Mutya ng Batangan 2011

An OFW daughter’s pure heart

   Towering over all the other candidates, 5-foot and 10 inches tall, Christine Angel Alvaira, San Nicolas town’s representative at the prestigious Mutya ng Batangan 2011 has the humility and pure heart of a small child.

   The only daughter of an Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) couple, Christine Angel  was raised by her uncle’s family who treated her as if she were their own.

   “I admit that it is really difficult and a bit lonely to be an only child and growing up without my parents.  Even with their absence in my growing up years, my love for my parents never wavered because I knew that behind their sacrifice working abroad is their dream of raising me well and giving me a better future,” Christine Angel said.

   Despite of the absence, Christine Angel did good in school and is now in her senior year in AB Fashion Design and Merchandising at the De La Salle College of St. Benilde.

   “I believe that my college diploma is the best gift I can give to my parents. Even as a child, half the world away from them, I could feel their love for me. I know it’s not easy to leave your own little girl and work in another country. But they did that because they want to make sure I’ll have a brighter future,” Christine Angel said,”I’m so thankful and feel so lucky to have them as my parents.”

   Aside from her busy schedule as a senior student, Christine Angel also finds time to squeeze in her part-time job as a ramp model.

   With her height and natural sway, the runway is her territory.

   ”My dream is to work and be known as one of the top fashion designers or supermodels abroad specially in Europe.  As a little girl, I’d always wanted to be a supermodel,” she said

   For Christine Angel, being a model is not an easy job.

   “In this profession, you have to be disciplined enough and focus on balancing. Models are made, not born. We need to train, practice, and develop ourselves before we walk on the ramp,” she added.

   With plans of putting up her own clothing line after she graduates, Christine Angel also wants to join the Philippine Fashion Week as a designer or a model and get busy in the fashion industry.

   She still gets excited every weekend and holidays as those are the times that she could go home to San Nicolas, and for a moment, enjoy the time away from school and her part time job.

   For her, San Nicolas is a piece of paradise that God allowed her to enjoy.

Growing up in San Nicolas with her cousins who treated her as their own biological sister, she enjoyed playtime at the Taal lakeshore with the magnificent view of the world famous Taal Volcano.

   “After our games, we’d just sit on the sands of the lakeshore and enjoy the beautiful scenery of the Taal Volcano.  We’d stay there and wait for the sunset,” she said,”That was a very wonderful childhood to grow up with lots of love and surrounded by the beauty of nature.”

   The gateway to Taal Volcano from the Western part of Batangas, San Nicolas is also famous for its Maliputo fish that is found only in Taal Lake, and the ruins of the old Taal Church.

   At 19, Christine Angel admitted that she’s never had a boyfriend and wants to keep herself pure until her wedding night.

   “We all know that there is no perfect man. But my ideal man is someone who would love and respect not just me but also my family, and take care of me forever, someone who would deserve me as I walk the aisle in a wedding gown that mirrors my pure heart,” Christine Angel said.