1-pn: Mikee gets best wishes from home as she weds Dodot on July 25
Balita News
TARLAC CITY, June 29 (PNA) - - The Swatch Girl is getting married
and everybody she knows in her home-province wishes her all the best.
Actress, apparel model and equestrienne Mikaela Maria Antonio delos
Reyes Cojuangco, 25, will be Mrs. Robert "Dodot" Jaworski Jr. Of
course, she will remain to be known among her friends and fans as Mikee.
The third daughter of Tarlac political stalwarts former Rep. Jose
"Peping" Cojuangco Jr. and former Gov. Margarita "Tingting" Cojuangco,
it has become inevitable that most of those who came up close and
personal with Mikee here are also, in one way or another, involved in
her home-province's political field.
Her family's ties here has also drawn the young Cojuangco into the
political arena, as she was elected in 1993 chair of the Provincial
Federation of the Sangguniang Kabataan. Mikee was also chair of the
youth arm of the minority opposition group Kabalikat ng Malayang
Pilipino (Kampi), which coalesced with the Liberal Party during last
year's elections.
But despite her social stature and her family's political standing,
Mikee has been described as "simple, who can easily be befriended by
anyone," Christian Cuchapin, son of former Paniqui mayor Cesar Cuchapin
and chair of the town's municipal SK Federation, said of the young
actress as "hindi nakakailang na kausapin (you can comfortably talk to
her)."
It was also in Paniqui, hometown of the Cojuangcos, where Peping
Cojuangco served as mayor for sometime before marital law was declared.
"We expect that Mikee will never change, she will always be close
to the people," Cuchapin said.
In Gerona, Mayor Llames Sembrano remembers Mikee as "always cool."
"Yong porma niya, hindi nalalayo sa pangkaraniwang tao (The way she
dresses up is not far from the common people)," the mayor said.
"Makikita mo siya naka-white shirt lang at naka-jeans, and walang
pretensions sa sarili.
Board Member Bienvenido Buan also recalls how Mikee worked with the
SK, as at the time she chaired the youth organization, she was an
ex-officio member of the provincial board representing the youth sector.
"Despite her tight schedules, (both in school and acting), she still
found time to attend to her responsibilities (as SK chairperson)," Buan
said.
"Madaling makasalamuha ng tao (She can easily get along with
people)" was how Board Member Rey Catacutan described Mikee.
Catacutan was with Tingting and Mikee, and her younger sister
Mai-mai, when they visited in July last year Camp Abubakar in
Maguindanao, stronghold of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
Tingting has an ancestral home in Cotabato City, and while she
studied at the National Defense College of the Philippines, her thesis
dealt on how should government solve the MILF rebellion in Mindanao.
With that thesis, she came to personally know Al Haj Murad, the MILF
military chieftain.
"During our visit to Abubakar, I observed that Mikee knows how to
respect other people's cultural and religious beliefs, and their
political convictions," Catacutan said.
Erlie Duduaco, who was provincial information officer when Tingting
was the governor of Tarlac, said he knew that it would be Dodot whom
Mikee would marry. "But nobody among us who came to know her knew that
the wedding will be this year," he however said.
"Ang sweet nga nila." Duduaco said, as he remembered how Mikee
would slip campaign materials of Sen. Robert Jaworski Sr., Dodot's
father, during last year's elections.
"Ipinamimigay niya 'yon sa amin para ma-distribute sa mga tao, so
in a way, malaki rin ang natulong ni Mikee kay Jawo noong election (She
would give the campaign materials to us so that these could be
distributed to the people, so in a way, she has also greatly helped
Jaworski during the election)," Duduaco said.
Wedding ceremonies for Mikee and Dodot will be at the Santuario de
Antonio inside the plush Forbes park. It will be on July 25. (PNA) fpv
/JE/BV/ aav
PNA 06291526