Pilita Corrales’ selfless and forgiving love

(From left) Ramon Christopher Gutierrez, Jackie Lou Blanco and their momo Pilita Corrales. Image: Instagram/@pilitacorrales

Pilita Corrales, as her daughter Jackie Lou Blanco remembers her, was not a regular mom but not for reasons of stardom. It was for her great love for life and her unselfish ways that left many in awe. 

Amid her self-made fame, Pilita had remained grounded and raised her daughter and son Ramon Christopher Gutierrez without an ounce of entitlement.

But looking back, it was difficult, the Asia’s Queen of Songs admitted, to be a present mom to her children while having to attend to the demanding work that supports them.

“It was harder for me to leave the children, because I had to be traveling all the time and they were growing up. But I had to work,” Pilita said of her sacrifices as a single mom in a 2023 interview with actress-TV host Toni Gonzaga.

There was even an instance, as recalled by Pilita, when Jackie Lou was kidnapped and brought to the United States by her dad while the veteran singer was at work. It was devastating for Pilita who then became a regular visitor at the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) office to track the location of the father and daughter.

After a month of being away from each other, the mother and daughter reunited.

READ: Pilita Corrales died in her sleep, Jackie Lou Blanco, Ramon Christopher say

“Ang ipinagpapasalamat ko lang sa mom ko is she could have sent my dad to jail kasi kinidnap ako ng tatay ko e. Pero sabi ng mom ko, ‘No. I know your dad did that because he loved you so much,'” Jackie Lou recalled in a 2024 conversation with Amy Austria.

“Kumbaga pinatawad lang niya and they had a relationship after,” she continued, saying her dad could even visit their house freely. “Even if my parents were separated, I had the best of both. I had my mom, I had my dad.”

Jackie Lou, overwhelmed with gratitude, underscored how she would have not known her father from a positive perspective had Pilita harbored ill feelings toward him.

“Sobrang selfless kasi ‘yung nanay ko e. Up to this day, I’m so blessed that my mom had such a big heart,” she said. “Kahit hiwalay ‘yung nanay at tatay ko, I never felt incomplete. So I owe it to my mom talaga.”

From a mother’s perspective

But prior to their close relationship, Jackie Lou admitted she also had a phase when she could not open up to her mom and that written letters handed through small door openings had become their way to communicate.

While Pilita had always been reaching out to her, Jackie Lou, according to her, had always been distant for some reason.

“I don’t know why it was so hard for me na sabihin sa kanya kung ano ‘yung nararamdaman ko, kung ano ‘yung iniisip ko. But when I became a mom, parang may bumukas na door na para bang na-realize ko na ganito pala magiging nanay; ganito pala ‘yung pinagdaanan ng nanay ko raising me,” she said.

“That helped me na parang maging mas open sa mom ko, mas appreciative, mas grateful. Motherhood gave that to me,” she added.

Abusive relationship

Jackie Lou was also a witness to her mom’s heartbreaks, including an abusive relationship that always breaks the younger actress whenever she recalls it.

“It only happened when he had a drink. When he took one sip of alcohol, he became a different person,” Pilita said of his former partner of over a decade, Amado Sarabia, a Paraguayan crooner more popularly known as Amado del Paraguay in the 70s.

Jackie Lou initially saw Amado’s presence as something that “hinders” her from being close to her mom, although she admitted that it might have been a feeling she imposed on herself.

“He was okay naman with us. Wala naman akong problem with him. The only time I had a problem with him was when he physically hit my mom,” she recounted.

“This was the room of my mom and this is my room,” she continued, giving an idea on how their rooms were located close to each other. “My mom, she’s always a very positive person. Hindi siya masyadong hihingi ng tulong. Parang kaya ko itong lahat, di ba? Narinig ko dun sa kwarto: ‘Jackie, help me.'”

Jackie Lou worriedly rushed to the room and banged down the door. When it opened, she saw Pilita lying on the floor.

“Nakahandusay siya sa sahig, black and blue,” she recounted, breaking into tears. “He left because I said, ‘Get out!’ First time kasi na I see my mom na hindi malakas. Talagang naka-ano siya dun sa floor kasi he was kicking her.”

“Pero after a while, she still took him back. Hindi ko naiintindihan ‘yun so lumayas ako,” Jackie Lou revealed as she lamented how the traumatic incident left a scar on her.

But even so, Jackie Lou has nothing but admiration for her mom for having a forgiving heart.

“She’s gone through so much in her life pero she has such a forgiving and an open heart na, ‘Okay, I’ll try again. You know, maybe it’s gonna work this time.’ Parang she loves life so much,” she said.

She also regards Pilita as a “survivor” who served as her guiding light. 

“Survivor kasi ‘yung mom ko. That’s something that I remember na parang naging gabay ko whenever I would go through something difficult in my life,” Jackie Lou remarked.

“‘Yun ‘yung boses na naririnig ko na ‘Hang in there,’ kumbaga ang problema mawawala rin,” she added.

Pilita died in her sleep last April 12.