This is Maria Liwayway Gamboa Mendoza O'boyle, Liwayway, as she likes to be called. She is actually over sixty years old. There is no denying her wrinkled face although botox undoubtedly helps. Nothing, however, cheats time and fixes that money buys can only go so far. If you take a close look at her LifeAsia cover, you will notice how hard her face looks, just like one of those lifeless clay kabuki masks in Japanese tragedy plays. But looks is only one thing "funny" with Liwayway and that is what this is about.In her cookbook she claims to have distinguished herself as an accomplished actress in Philippine stage. What does "distinguished herself" mean and is there any basis for this claim?
Growing up in Manila, I shuttled her countless times from home and back to St. Paul College and Fort Santiago where she rehearsed school plays. Through all her stage appearances she neither won any awards nor any rave reviews of consequence. There was nothing that distinguished her as an accomplished actress and as movie films go, you may find a few movies where she appeared in, but only in cameo, extra or minor roles, with small lines, if any.
She did play the main character in an off-Broadway play called "Sisa," which was financed by her second husband. It was to introduce her to Broadway. A renowned stage and film reporter was even hired by her husband to critique her acting. The show had a short run and to make a long story short, whatever that critic said ended her acting career. It is pitiful since she always believed herself to be an actress of some caliber. Acting was the only thing she knew, yet no stage pundit agreed with what she believed herself to be.
What's really tragic is that she gave up on her dream. She could have tried again, if she believed in herself. But she did not. Besides she has a very rich husband. She has a lot of money now. She doesn't need acting! She can be popular in other ways. She creates and becomes president of this and that foundation claiming to chapeon noble causes. She finds money carries more weight than herself and with that she buys herself into high society.
She then got into cookbooks when she can't even fry an egg! Not much came out of this venture. "She never made a penny and her books are gathering dust in a warehouse, somewhere," mother said. Mother was puzzled when Liwayway told her that she(Liwayway) wanted to retire. "Retire? Retire from what, she never had a job to retire from," her mother wondered.
It's about gardens next where she jumps in without really knowing much, if anything about gardening. There were speaking engagements, interviews, and photo shoots, some with a display of evening gowns and other designer clothing. She was reaching for some kind of credibility. She hyped and made up stories about herself: How she grew up in a farm amid the most beautiful gardens some of us can only dream about. How she hated bromeliads, antirrhinums, birds of paradise because she grew up with them and never paid attention to them.
Liwayway did not grow up in a farm. She would not even know the plants she claim to hate if it fell on her. Fact of the matter is she grew up in a humble house in a low middle class neighborhood in Sta Ana, Manila. She makes things up to make her past conform with her opulent, ostentatious lifestyle of today.
When she first became wealthy, a woman we knew came to see her for help. In need of money, this woman came to sell a mink garb. Liwayway bought it. Later on she got a call telling her that the mink actually belonged to the sister of the woman she bought it from and that she has to return it.
Telling the story as though she had done something noble, she said that she returned the item right away after she got the call, and got her money back. Well, what else can she do but to return stolen property, right? The thing of it is, why with all the luxurious things she already have, including mink coats, the resource to buy whatever she desires, would she be doing haggling over and buying used merchandise?
There is no doubt that money can and do change people. It is how they change that matters. Liwayway has always been a spoiled brat. When Liwayway came into the money, she indeed changed - she became a spoiled brat with money! All the material things she wanted to have that were not possible before she got. Awards and positions that required time and effort to achieve she bought. Her new found wealth made her feel powerful, confident and self righteous in virtually everything she did. "Go play golf," she ordered in a whimsical moment of self indulgence which is to become more and more frequent. It did not matter who she was speaking to - she even scolded her own mother saying to her,"what have done this time!"
She believes that as long as she is doing well and rising in society, other things don't matter. She is made up and defined by things and people she buys. She looks for gratification in luxurious and expensive things. She may look good in things her millions can buy, but deep down she remains shallow, wanting and unfulfilled.
