longer in my life. And my life was not used to not having him,” he says.

In the end, Rajo and Nix chose the path of forgiveness, proving that love conquers the strongest of weaknesses.

(PeopleAsia’s February-March 2018 issue is available in leading bookstores and newsstands nationwide, and will be available on the iPad store, Google Plus and Magzter next week. For more information, call Bong at 892-1854 or text 0922 877 6556.)

Love & compassion

When a series of earthquakes started shaking Taiwan three weeks ago, it was everybody’s hope that the Philippine community there, mostly factory workers and caretakers, would be all safe from harm.

 In 1999, at least 2,400 people died in an earthquake there, including a Filipino, whose body was never recovered.

 So when the strong of quakes struck Hualien 10 minutes before midnight of Feb. 6 this year, Angelito Banayo, chairman of the Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO), was one with those hoping everybody would be safe.

 Then the sad news, a Filipino caretaker Melody Albano Castro was reported as among those missing from a number of collapsed buildings in Hualien.

 A team from MECO and the Department of Labor and Employment immediately headed to the devastated area as soon as the train service was restored the following morning.

 The MECO team on the ground relayed high hopes that Melody may have survived the quake, especially so when her employer and two other housemates were rescued safely the following morning.

 Meanwhile, the MECO chairman and resident representative gave updates to Philippine media on the rescue efforts in Hualien. MECO officials in Taiwan went around the quake-stricken area.

 It was at around 5:30 on Thursday afternoon, some 42 hours after the quake, that Banayo received the sad news. Melody’s lifeless body was found in the rubble, the lone Filipino casualty in the quake.  

 The MECO ground team immediately sprung into action. Coordinating the safe handling of Melody’s remains and accomplishing the paperwork needed for her repatriation to the Philippines. Taiwan authorities were likewise very cooperative in the effort to bring home Melody.

 Last Wednesday, Valentine’s Day, Melody’s remains arrived in Manila and were turned over to her family the following day.

 Weeks after the incident, MECO continues to receive pledges of support for Melody’s family in the Philippines, as it provides pertinent details to donors.

Compassion for Melody continues beyond her death.