Dimples Romana
He is a ray of sunshine,” said actress Dimples Romana of her 5-year-old son Alonzo, whose videos, which she would post in her Instagram account from time to time, has received positive comments from her millions of followers here and abroad.“That’s Alonzo’s gift. If you need some pick-me-up, he would give it to you. In the beginning, I had second thoughts about posting stuff that were happening at home. But when I uploaded his videos, I got comments like, ‘Alonzo, you made us smile.’ That’s when I said, ‘Bakit ko naman ipagdaramot ’yon?’”
For Dimples, this is one way of using social media “in a positive way—to help brighten up the day of somebody who might be feeling low.”
Dimples then recalled seeing Alonzo carrying around the house the inner pan of their rice cooker, so she thought of teaching him how to cook rice, instead. “I thought it was a good idea to post a video about it because it would encourage other moms to teach their kids household chores,” she explained. “Besides, while we’re all on quarantine, it’s hard to think of indoor activities for children his age.”Dimples and husband, businessman Boyet Ahmee, also has a 15-year-old daughter, Callie.
Speaking of staying indoors, Dimples said that, these days, “the definition of saving lives is really just being at home.” She was reacting to news reports of people getting arrested for engaging in illegal gambling activities, like cockfighting and card games.
“Sana, wala na lang gano’n. I wish we would all follow the rules because we’re also putting other people’s lives at risk, especially the front-liners. We need them out there to take care of us. They call themselves soldiers; and in this war, they’re fighting for all of us,” she pointed out. “We should realize that they’re helping us, even though they don’t know us; that we’re all connected by this net of love.”She further said: “We should think of how we could help, even just within our community. If everybody thinks this way, it will make the net of love even bigger.”
At the time of this interview, she and best friend, actress Angel Locsin, were already wrapping up their #UniTENTwestandPH campaign, which aims to raise funds to help set up isolation tents for patients in overcrowded hospitals. “We’ve reached a little above P11 million and provided more than a hundred tents to different hospitals. But of course, you can imagine the number of requests we’ve received. Sadly, we can only do so much,” she shared with Inquirer Entertainment.
Dimples with Alonzo
Dimples also said she regretted not being able to physically go to the hospitals with Angel. “She won’t let me tag along, also because she knows I take care of kids and an elderly here at home. My contribution to the project is more of coordination.”
Dimples admitted that joining the fundraising not only gave her the opportunity to help others, it also gave her emotional stability (“fear and self-doubt start to creep in when we’re idle.”) and a sense of purpose.
“You want to help, but you feel helpless because all you do is just clean the house and cook for your family,” she admitted. “What’s good is that, these days, we already have friends and institutions that provide ways for us to help, even while at home.”Dimples said the pandemic made her realize that “we’re all equal. Walang mayaman, walang mahirap when it comes to the virus. It’s also the same with helping others. Whoever is capable of giving should give. Whoever needs the most urgent help should get it first,” she declared. “We have different ways to serve. While some go out to distribute goods, others stay indoors to cook hot meals that eventually get distributed. Others help in the form of prayer, which is a big deal. One of the most powerful prayers is one that is given by people we don’t know—it’s more pure.” INQ