Regine Velasquez

Multi-awarded singer and Asia’s Songbird Regine Velasquez knows how it feels to be poor. She is a rags-to-riches inspiration to Filipinos. But one thing she couldn’t fathom is the feeling of being at the top just to end up at the bottom again in an instant.

The singer is actually empathizing with the victims of typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng which brought devastation to the properties and lives of people living in Marikina, Pasig, Rizal, Laguna and Pangasinan among others a few months ago. And she has worried how the poor in those areas could rebuild their lives. These poor inhabitants already have little to begin with before everything they own, even the lives of their loved ones, were wiped out by mud and water floods!

Very much affected by the plight of the Ondoy and Pepeng victims, Regine and her beau Ogie Alcasid had done their share of giving out help to these people. But she knows that material things are not enough.

And this is part of the rationale behind her Christmas Special aptly entitled “After the Rain: A Hopeful Christmas” which will air tonight on GMA-7’s “Sunday Night Box Office (SNBO).”

“The concept of the whole show is to give them hope and uplift their spirit. And hope is the hardest to instill in a person who has lost everything in life. When it comes to material things, one just needs to work harder. But to lose hope is something else. You’re like a zombie who doesn’t feel anything because you have no hope,” she explained.

“After the Rain” is a two-hour musical-documentary that will feature five heartwarming and inspiring stories of Ondoy victims. These stories were chosen by GMA-7’s research department and they will be told via footages and interviews. And in each story, appropriate inspirational songs will be rendered by Regine Velasquez and guest song artists.

“An example is Jessie’s story. This is a guy from Rizal who lost his wife and children. He wasn’t home when their house which was near a lake was uprooted by raging flood waters. When he came home, he couldn’t find his house nor his family. After three days, he located the dead bodies of his family,” Regine sadly shared.

She also said that she could feel the pain in Jessie’s face as his story was told. For that story, she sang “Home” with Kuh Ledesma, Pops Fernandez and Jaya.

“He was left with nothing and all he wanted to do was to go back to Camarines Sur to start a new life. So aside from a gift that we have for him, GMA-7 gave him a plane ticket to Camarines Sur which made him a little bit happy,” related the singer.

According to Regine, “After the Rain” was supposed to be taped in a venue in Marikina. But the said venue was still being used as a relief center. Instead, the special show was taped in GMA Network’s Studio 7 wherein almost 800 typhoon victims were transported to watch the show. Their special audience was also treated to a special dinner before the show started. Afterwards, each one received a special gift from the show’s sponsors as well as the GMA Kapuso Foundation.

Also lending their talents for the special show were singers Jay-R, Kyla, Judy Ann Santos, Mae Flores, Moymoy Palaboy, Jude Matthew Servilla, Shane Velasco, Yassi, Kris Lawrence, Angelika dela Cruz, and the Kiddiewockees. The University of the Philippines’ Concert Chorus and the Mandaluyong Children’s Choir and IIAF Development Group also performed in “After the Rain.”

GMA Network’s award-winning primetime news anchors Mel Tiangco and Mike Enriquez with the Kapuso primetime royalties Richard Gutierrez, Dingdong Dantes and Marian Rivera gave inspiring messages as they cited the audience’s courage and resilience during the tragic moments of their lives.

“I also sang ‘Warrior is a Child’ which we dedicated to all the heroic stories of rescue after the destructions of typhoon Ondoy. Nakakaiyak ‘yung part na ito at di ko na kinaya…the last song I sang was ‘Light of a Million Mornings’ which talks about your faith in God that at the end of this long suffering you see a light and you know that God is there,” an emotional Regine described.

Regine’s wish is for people to watch “After the Rain” to get new insights about the tragedy and be inspired as well by Filipinos joining hands to help one another after the “rain.”

“It will still be an enjoyable show to watch. It also tries to show that no matter what happens, people shouldn’t lose their faith in God. Hope and faith should always be there. And I think that’s the concept of the whole show – to give joy and give hope back to them.”

Regine is thankful that GMA Network chose her to host the show, perform for the victims, make them happy and let them forget their woes for at least two hours. She is honored that she is a part of the station’s endeavor of giving hope for the victims to move on and rebuild their lives!