BOOTS ANSON-ROA'S BELIEF, A LIFE OF SERVICE IS MEANINGFUL By Elizabeth Lolarga, PlanetPhilippines.com Is the prim and proper Maria Elisa "Boots" Anson Roa for real? For a fleeting moment she paused, then answered the question obliquely in the refined and measured tone that people have grown familiar with from years of hearing her on the radio, seeing her in the small and big screens or watching her emcee countless programs. " What you see is what you get," she said. "The nuns at Assumption taught us that if you want to know what is real about a person, catch her when she is alone. How do you behave when you're alone, when you know that you won't be found out? That's you." Now the president of the Movie Workers Welfare Foundation Inc. (Mowelfund), chair of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) cinema committee, NCCA executive committee member, host of "Boots Talk" aired over ABS-CBN's radio station DZMM, among other involvements, she cannot imagine herself, even at age 58, ever retiring and becoming a woman of leisure. " I never will be one. I guess it's what the nuns in school inculcated. If by a woman of leisure, you mean watching television whenever I want, going to parties, playing mahjongg, taking off for a vacation anytime, I'll probably feel guilty. I want my life to be more meaningful rather than just seeking my own comfort and satisfaction," she said. This speech and drama major of the University of the Philippines left school without completing her thesis, but she managed to complete certificate courses in basic journalism, public and media relations at Georgetown University in Washington DC and television production at Media General Cable Network. Today she still finds time to teach broadcast management at the Ateneo de Manila University every Wednesday morning, and film and TV at the UP College of Mass Communication in the afternoon, going out of her way to give her students photocopies of the required readings. She admitted, "I'm service-oriented. My orientation from my school days is other-oriented. It has always been that way. I don't see myself retiring. If service has always been your life, not doing anything deprives it of meaning. I don't think I can bear that." Her husband Pete has told her many times whenever she is home, feeling restless and in search of an activity, "When you're looking for something to do, you'll really find something to do." It was he who wanted to return to the Philippines after his entire family moved to the United States in the 1980s when Ms. Anson Roa was appointed press attaché, cultural officer and special assistant to the ambassador for media, community and cultural relations. Their stay in the States lasted 11 years. It entailed selling houses and lots in the home country bought from their savings so they could finance their children's private school education. They had to close their family enterprises like the Boots ready-to-wear line and OAK (one-of-a-kind) handpainted men's shirts. Eddie Baddeo, now a renowned name in haute couture, got his first break while fresh out of school by working for the Roas. Anson Roa said, "We didn't want our kids in US public school because we were after the character education offered by private schools. Even when we could afford to send them to school fulltime, we still told them to work." This was nothing new to the Roa children who were working students already in the Philippines. During their summer and Christmas breaks, they did odd jobs in the office and shop like joining the delivery boys in unloading stocks at the department store outlets, buttonholing or sticking labels on the clothes. The eldest, Leah Roa Cuevas, was on the dean's list of George Washington University where she earned a bachelor's degree in chemistry. She is now the assistant to the dean of the Marymount University Graduate School of Education in Arlington, Virginia. The second, Joey, went to the Northern Virginia Community College in Annandale, Virginia, took up some banking subjects at the American Institute of Banking in Washington DC and TV production also at Media General Cable in Arlington. When his father suffered a stroke in 1997, Joey took it upon himself to take care of Pete fulltime. Third child Chiqui Roa Puno, a familiar face on Philippine television as a sportscaster of PBN-4 and IBC-13, graduated magna cum laude with a B.S. Psychology from George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. The youngest, Ben, was also on the dean's list at the same university where he got his degree in business administration. He is still in the US, working in an information technology firm. It was Chiqui who gave the mother an eye-opener about the direction she would take. Anson Roa recalled, "She struck a chord when she said on her senior year in college, 'When I graduate, I'll just work fulltime to save money and gain experience. But I'm going home because I want the