Every year, we celebrate these special women in our lives—our mothers.

We adore our mothers (and motherly figures) for a number of reasons, but what is clear is that their grace, strength, intelligence and love can be a powerful tool, a steady anchor and a strong pillar that we can lean on.

The Philippine real estate industry, while often seen as a man’s world, is not left wanting when it comes to having mothers in powerful, top-ranking positions who continue to guide their flock and provide that much-needed strength, warmth and guidance.

These women leaders have worked relentlessly to ensure that their companies and the real estate industry as a whole would be able to realize their mission of providing modern, safe, quality structures and developments, where individuals and families can thrive and grow.

Their contributions to the industry are immense to say the least, but what’s more impressive is that they achieved all these while still attending to their role as mothers to their respective families.

Thus, it is only fitting that as we celebrate Mother’s Day tomorrow, we also pay tribute to some of the industry’s best. In the following pages, you will read letters from husbands, sons, daughters and co-workers who want to pay homage to the most special women in their lives. A loving mother also writes a letter for a son she’s longing to see and be with as soon as the pandemic is over.

Indeed, nothing can compare to the love of our mothers and motherly figures. It is perhaps partly what allowed us to get us through these challenging times and eventually find our way in this now normal.

Our mothers have been our guide and mentor and, thus it is only right to give her the admiration and respect that she truly deserves. Read on as we give salute to all the mothers of the world.

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A POEM FOR MEGAWORLD COO LOURDES T. GUTIERREZ-ALFONSO

Leading The Group with Love

Inspiration comes in a lot of ways,
what we love most is working with you every day.

Always willing to share your wisdom,
letting us explore and create with freedom.

We thank the Lord for putting you on our path,
a leader who inspires positivity, no matter what.

You’ve treated us all like family,
and fulfilled your commitment with utmost integrity.

Yes, challenges and adversity may come and go,
but with you guiding us, we know we’ll make it through.

This Mother’s Day, we say our big thanks to you,
for inspiring us to embrace a higher purpose in everything we do.

You’ve been an awesome boss, mentor and friend,
and we pray that blessings continue coming your way to no end.

Happy Mother’s Day, LTG!

From your Megaworld Family

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A MOTHER’S ENDURING LOVE FOR HER SON

Dear Amos,

Today I write to you with a happy heart. The sun is shining one of its brightest today, and I took a breath to thank the Lord for His wonderful blessings. I am about to embark on a busy day, but seeing what God has in store for me, and what is around me, I feel happy.

I usually say a little prayer during this time of day, whispering to Him that He watch over my greatest blessing, my Amos Timothy, as you sigh from a busy day and prepare your dinner since you are on the other side of the globe. I thank the Lord for guiding you always and keeping you well and good amid our distance.

A mother’s worry for her child does not end in college graduations or during the time he gets his first job. It continues throughout the lifetime, I guess. But there is always a silver lining: the realization that beneath worries of this distance that we are in, you are able to reach your dreams, that you are able to bear fruit from your hard work and sacrifice, that beneath obstacles, you are able to win through it.

This pandemic has caused us to be physically apart for the longest time. It’s been one year and four months since we last saw each other—two Valentine’s Days, two Spring seasons, two Mother’s Days that we’ve been apart.

While I pray for better days ahead so we will be able to see each other, I am thankful for the things you’ve accomplished. First was your graduation last Spring that would have been extra nice if we were together. But much of the highlight on that day may be that you were awarded magna cum laude, and special awards for your excellent thesis—goals that you reached through your hard work and persistence. And now, I’m also happy to learn that, finally, the physical rites will push this coming June, I am very happy for you.

Second was landing your first job after graduation. Amid the difficulties in the job market worldwide due to this pandemic, we thank God for giving you an opportunity to work and show your talents and skills. Third, for being such a bright and independent man by going to government offices there in New York for your preparations for job market. I know we have sheltered you a lot here but you’ve proven to be able to handle things yourself properly.
Beneath all that I’ve achieved in life, you are truly my greatest achievement, too. To have given birth to a wonderful boy to the man that you are now, I cannot wait to find out more what the future holds for you. I love you!

Love,

Rosemarie Bosch Ong
Mom of Amos

(Rosemarie Bosch Ong ‍is SEVP-COO of Wilcon Depot)

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A SON’S LOVE LETTER FOR MOMMY DEAREST

Dearest Mommy Marose,

I know that you miss my letters. When I was a kid, I would write you on every special occasion possible. There is so much to thank, appreciate, honor and celebrate when it comes to you. And why not write to you again after a long hiatus from my love letter-making days?

On this Mother’s Day, I would like you to know that in the absence of those letters written to you as an eight-year-old, I’ve always tried to express my deepest appreciation to you through action. With all the love that you have showered upon our family and with all the kindness you have shown to people around you, I know my siblings and I are always motivated by what is good and what is selfless, and this gives me great hope that we can follow in your footsteps.

As this is uniquely a Mother’s Day letter to you in my favorite Property Section of the Inquirer, allow me to finally reveal to the world the secret weapon behind Cebu Landmasters—that is you Mommy Marose, the loving mother of CLI and inspiration of our founder Joe! Just as your mom and my dear Lola Ester helped many people through the service of real estate, it always gives me great pride knowing Lola Ester is smiling down from heaven seeing you continue that legacy in a significant way.

I am very fortunate to have both my grandmother and mother as my inspiration in real estate. You have taught me that real estate must be personalized, service-oriented and generous, and that we must always empathize with our employees, clients and homeowners and place ourselves in their shoes. This upbringing has really made me embrace the real estate profession much more, armed with the right inspiration that we are in a position to make a difference in a lot of lives.

