All winners @ PEBA 2010

Not everyone will win an award, but as long as you can feel the love of your family and are able to express it yourself, then you are a winner. 

Filipino families have evolved over time. Not just because of technology or influences from other cultures but because of the circumstances that divide us.

I am a firm believer of this year's theme “Strengthening the OFW Families: Stronger Homes for a Stronger Nation” because I am a product of a strong family. And whenever I think of a place that is safe from all pain and harm, I think of home. When I try to image the bravest and most loving people I know, I see the faces of my mother and father. When I fear failure and shame, I try to recall the conversation that my father and mother had, hushed away from us, about how a man can be a good person and still be used by others to exploit and extort money from hardworking people, and I remember that with the support of the people I love and a conscience clear of all malice, I can be a good person, I can be a proud Filipino.

So to all the Overseas Filipino Workers, my Tito Pako and Tita Nancy who are in Italy; my Tita Loida in HK; my Simon cousins and their mom, Tita Tess, Tito Joven and Tita Nanet in Canada; my friends from Jeddah, Mark and Gil; my friends in Riyadh especially Reina; Ate Joy and Tita Clemen in Dubai; to the countless nameless heroes who continue to risk their lives to serve their families; to the courageous bloggers who write about what happens in their part of the world; to people like my mother who bridge the gap, the heartfelt thank you from a daughter might not be enough but I give it to you nevertheless. 

I wish you a Merry Christmas and I assure you, we will continue to pray for your safety and health as long as you are not here with us at home.