Maria Mamaril, 44-year-old Pampanga native followed the footsetpes of his father Brigido Mamaril, a retired culinary specialist from the US Navy. She climbed the military ranks quickly, earning two degrees, serving two tours of duty in the Middle East, and overcoming depression while being a military wife and mother to two young children. Among the nine siblings, Mamaril says she was the only child who chose the military as a life and career.

Along with two fellow petty officers at the US Naval Medical Center in San Diego, she was promoted to the military’s highest rank for an enlisted sailor, master chief petty officer, at a special ceremony.

Maria signed up for the Navy with the intention of using the GI Bill to help pay for her nursing college tuition. In 1987, she was assigned to her first ship in the supply department on the USS Acadia, one of the first ships to accept women.

She attended medical school during her off hours and was promoted to hospital corpsman third class within a few months.
By 1992, she was working in San Diego, married to a hospital corpsman chief and caring for their first child. After graduating from Surgical Technician School she was assigned to boot camp with the US Marines, since the Marines do not have their own medical unit.

Five years later she was nominated Senior Sailor of the Year while working at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, MD. In January 2003 she was deployed overseas for Iraqi Freedom in Northern Kuwait. Her surgical company was in charge of evacuating the Marines, Army, sailors, and civilians.

In 2007, she earned a MA Degree in Security Administration. During that same year, she was deployed to the Arabian Seas twice. As master chief and mother of two, Maria still loves working with patients and mentoring the next generation of new recruits.

As master chief and mother of two, Maria still loves working with patients and mentoring the next generation of new recruits. “It’s really a big change for them (Filipinos and women) to see someone like them at the very top.” She says road that she took benefited her in the end and can open the door for others.

She says a lot has changed in the military: Mandated policies prohibiting sexual harassment and post-traumatic stress treatment programs have long been implemented.

Maria had gone a long way and her success made her father truly proud of her!

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A Filipina mother and  a great actress gave honor to our country after she won the Best Supporting Actress trophy in the recently concluded Asian Film Festival held in Hongkong last Monday. Gina Pareño bagged the prestigious award in the Film Festival which is dubbed as the Asian Oscars for her role in the indie film ‘Serbis.’ This film which was also an entry in the Cannes Film Festival last May has already earned her another international recognition when she won Best Actress at the 6th Pacific Meridian Film Festival in Vladivostok, Russia.

Gina Pareño also won a Best Actress trophy for Jeffrey Jeturian’s 2006 film “Kubrador” at the Osian’s-Cinefan Festival of Asian and Arab Cinema in New Delhi, India; the International Festival of Independent Film in Brussels, Belgium; and the Amiens International Film Fest in France.

I like her role as “Lola Gets” in ABS CBN’s teleserye “Tayong Dalawa”, I can say she’s both good in drama and comedy roles.

Congratulations Ms. Gina Pareno!

I thought of sharing their story to inspire more mommies and hope to learn also from the experiences of these two certified best pinay moms!

A natural born mother

Nobody fits motherhood to a T than Jane Guinto. All her life, she wanted to have four children. She already had two, Hannah Katrina and Luis Gabriel, when she received the bad news: she had a brain tumor.

“I was at a new church then,” she recalls, “When I went inside the restroom, I met a lady, and made small talk. She said she was part of a cancer support advice group, and that got me interested. She told me that one time, she pressed her nipples and a clear, odorless liquid came out. That’s how she found out that she [had] breast cancer.”

Jane continues, “A few days after, I remembered that lady, and out of curiosity, I pressed my nipples, and I was shocked to find that liquid came out. I rushed to the doctor, and they told me I [had a] brain tumor.”

Against the wishes of her doctors, Jane got pregnant and gave birth to her third child, Sarah Anne. They also advised against breastfeeding as it might enlarge her tumor but she still did.

“You could say it’s gut feeling,” says Jane, “that pushed me to give birth to another child, and continue to breastfeed my children. I don’t believe doctors that easily, and I need proof to support their claims before I believe them.” Her tumor did not grow. She would like to think that somehow, breastfeeding her kids helped.

After two years, Jane found her “angel” once again. They met at the same church. Jane thanked the lady for their chance meeting, but the lady thanked Jane as well, saying that Jane was her gift that day because it was her birthday. She was happy that she was able to help someone.

Until this day, Jane continues to breastfeed and homeschool her children. She enjoys motherhood to the hilt and profusely thanks the Lord for all the good things that have happened to her.

A model mom

“I’ve never missed a day of breastfeeding,” proudly says former beauty queen Nuriza G. Abeja-Bungubung. This 30 year-old mother is a firm believer in breastfeeding because it helped improve not only her lifestyle but that of her children as well.

Nuriza was a victim of drastic weight changes due to her pregnancies. During her first pregnancy alone, she gained 73 pounds. Doctors advised her to drink lots of milk, and she hoarded several balikbayan boxes of it.

But this proved to be the wrong advice. It was only when she stopped drinking cow’s milk and switched to a pesco-vegetarian lifestyle (she only eats fish and vegetables) that she lost 75 pounds.

Breastfeeding proved to be extremely beneficial to Nuriza. She continued to breastfeed her son even during her second pregnancy, and because of this and her pesco-vegetarian diet, Nuriza only gained 30 pounds. After her pregnancy, she continued to lose weight because of breastfeeding. She now has an enviable 25-inch waistline.

However to accomplish this, mothers need the support of the people around them, especially their husbands. “Mothers should be empowered,” says Nuriza.

This year, Nuriza was proclaimed Breastfeeding Queen for achieving a remarkable feat: breastfeeding her two children, 4-year old Joaquin and 1-year old Amina in tandem.

Nuriza advises, “You need to commit to breastfeeding. It’s not easy, but it’s not hard. When you want the best for your children, you will definitely want to breastfeed them.”

For more information about breastfeeding, please visit www.breastfeedingphilippines.com.

Article source: mb.com.ph