Thank you also for being my role model as a parent. Now that I am father to three beautiful children, I cannot help but think of the big shoes I need to fill because of the kind of parenting I saw from you. Your motherly love has always made us whole and even more than whole, and that is how you have raised us to always go beyond ourselves. I always pray that I can honor both you and dad by becoming a good parent.

Amid the rapid pace of our profession, juggling a growing list of responsibilities, I always search back into my memory bank and remember how you never wavered as things got busier. But rather, you were always our shining star, cheerleader, ice cream supplier, travel buddy, confidant and simply our best friend.

Mom, every day is Mother’s Day in my eyes. You are very much part of who I am, and very much part of the goodness that I try to bring out in my day to day life. Happy Mother’s Day!

Love,

Franco Soberano

(Marose Soberano is the VP of Cebu Landmasters Inc., while Franco serves as the COO)

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A SELFLESS MOM AND A BFF

Dear Mom,

Three kids, high ranking executive calling the shots, and present in the house at all costs—Mom, how do you do it? As we grow older, we realize that you have been our strongest shield from this cruel world, but through example. We have our daily pep talks (sometimes over wine and cheese); you continue to guide us to stand and walk on our own. And at 26, 22 and 16, we find ourselves walking, talking and even dressing like you, always aspiring to be a mere speck of the Wonder Woman that you are.

Thank you for spoiling us with cute clothes (stalking pieces we liked on Instagram only to surprise us with it), for the lambing and cuddles (even if you still force us to sit on your lap at this age), but most importantly for spoiling us with your time and putting our happiness first. But Mom, to us, seeing you smile lights up and makes our world a happier place.

To our lioness of a mother who taught us everything we know about love, who took us under her selfless wing, thank you for carrying us in your womb, it has now allowed us to find a best friend in you. And honestly, it can’t get any better than that.

Happy Mother’s Day, bff! We love you so, so much.

Love,

Maxine, Tisha and Raya Soliven

(Valerie Soliven ‍is chief revenue officer‍ of Rockwell Land Corp.)

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SALUTE TO A SUPERWOMAN, ‘BESTEST MOM’

To our inspiration, and the ‘BESTEST’ mom Trina Chan,

Happy Mother’s Day! Today we celebrate you!

Mommy, you are our role model—a reliable leader who excels in all her responsibilities and a selfless, nurturing mother to everyone. You continue to show us we can aspire for anything as long as we put our heart and mind into it. You are our Superwoman, and we are so proud of you.

There is this song you always sang to us at night when we were kids. The lyrics were “have faith, be brave and someone’s waiting to love you” from the Disney movie: The Rescuers. These words comfort us until today, and it summarizes the three things you have instilled in both of us.

The first is to have faith in God. You always remind us to be grateful for all the blessings the Lord has given us and never forget that He will be there to guide us. Second, you tell us to be brave. Growing up, you would always encourage and push us to explore different opportunities that may come our way. You have made it possible for us to be fearless. Lastly, you always reassure us that family, especially you, would stand by us and love us for who we are.

Words cannot explain how grateful we are to have a mom like you. You are a mother who cares for everyone, not only our family, but also your colleagues, friends and many more people who touched your heart. You are a mother who always glues everyone together, and you never forget to have time for family bonding. We are so grateful for everything you do for us. We are so lucky to have a mom like you who has the biggest heart filled with love and warmth. Thank you for supporting us as we learn to navigate through life, for cheering us on in all our achievements, for guiding us at difficult times and for comforting us through our failures.

Mommy, we will always take care of you and support you in all your endeavors. As we are now heading to a new chapter of discovering ourselves in our careers and finding our places in the sun, we hope to make you proud! We promise to cook for you more, give you fewer headaches and always make you smile forever and ever. We love you very much.

Love,

Brian and Sam Chan

(Trina Chan is Ortigas Land’s AVP-head of Office Leasing)

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TO THE BEST WIFE, THE BEST MOM

My dearest Pammy,

It has been 13 years since I asked for your hand in marriage. We were totally different people then, just a young couple in our early twenties, no care in the world, just you and me. Back then, we had a lot of big dreams, dreams we both shared, dreams we both wanted to achieve. There was just so much we wanted to do with our lives and little did we know that marrying each other was barely the beginning for us.

Fast forward to today, four endearing children and 12 years after exchanging our “I dos” and promises to each other, I still cannot believe how lucky I am to have found you. I look back at our big dreams then, and I realize that we have already gone past some while many may soon be just be within reach. Not to say that these dreams came easy and simple to us, in fact it took a lot of effort, drive, purposeful direction and charity. I am proud to say I learned all these traits from you and I rest knowing our children will be fortunate to inherit the same from you.

You teach them to always put in the effort, even when they sometimes don’t feel like it—that Alvaro continues to work on his taekwondo consistently and one day be a black belter like his coach. You teach them drive and ambition but also bring purpose and direction in everything they do—that Therese, who dreams of becoming an astronomer, will always be reminded that even if she is looking at the stars far out in the universe, it is the people right here in the community whom she can help. You teach them charity—that our two toddlers already know the value of giving to those in need, and that Cesco, on his own, even helps prepare some meals to be given away.

Our children are extremely blessed and lucky to have you as their mommy, never spoiling them, always teaching them, always showing them love—both kind and tough. You mean the world to our kids and I know this because even if I am your opposite in many ways—I give in to spoiling and I am rarely the “discipline officer” and almost always the funny (or corny) one—they all cling to you like monkeys when you’re around. I guess they know just how much you think about them and care for them all the time.

There is no one like you in this world, “Best of wives and best of women,” Happy Mother’s Day, my love!

Yours forever,
Bryan

(Pammy Vital is the president ‍of OviaLand)