EVERY time someone in showbiz gets a big break, someone else always wants to break him. Or in this case, her. Jennylyn Mercado has been pulled back into several old controversies in one blow by someone who has followed Jenn’s footsteps into showbiz and who herself has led a tough life. In an interview on one of the local gossip magazines, this younger talent brought back issues that have long been dead. Issues that I would like to call growing pains.
As an aggrieved party, this talent portrays herself as the victim in a power play between herself and Jenn, making look like a manipulative little cash cow in a network that has a long standing tradition of family. Or does she simply see herself as a victim? This is unfortunately the common self-perception of most adolescents who have gone through a difficult childhood, and I would like to take this time to ask parents to be extra careful in rearing children lest they have this unnecessary burden to deal with when they reach their teen years. As if being a teenager isn’t hard enough as it is. Sometimes, the teens never get over it and they bring it into their adult life and it becomes a vicious cycle, which we Filipinos do not need, especially in our family-oriented culture. Speaking of being family oriented, the network has better means of treating their artists than as cash cows--the artists are treated as ka-puso because they all share the same heartbeat, the same desire, the same passion.
As Jennylyn’s manager, I am proud to say that this young woman has pulled herself away from that pitfall of seeing herself as a victim despite her traumatic childhood. Yes, she has been through her own growing pains, has made mistakes as all young ones are bound to do, and has learned from them. Right now, she is up to her neck in work and enjoys every minute of it, using it as a stepping stone to becoming the responsible adult she is called to be without losing the youthfulness she is entitled to.
Having recently visited one of the universities in Quezon City, she hung out with friends and shopped in one of the organization’s bazaar, buying shirts like any normal girl in her twenteens and bringing home little gifts for her family and crew. She saw a flyer about an audition in one of the school’s play productions, a well-known musical, and has asked me to see if her schedule will permit her to join if she gets in. She’s looking forward to the audition, giddy and nervous as any teenager despite her accomplishment in the entertainment industry.
As if I could not be any more happy and proud of this humble yet open attitude, she has decided to hold a pre-Christmas Party for children who have been sheltered from abuse on my birthday. Jenn held a party for the Bata Foundation Christian Mission for battered kids in Naic, Cavite last Friday, November 24.. This was made possible through the sponsorship of McDonald’s, Drs. Manny and Pie Calayan, Particles, Converse, Faremo International, Starmall Jen at Finds Superstore, Aficionado Cologne, Bambini Lotion, Purefoods , Placenta and WL Foods. She does this because she wants these battered children to share in her view, that they have a hand in their lives. They don’t have to be victims. Jenn believes no one can please everybody so it doesn’t matter what people think or say so long as she knows she is living her life the best way she can: honestly and generously and lovingly. No one should live a life fearless of other people’s shadow. It’s no wonder she’s getting big breaks in the biz--because she lets nothing break her spirit.
http://www.journal.com.ph/index.php?issue=2006-11-26&sec=3&aid=2775
