Madam Auring may be an object of ridicule to those who don’t really know her, but she’s one very interesting person to many, including celebrities from across the globe, and the rich and powerful in our country in the past.

We’ve known Madam Auring for sometime and had written about her in the past but we really didn’t know her well enough. We met her again after a long while at the opening of “Wowowee’s” mini-Olympics held last month at the Araneta Coliseum. Madam Auring was the muse, along with Roxanne Guinoo, of Willie Revillame’s Blue Team.

We’ve always found Madam Auring funny, and at the Araneta Coliseum, she said, “Isulat mo naman ako, pasikatin mo ulit ako,” to which we readily said, “Of course. Puntahan mo ako for an interview.”

Just recently, Madam Auring – bedecked with fashion jewelries and dressed flamboyantly – and escorted by a young, handsome guy, visited us at the Manila Bulletin. She made our interview short and easy by giving us a copy of a long and exhaustive article written by Janet Villa for Starstudio magazine in January 2008.

“You don’t need to interview me, alam ko busy ka; read this, nandyan na lahat-lahat ng tungkol sa buhay ko.” She left a little later, but not before she posed for souvenir photos with my staff and giving each one of them a set of numbers to bet on in the lottery. But Teresa was skeptical and she told her why. “Eight years ago, sabi mo yayaman na ako. Bakit hanggang ngayon mahirap pa rin ako?”

To which Madam Auring retorted, “Malay mo sa binigay ko sa ‘yong six numbers mananalo ka na sa lotto? Just wait, malapit na. Don’t lose hope.”

What made Madam Auring popular?

Madam Auring (born Aurea Sabalboro to Luciana Damian and Jaime Sabalboro) was still young when she discovered she had a special gift which she attributed to God – she could tell the future! She had a “third eye,” which made her see images and foretell what’s going to happen. In their neighborhood in Sampaloc where she grew up, while she became popular because the things she foretold would happen happened (like someone would die, someone would get sick, a house will be burned, etc.), she also became the target of ire by their neighbors became scared of her gift. So for a while, she stopped telling people what she saw would happen to them because her mother warned her not to, otherwise, “palalayasin tayo dito.”

She was born to a poor family so when she was young, Madam Auring did odd jobs to help out her parents. She finished only elementary school but her daughter Teresa said, “Matalino siya, marunong sa diskarte...” Her needs were simple. If she ate an egg a day, “masaya na siya.”

Madam Auring married early. She was forced to marry a young architect, Ramon Erfelo who she met at a party and who brought her home. Because it was already late at night, her father thought something had happened between them and so he forced them to get married. They had four children but their marriage did not last, understandably so because there wasn’t really love in their relationship. Ramon got back to his first girlfriend, and later Auring herself got involved in other men and had two other children.

Her big break as fortuneteller

Madam Auring’s big break as fortune teller came when in 1974, Jullie Yap Daza (she spelled her name with just one “l” then and one of Aurea’s clients when she wasn’t called “Madam” yet ) who was at that time the lifestyle editor of the now defunct Times Journal, asked her to set up fortune-telling sessions for the Miss Universe contestants at the poolside of the Philippine Village Hotel.

Because she wasn’t conversant in English (“ang alam ko lang yes at no,” she said), Auring had to take up a crash course in English and studied hard. But still at the fortune-telling sessions with the contestants, translators stood by to help her out. She predicted (correctly) that Amparo Muñoz would win as Miss Universe that year. Jullie wrote about it and all her later predictions. Auring became more popular and she attributed her success to Jullie.

The famous men in her life

Auring became Madam Auring because the legendary boxer Muhammad Ali named her so. In 1975, a year after the Miss Universe pageant held in Manila, Muhammad Ali came over to Manila for his historic “Thrilla in Manila” fight against Joe Frazier. Back in the United States, an American seeress, Phyllis Bury, predicted that Ali would lose to Frazier and this made the famous boxer distraught.

Ali’s Malaysian promoter heard of Auring and sought her out for a session with the boxer. Auring went to Ali’s suite at the Manila Hilton (now the Manila Pavilion-Waterfront Hotel) and Ali showed her the article that predicted his losing to Frazier. Auring took Ali’s hand, read it and in her limited English vocabulary said “No, you will not lose in ‘Thrilla in Manila.’ You will win.” Ali was so ecstatic of her prediction that when told that her name was Auring, he said, “From now on I will call you Madam Auring.”

