It was some couple of weeks ago when I attended the launch of the partnership of Proctor and Gamble and the International Olympic Committee. The event was rightfully dubbed as “Thank you Mom for seeing the Hero in me.” Aside from the partnership announcement, it was a celebration of a mother’s love for her child in the person of the mother of the country’s first qualified athlete competing in light flyweight boxing for the London 2012 Olympic Games, Mark Anthony Barriga.
P&G Mombassador, Kris Aquino interviews the Barriga mother and son.
I loved it that Proctor and Gamble showed their support to the Barriga family by pampering Mark’s mother and giving her a home makeover . She also gets to join Mark to London when he fights for the title at the London 2012 Olympic Games. I can only imagine the anxiety of Mark’s mom as he flies to London without any member of the family. That one is taken cared of by P& G. Now, that’s how moms are taken cared of.
Towards the end of the program, all moms were asked to stand up and we were all awarded with this medal of appreciation. I actually felt I could make use of another medal to give my mom. She has believed in me in more ways than one. More often, her belief in me affirms and pushes me to do things that I would otherwise think I am unqualified to pursue.
That’s me, immersing in the recognition of being a mother who sees a hero in my child! I have not been a mother very long. But I believe that this is the very heart of every mother. To uplift my son to pursue what God has purposed for him to be.
Needless to say, Mark and his Momsky (as her son fondly calls her) were surprised by all the support P & G and International Olympic Committee have given them. Mark Anthony Barriga wishes to make the Philippines proud. He is currently trained by retired boxer Roel Velasco who won the bronze medal in the light flyweight division at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona and is also the elder brother of Mansueto “Onyok” Velasco Jr. who won silver medal at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta in the same weight division. Here’s hoping that Mark Anthony Barriga will bring home the gold!