Filipinos to benefit from what I have learned. Why should I make America richer? If I can contribute something to the Philippines, why not?" The mother told herself that Chiqui was right. "My God, we were contributing to the brain drain! Pete always felt that we were just statistics, part of the population count among the minority. We faced a glass ceiling." Besides, his parents were in their 90s, and he wanted to be with them in their last years of life so he went home ahead. Anson Roa was left in the US to wind things up. She had their house sold, held garage sales and finished the administrative duties at her office. She rued, "I was happy with our quiet life and so fulfilled. I thought that I had faced my challenges well." After four years in the embassy and with the change of administration in the Philippines in 1986, she worked for a time as a telemarketing supervisor of Public Interest Communications, then a subscription representative of the Kennedy Center, guest services officer of Hyatt Regency Hotel before becoming a secretary and later executive assistant of the senior vice president for operations of the Citizen's Bank of Washington. She worked her way up and was sent on a banking scholarship that she was unable to finish. She said, "My American bosses were amazed at my perfect English, the accurate way I spoke. They called me a wordsmith. I did their correspondence, even the ones in Spanish. When I made paalam and gave them three months notice, they asked why. I said, 'My husband wants me home. I want to keep the family together.' It sounded strange to them that I had to follow Pete out of sheer obedience. I sacrificed my career in the States to accede to his wishes." Her colleagues and supervisors gave her a memorable send-off party, presenting her with a solid gold bracelet and a gold-plated clock. She recalled, "Most heart-warming were the words of my boss who said, 'I want to thank you, Boots, for introducing a new work ethic in the bank.' Everyone stood up and applauded. In my mind were the words, 'Puwede na akong mamatay (I can die already).' That standing ovation made the occasion doubly meaningful." She was not at all regretful. "God is good although we had a reentry adjustment. We had to rent a house for two years and move around in a secondhand car we bought from Chiqui's husband and which we paid for in installment for ten months. The good karma (I earned from the sacrifice I made) produced results. My manager Bibsy Carballo spread the word to producers that I was coming home." Even before she left the US, she already had assignments waiting in the Philippines. She did three movies at the same time and commercials for Silver Swan, Master Sardines and Avon. Out of seven TV shows offered to her, she did three: a drama anthology for RPN-9, a sitcom for GMA-7 and the family-oriented "Pamilya" anthology which she, her husband and their friends produced. " Tuloy-tuloy (it was continuous). I was never without an assignment," she said. Before long she was able to buy a townhouse, two condominium units and a modest house in Kamuning, Quezon City, the cost of which Anson Roa shared with her sister. Leah, Chiqui and Ben, meanwhile, have given their parents eight grandchildren. Joey still lives with his parents, caring for his father. The older Roa can walk with a brace and a cane or even without a brace for short distances. Anson Roa, the daughter of actor Oscar Moreno and Belen Cristobal, once a chemistry professor at the University of the East, was pleased with the fact that the awards she has won for acting are fewer than her citations and awards for services within and without the entertainment industry. She expressed concern that Mowelfund's funds have been drastically cut. The organization used to receive 60 percent of the amusement taxes earned from the Metro Manila Film Festival, but now the percentage is down to 35. The members number 4,500. Their head said, "They're the obscure ones, the stunt men, the supporting actors and actresses who are not active anymore, the makeup artists, utility men and crew." Of the more famous names in need of help, she mentioned Dely Atay-atayan and Metring David. These members are entitled to P7,000 for hospitalization, P3,000 for medicine, P12,000 for surgery and upon death, the surviving family members receive P25,000. Anson Roa said it was not good practice for the members to passively wait for these benefits. Under her, Mowelfund introduced livelihood training (hair cutting, reflexology and computer literacy) "so the members would find a greater sense of fulfillment because they work for their money." The feedback she has received from those who finished these short-term courses is heartening. They have started working in their neighborhoods, offering home service and earning at least P200 a day. She noted, "How proud they are of their diplomas! You can see that a sense of self-worth is so important."