When Ali won, he told reporters of Madam Auring’s prediction and her popularity as fortune-teller soared, and her clientele grew tremendously. Celebrities and movie stars started calling her or going to her apartment to have their fortunes told. But others like former First Lady Imelda Marcos, Nora Aunor, and reportedly even Fernando Poe, Jr. and Joseph Estrada had Madam Auring picked up for fortune-telling sessions in their respective residences (in the case of Mrs. Marcos, in Malacañang).

Among Madam Auring’s famous male clientele included Hollywood actors Robert Duval and Franco Nero. She developed close friendship with Ali and then with another famous boxer Larry Holmes who reportedly became her lover. Ali and Holmes helped her out in the construction of her house in Quezon City, she said. Malaysian promotor Mike Ong even wrote her to say Holmes never forgot her even after he married his longtime girlfriend. Another boxing champ who helped her financially was Rolando Navarette, the “Bad Boy from Dajangas,” who was her idol and inspiration, she said.

Madam Auring had many lovers (even her children couldn’t keep count of them, she chuckled) and one of them was a British commissioner who worked in Hong Kong, and who she said was the love of her life. He looked like Elvis Presley, she recalled, and they would see each other regularly in the HK. Their affair lasted for nine years, until his death.

She likes young and handsome men. “Lolokohin din lang ako, eh di yung guwapo na pipiliin ko,” Madam Auring philosophized.

By the way, among her predictions were that of President Fidel V. Ramos’ winning the presidency over rival Miriam Santiago; disasters and deaths like starlet Claudia Zobel’s; she also predicted that President Gloria Arroyo will not be impeached and will finish her term.

Madam Auring may have her faults, especially in the choice of her lovers, but one thing is certain: She’s a good and doting mother to her children.

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25 kids top Musmusikwela auditions

Twenty-five youngsters aged 8-12 topped the singing auditions of Musmusikwela 2009, the ultimate kiddie talent search for boys and girls who could be honed into the country’s next big musical talents.

From 150 kids who sang their way through two weekend auditions in May, the Music School of Ryan Cayabyab picked 25 of the most talented to go up to the next level – a musical face-off at the Teatrino – in front of event partner, the Music Museum Group, Inc. led by its president, Ms. Precy M. Florentino. From the 25, 10 scholars will be chosen to enjoy full scholarships to The Music School of Ryan Cayabyab. On its 20th anniversary last year, Ms. Florentino identified the TMSRC as an institution that the Music Museum would support in order to contribute to the ongoing identification and development of young musical talents.

“The kids are really confident, magagaling. They are such good performers!” Maestro Ryan Cayabyab said of the 25 who made the cut. “The genre of their songs is also very diverse. They sang pop, R&B, standards and jazz, even classical Tagalog pieces like the kundiman. This is a remarkable batch – considering that we have just begun.”

Ms. Precy Florentino was really impressed with the young talents. “They are so good! I am so happy to note that Filipino music will never run out of talents for generations to come,” she added.

The Top 25 kids came from Metro Manila and nearby provinces such as Laguna, Cavite and Bulacan. They are Darlene Louise Ordanza, Juan Miguel Santos, Zion Vicedo, Patricia Marie Adriano, Adrian John Angeles, Melbelline Anne Caluag, Katrina Mae Llorente, Miah Isabelle Canton, Samantha Nicole Eguia, Alecx Lorica, Tracy Carreon, Stephen Tan, John Rhorick Legaspi, Kris Angelica dela Cruz, Ma. Danica Velasco, Janella Salvador, Gerard Sabinosa, Caleb John Hinanay, Anthony Gragera, Cristina de Leon, William Kertzman, Alyssa Mora, Laika Maninang, Patricia Eriana Ramos and Leon Matawaran.

The 10 best from this batch will receive scholarship grants from Music Museum for a 10-month, three-level training at TMSRC under Maestro Ryan Cayabyab.

The group is scheduled to perform in a recital in September after the first level of the scholars’ training at TMSRC.

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Tidbits: Happy b-day greetings for June 15, go to Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago, Rep. Eric Singsong, Ms. Jullie Yap Daza, Michelle Dayrit-Soliven, Maribel Carag Dario, Ray-Ann Fuentes, Tony Espejo, Dr. Modesto Tatlong-Hari, Jennifer Sy Patricia L. Celis, Mrs. Carrie Bautista, Honeygirl S. de Leon, Mrs. Carolina David, Leonore Perez, columnist Jarius Bondoc, and lawyer-producer Joji Alonzo…