PRISCILLA MEIRELLES: I CHOOSE TO BE HAPPY

Following her separation from estranged husband John Estrada, Priscilla Meirelles stated that she is now "at peace" after what she went through.

- By CHARMIE JOY PAGULONG

She was calm and collected, showing off her funny side, when she answered questions from the press during her contract signing with VAA (Viva Artists Agency) and mediacon held at the Viva office.

The former beauty queen forged a deal with VAA as one of its talents, co-managed by veteran entertainment writer and talent manager Aster Amoyo.

"Two years ago, I was already at peace. Haha!" declared Priscilla. "I was brought up in a family where respect is very important. And as a woman and a mom, I really want to teach my daughter what is right. And I don't want to normalize wrong in a society, especially in a society where men can do as they please, nobody says anything, society accepts and we just need to be quiet and smile because they are paying the bills. That's unfair.

"So in that scenario, I just wanted to make sure that I don't want to be those kinds of women who say it's OK because it's not. And I think by doing that, somehow I kinda started, you know, ignited something in a lot of people who were being treated unfairly and to also speak their minds and to advocate themselves."

Priscilla further stressed the importance of respect for family. "It's not acceptable to behave in certain ways in society and to treat family, sorry to say, as trash. Family is the most important pillar of society. And when you analyze that and when you start treating the family as something that doesn't matter by not giving the right importance to its members and respect that the family deserves, I think that's when it collapses."