HOW VICE GANDA WAS INSPIRED BY FOREIGN BENEFACTOR TO GIVE BACK

VICE GANDA SHARED HOW HE WAS INSPIRED by a foreign benefactor who sent him to school — a memory brought back during the launch of his first endorsement project with partner Ion Perez, under the beauty and wellness company Beautéderm led by CEO Rhea Tan.

- By NATHALIE TOMADA

Celebrity couple Vice Ganda (left) and Ion Perez (right) are introduced together as brand ambassadors for the beauty and wellness company, BeautéDerm, led by CEO Rhea Tan (center).

The celebrity couple were introduced together as ambassadors for the corporation’s Belle Dolls brand at a presscon, which The STAR attended.

Today, the comedian and TV host said he tries to pay it forward by sponsoring the education of children — including three full scholars — with the help of Tan. When reminded of instances wherein these sponsored kids would surprise him by showing up on his noontime show “It’s Showtime,” Vice said, “Ako din nakakalimutan ko na rin. They’d suddenly show up on ‘Showtime,’ after a commercial break or after the live show, and they'd talk to me, show their certificates or diplomas...”

Vice continued, “Because I don’t personally meet them. Because I also don’t want to get attached. I don’t want to feel bad if the help that was given to them was taken for granted. Because there are such instances. Some didn’t value it, flunked school even after being given allowance and tuition.

“So, it warms the heart (knowing about scholars who finished their studies) that it somehow makes you realize, you've done something right or that you've made some right decisions in life.”

Vice said he knows how it feels to be on the receiving end of life-changing generosity.

The host shared that a Japanese woman named Noriko Tokura from Kyoto supported his schooling up to college, and in return, he would faithfully write her letters every week.

“I was once like them. I was a kid who was sent to school by someone I didn’t even meet in person. So ganun din ako, yung atake sa akin nung nagbigay ng scholarship. She was a Japanese woman with the name Noriko Tokura... from Kyoto, Japan,” Vice recalled.