Mang Gerry on the singing competitions that Regine lost in: ‘Luto yan!’

By MARY LOUISE LIGUNAS

 

Before she became the country’s best selling artist of all time, before she became an Asian sensation and before the world knew her name, Regine Velasquez started out as someone who joined small and barangay-level singing competitions.

 

“I started out as a professional amateur singing kontesera,” she laughed.

 

She had her own share of victories and defeats: defeats, most especially. Regine was lucky not to have carried the pain on her own. She found a stronghold in Mang Gerry, her late father.

 

“He was really good at handling defeat for me. All the contests na hindi ako nananalo, luto 'yun. Kahit nagkakamali ako, he would always tell me, ‘Ay luto 'yun. Nakita ko, luto,’” she recounted with much fondness.

 

As she was growing up, she noticed how it was his way of boosting her confidence, of encouraging her to keep going and of motivating her to keep chasing the big dream.

 

“He was so good because he didn’t want for me to feel disappointed. [Kahit natatalo ako], I didn’t feel [bad] because he was so good at prepping me,” she added.

 

Despite that method of uplifting her, Mang Gerry still made sure that Regine learned from her mistakes.

 

“He’ll tell me, 'Naku, luto,’ but then he would point out to me that I did make a mistake. But he will not get mad at me. He will just tell me, ‘Pero alam mo, nag-flat ka sa ganitong part pero luto pa rin! Luto pa rin yan!’” she recalled.

 

Needless to say, her dad was her number one fan.

 

“Feeling pa rin niya mas magaling ako sa nanalo so I grew up not having insecurities. I wasn’t a very pretty girl growing up. Feeling ko nga ang pangit pangit ko pero siya, he would always tell me that I’m pretty, that I’m talented,” she disclosed with a smile.

 

She is the Songbird today not because of her own doing but because of how much Mang Gerry loved her.

 

“He was very good at boosting my confidence but enough lang na hindi ako magiging mayabang,” she concluded.