Personal Acknowledgments

A week after crashing the party of some patients at the Philippine Children’s Medical Center, which as it turns out, was headed by Project: Brave Kids, I’m coming out with a list of people I wish to personally thank.


They are as follows:

My family—Dad, Ma, Ate Win, Soy and Migs—for agreeing with me that exposing ourselves to children like Nichi is a good idea despite the pain we are nursing.

My berks—Joy, Arjane, Joan, Lowny, Leng, Jen, Nikka and Kistna—for an outright, “Yes!” when I solicited their help which they kept to from the gathering of funds, to the buying and wrapping of gifts. I am so grateful to them for staying and assisting us during the big day.



My gifted artist-friends—Kate, Kokoy, Chris and Ferdie (friend na kita!)—whose talents in face painting are directly proportional to their patience in handling their cute canvases: the more talent they shared, the nicer they were to their bunch-of-brave-kid-clients. Thanks also to Ging for her abundant and beautiful photos.



Our balloon decor coach, Kuya Bing, and his wife, Ms. Isay, for the free crash course on balloon art, for their time, and for lending and sharing their balloon gadgets and other resources for the party.

For my officemates and even my bosses (Product Management and Marketing Group) who are soooo supportive! I thank them for pouring their time, talent and passion in preparing those export-quality, especially handmade gift tags with matching original and inspiring messages. Of course, thanks also to Joy and her officemates (Tok-Tok-Tok staff) for preparing their set of gift tags albeit their busy schedule.




The doctors of PCMC for entertaining my endless queries from the moment I started bugging them about how I can help make their patients be extra happy this Christmas. I thank them for suggesting that my family and I become part of the party and for trusting me with a couple of tasks during the party.

Ate Esther for the ride from our house to the hospital. Although I have to admit, I doubted that she can make it (on time). But, alas, she did make it! Suswertihin na ang bagong pick-up niya dahil sa sangkatutak na blessings na isinakay namin doon.

The generous people who contributed money which made purchasing 150+ sets of 16-color Crayola crayons, 2 Monggol pencils, a drawing book, eraser, sharpener and 2 sheets of stickers; gift wrappers; adhesive tapes; balloons; and a set of face paint possible. Thanks also to the ones who donated coloring books, hotdog balloons, and another set of face paint.



Those who expressed their intentions to share what they have but weren’t given enough time to gather and turn in their gifts. Just hold on to those goods, this Christmas gift-giving would definitely not be the last!

To the organizers of Project: Brave Kids for providing a venue for people like us to heal especially at this time of the year.




Most important of all, I thank the brave bunch, Nichi’s friends, the exceptionally special kids (redundancy intended) at the Philippine Children’s Medical Center who continues their fight, and in the process, displays their amazing genuine courage. You are an inspiration to many! Laban lang, mga bata. Siguradong may reward sa inyo si Papa Jesus dahil sa katapangan ninyo!

Salamat. Salamat!

With all your help, you made it possible for us to bring happiness to a lot of kids! You also did a wonderful thing to the hearts of each of the members of our family.

Again, salamat. Salamat!

If Nichi were here, he’d tell you, “More Power!”