Pia magalona ‘You make your own life’

By ANA KRISTINE B. VALENZUELA

published MOD APRIL 2010

MORE than a year after the loss of her rapper-husband, Francis Magalona, Pia Magalona is coping and moving on well, thanks to financial assistance from Sun Life insurance. The mother of eight is keeping herself busy with a radio show every Sunday and online activities such as Facebook and Twitter.

An outlet. “Sun Life’s campaign has been like a therapy for me. It is like an outlet. I realized that if I didn’t have coverage then, I don’t know what would have happened to me and my children. When Francis passed away, a friend of mine got in touch with me and said that Sun Life had a check for me. When I saw the check and the amount, ‘yun, nabuhayan ako.”

Needs vs. Wants. “My mom taught me to put my needs first before my wants, for me and Francis to invest in our home as we were earning. She also advised me to find other things to invest in. So syempre with Sun Life, good points with my mom.”

On Air. “I have a show on U92 FM every Sunday, from 8 to 11 a.m. It’s called URL (U Are Life). My kids also come on board with me. I’m so madaldal. I could just talk there for hours and hours by myself. URL means you are the one who makes your life, you are the life of another person, bringing life to another person, being an inspiration to others, and not being a Debbie Downer. I always make it a point to teach people to enjoy life more.”

Well-Covered. “I have many children, so I have coverage for them and for myself. You have to find your agent and trust that agent enough so that the agent can advise you on money matters. My job is not very regular so my agent is the one who decides my payment schemes for me.”

Open Lines. “I’m not going to hold everything against my children. I’m not going to say, ‘I’m your mother, you owe me this much.’ When you have children, you are supposed to impose discipline upon them and keep the communication line open that way.”

TV Intervention. “We never had a television in my parents' house, even if we could afford it. One time, my mom won a TV in a raffle in the office, she hooked it up. And then she realized that my siblings and I were hitting each other and being too violent because we watched too much Popeye.”

Starting Young. “I became a mom at 18. It’s good that you start early, because you grow with your children. It’s easier. My youngest is nine and I’m 45.”

Playing Favorites. “Francis is my second husband. I have six children with him. When I met him, I already had two children but he looked at them as his own, although he didn’t adopt them formally. He played favorites. His favorites were my eldest girl, then our eldest girl, then one of our boys. I don’t believe in playing favorites, though.”

Saying Things. “My kids and I have this thing from the movie White Chicks: ‘You were thinking it, but you said it, you were thinking it, but you said it.’ I’m like that person--I know you are all thinking it, but I say it. I have the guts to say it.”

Phone Home. “I let my kids get out and stuff like that. But I tell them, ‘What is the phone for? I’m paying for that and I’m the only one who doesn’t get a message. Mutual respect--I don’t read your inbox, but can you at least tell me where you are?’

Blog Hound. “I’m very tech-savvy. I have a Facebookpiamagalona.multiply.com. Happybattle.multiply.com, the medical blog that I created with Francis, is till active.” I have a fanpage, so I could accept people who are not part of my personal page and I could also focus more on my advocacies. I also keep various blogs for for various purposes in various blogsites, but I find Multiply is still the best. My Multiply site is?

Twitter Attack. “My kids always have attackers on Twitter and stuff like that. These people are just so envious and I’m more tolerant with my kids. But I always tell them, “Just check yourself. If you feel just a bit of shame, then stop it already.’”

Alejandra Echevarria

Alejandra Echevarria

Taming Her Techie Habit

To Save the Environment

By ANA KRISTINE B. VALENZUELA

Published MOD APRIL2010

AT the recent Miss Earth beauty pageant held at the Boracay Ecovillage Resort and Convention Center, the most applauded, naturally, was the hometown bet, Sandra Seifert. Another candidate who captured the crowd's attention was Miss Spain, Alejandra Echevarria.

Small wonder. With her stunning good looks that remind you of local actress Dina Bonnevie and even international fashion icon Victoria Beckham, Echevarria, standing at 5'11", placed third runner up, bagging the title Miss Earth-Fire as well as the Miss Gandang Ricky Reyes Award.

Alejandra, 20, told MOD that she was supposed to compete at the Miss International pageant, but she chose Miss Earth instead. And no, it’s not because she felt pressured to bring home the Miss International crown because Spain had won it the previous year, according to rumors. “My position as Miss Spain was actually for the Miss International pageant, but I identified more with the Miss Earth pageant. I chose to join Miss Earth because I liked the goals of the pageant and because I wanted to know the Philippines.”

Her modelling career started when she won a beauty contest in her native Jaén, a city in South Central Spain. She then represented her state at the Miss Spain pageant where she won second runner-up. “After I won the crown, I was working all the time-- joining parades, attending photoshoots, and, granting interviews, which for me served as preparation for the international contest.”

Apart from being a beauty queen and model, Alejandra is also a singer. For two years, she was part of a hip-hop group she formed with friends. “I love music. I have thousands of favorite songs--one is in Spanish called Ador, sung by David Bisbal and Naim Tomas; and Hate You by Mariah Carey,” she says.

Recently, she added beauty ambassador as one of her job titles as top makeup brand Ever Bilena signed her on as one of its endorsers.

Of course, she still has advocacies she dutifully attends to. “My modeling agency organizes many charitable and humanitarian parades for children with disabilities, and implements programs to save the environment,” she says.

A graduate of Business Administration and Management, Alejandra still wants to study another course in Madrid. She says, “Really, I believe that if you have an organized agenda, you can do two things simultaneously, like modeling and studying.”

We bet she could.

Tech Talk with Alejandra

What gadgets can you not live without?

My mobile phone is my life, and my music gadgets.

Do you consider yourself a techie?

I like technology and the modern things enough, but I control myself. If I often buy a new mobile phone, it does no favor to the environment. Things should always be of suitable use and then everything will be ok.

Are you eager to own the latest products?

I admire the person who manages to create these new machines and perfect them. Since, as I’ve said, too many things could contaminate the environment, I am content with just one in hand. Makeup is my better ally. I always bring it with me. With makeup, I like to have the latest, and Ever Bilena is the best. I recommend that to the whole world.

If ever you are online, what sites do you usually visit?

Tuenti, Facebook, YouTube to see Victoria’s Secret shows, www.evelyng-models.es

Do you have a Facebook account?

I do, although I'm not in the habit of logging in because there’s a similar website in Spain.

How can the technology help the environment?

Technology can help by creating products that are not harmful to the environment, of course, and developing recycling processes.