Jaya back on track, to share stage with music icons Kuh and Pops
Jaya
Three months after a fire razed her home in the United States, Jaya is back on track. She has found a new place to live in. There are concerts and gigs aplenty. But more importantly, her family made it through the ordeal unscathed.
“Thank God, we’re alive. I still get to do what I love—what I have been doing since I was 10. I get to collaborate with different artists. I don’t know what more to ask for. I just live day to day. And I’m thankful for every day,” she said at a Zoom conference for her upcoming US concert, “3 Divas,” which she will coheadline with Kuh Ledesma and Pops Fernandez.
Last Aug. 6, the singer returned home to Silverdale, Washington after a show in Texas. It was her daughter Sabriya’s 16th birthday and her husband Gary Gotidoc, revealed that there was a surprise waiting for them at home. They opened the door to find balloons all over. They happily took photos. But soon they realized that something was amiss.
“All of a sudden, the house was burning from downstairs … It was an electrical issue,” Jaya recalled. “Thank God, people around us helped us. We survived. And a friend housed us for a couple of days.”
At first, Jaya thought that it would take her family at least a year to recover from the misfortune. What she didn’t know was that the incident would ignite the spirit of bayanihan in her community.
Grace Point, the local church Jaya attends and sings at, provided assistance. A friend put up a page on the fundraising platform GoFundMe. Her husband got a new job as an electrician helper. The house they had long been eyeing—which used to be for sale—suddenly became up for rent.
Blessed
“God restored us, absolutely,” she related. “The realtor who helped us was also a Christian. He told us that the house was ready for us anytime. I thought it would take us a year to recover … But we did quite quickly, because of all the people who helped us out financially and gave us stuff.”
“Bayanihan happened,” she added. “We were blessed.”
But more than the material support, Jaya believes that her family’s faith in God played a big role in their recovery and healing. “I think we were able to go through it without hitches because God was present in our lives already. We realized, in hindsight, that the purpose of what happened was to show us that there’s nothing to worry about. Building lang ‘yan… The important thing is that we weren’t wounded.” Since relocating to the United States last year, offers to do shows have been coming in nonstop. “All I can say right now, really, is glory to God,” she said. “I have been doing so many shows. I have met so many kind people. Producers I haven’t met yet started reaching out to me through email. The blessings just go all round. This is the right time for us to give love and compassion, and make new friends. A new start is always a great thing.”
“3 Divas” (from left): Pops Fernandez, Kuh Ledesma and Jaya
3 Divas
Mounted by VP Entertainment, “3 Divas” will be held on Nov. 12 at the Fantasy Springs Resort Casino in Indio, California.“I’m excited and pressured at the same time. It has been a long while since I worked with Kuh. And I haven’t worked with Pops yet. I’m thankful… the gratitude is just overflowing that God let this happen,” she said, adding that never in her wildest dreams did she imagine that she would one day share the stage with the said music icons. “These are powerful women. How did I find myself in the same industry as them? Their level is something I… [think I won’t] ever get close to,” she said. But they will be my anchors in the show. I’m so excited to see them perform, see the character they bring out onstage and learn from them. I’m blessed with their friendship and presence.”
