Not just pampered ladies: The Alabang Housewives
They live outside Alabang, but they can very well qualify as Alabang Housewives. Pamela Spella and Vanessa Ishutani, as their surnames suggest, get the kind of financial support only Filipinas married to CEOs, doctors, top lawyers and celebrities can get.
They are married (or, in Vanessa’s case, used to be married) to foreigners who can spoil them with shopping sprees as often as their heart desires.
Pamela has two children by her Italian husband who dotes on her own and allowed her to join TV5’s just-concluded reality show “The Amazing Race Asia.”
Vanessa also has two kids by her former husband, a Japanese whom she met when he visited the Philippines to help street children in the provinces (they have since parted ways because his Buddhist parents can’t accept her Catholic beliefs).
Pamela just wanted to feel the thrill of the chase in “The Amazing Race” while Vanesa tried her luck because she finds the lure of the klieg lights totally irresistible.
Money not the motive
In short, the P2-M prize money was no object when they joined the race. Believe it or not, behind their seeming frilly, wacky ways lie a heart of gold. .
“I want to help others,” Pamela says. “Sawa na ang husband ko sa kaibibili sa kin ng shoes and bags.”
“Kapag nabalik ko na ang mga ginastos ko para makapasok sa showbiz, gusto ko naman mag-charity,” Vanessa chimes in.
Clearly, they’re not your typical social butterflies with nothing in their heads but shoes, bags and all things money can buy. Make no mistake. These pampered ladies who mix up their o’s and a’s, who squeal with delight at the sight of Derek Ramsay, have depth.
This is what they want to prove in their new show, “The Alabang Housewives,” which airs Monday to Friday, 10 a.m., on TV5, starting Monday, Jan. 14.
Take it from Vanessa, she who admitted making the first move to snare her Japanese ex-husband in his own turf just before she went back to the country.
“Itong show namin hindi lang kalokohan,” she relates. “Maganda rin itong halimbawa sa viewers. As a mommy, kahit papano, inaagaan din naman ang mga anak namin.”
Vanessa’s marriage may have failed. But she’s now happy with her Filipino boyfriend who works for an internationally-known beverage company.
“Hindi masamang mangarap,” explains Vanessa.
While Vanessa hoped to hog the limelight by auditioning as an “Eat Bulaga” Solid Gold dancer in the '80s, petite Pamela was just looking for a thrilling challenge.
Small but terrible
“Di may kasabihang 'small but terrible'? I asked Babe (her term of endearment for her husband) to let me go kasi may nakikita akong (nangangailangan) ng brain (in “The Amazing Race.”). Siguro, may konting brain naman ako.”
The frequent traveler also saw a different kind of journey awaiting her, something which mixed adventure and sports.
Believe it or not. The fun-loving Pamela and Vanessa are religious. Besides common friends, they share an abiding faith. The two would meet every Thursday for born-again Christian events where they would break bread.
Seems Pamela and Vanessa have met their match in each other.
Vanessa says theirs is a love-hate relationship. But she doesn’t mind. That’s friendship for them.
It will see them through upcoming interviews with celebs (they’ve talked to Nora Aunor, Rhian Ramos and Derek so far) they hope to get showbiz survival tips from for viewers to see.
As friends, Pamela and Vanessa will make sure one lets the other shine in the show’s other segments: beauty, cooking, fashion, etc.
They will drive home the point the best way they can by making it fun and keeping it light. Accented English and fan mentality aside, there’s no better way to go for these two ladies who promise the best of themselves for televiewers, five times a week, four times a month.
