Ruffa Gutierrez-Bektas arrived on January 5 at White Cross—a home in San Juan for less-fortunate children—bringing her two daughters Lorin and Venice, mom Annabelle, and a full load of gifts and surprises.
Right after the gift-giving activity, PEP (Philippine Entertainment Portal) got the chance to interview the actress and former beauty queen.
Smiling, she said:"Ewan ko, love na love ko mga kids. When you hug them, when you kiss them, I'm so happy! Parang gusto na nilang magpauwi sa iyo. If I can only take them home, why not, 'di ba? Para marami ng kapatid sina Lorin and Venice."
When White Cross approached Ruffa to sponsor a Christmas party for the kids, the busy mom did not hesitate.
"Sinabi nung administrator kung pwede akong magpa-Christmas party dito [White Cross]. Ayun, nung Pasko busy kami, dumating yung husband ko [Ylmaz Bektas], so we didn't have time. Sabi ko Christmas and Three Kings na lang kami mag-gift giving."
She kept her word.
Squeals of delight were heard all over the place. The short program, hosted by a clown, had some games and dancing. Food was provided by Maggi (which is endorsed by Ruffa's brother, Richard). And when it was time for the gifts, the girls were overjoyed to see that they had Barbie dolls and the boys were equally overjoyed to get action-figure toys.
RUFFA'S CHARITY PROJECTS IN THE COUNTRY. Ruffa, the eldest child of actor Eddie Gutierrez and talent manager Annabelle Rama, started her involvement with socio-civic projects at a young age.
"Since I was fifteen," Ruffa recalled, "I was already helping. I used to help Asilio de Medalla Milgrosa, which is in Cebu, 'tsaka yung Hospicio de San Jose. Ever since I was fifteen, talagang naggi-gift-giving na ako with the orphans."
In 1998, the former Ms. World Second Princess founded the Roof-A-Child Foundation Inc., a non-profit organization created to provide temporary shelter for homeless children.
Last March 18, 2006, during a brief visit here, Ruffa spearheaded a celebrity bazaar which raised more than one million pesos for the Leyte mudslide victims.
Through the Shining Light Foundation, Ruffa also gave 700,000 pesos to the Philippine National Red Cross to help in its housing projects and rehabilitation.
RUFFA'S CHARITABLE ACTIVITES IN TURKEY. In Istanbul, even if she had the Fashion TV Turkey then—being the former top lady boss of Intel Media, Inc., and at the same time, a mom to her two daughters did not prevent Ruffa from doing charity work.
She elaborates, "Sa Istanbul, marami na rin akong charitable organizations na tinutulungan. Dun naman yung mga may leukemia and diabetes. The other one is a Hospital for Children with Leukemia [Okmeydan's Children Hospital] and Bakirkoy Orphanage for Children with diabetes."
The Bakirkoy Orphanage in Turkey caters to smaller children with few language skills. Okmeydan Hospital, on the other hand, looks for hospital volunteers who will help make the sick children happy by doing fun activities with them, such as drawing and playing games.
For a person who is several things almost all at once—wife, mom, TV host, actress, cover girl, commercial model, philanthropist—Ruffa's is a life well-lived.