MOMMY  D

[PHOTO AT LEFT - Dionisia Pacquiao or Mommy D to her closest friends is smiling from ear to ear. The reason is not the instant admirers swarming around her but the showbiz career which has unceremoniously landed on her lap. This is manna from heaven for being a supportive mom to Manny Pacquiao and a devotee of Mama Mary and Sto. Niño.]

MANILA, NOVEMBER 12, 2009 (STAR) By Jerry Donato - “I don’t have a love life,” Mommy D, speaking in the vernacular, dispels rumors that she has found a second chance at love. “My focus is my children.”

She is perhaps mature enough to know that having a suitor or a partner at this point might make her budding showbiz career turn sour.

Mommy D seems to enjoy every moment of her showbiz life. Proof is her debut movie Ang Tanging Pamilya (A Marry-Go-Round) for Star Cinema with former President Joseph “Erap” Estrada and Ai-Ai de las Alas. It is now showing in theaters.

“I was invited. And I heard that Erap wanted me to be in the movie,” Mommy D recalls how she got the mommy role. “It was hard to decline the offer. I know him (Erap) from way back. I met him for the first time when Erap turned over a check to my son.”

Although Erap was crucial in her participation in the movie, Mommy D remains mum about the prospect of endorsing the former president come May 2010.

Is Manny happy with her entry in show business?

“Kung saan daw ako masaya, dun din daw siya,” she answers. “It’s okay with him as long as I don’t do show business on a regular basis. He worries that I might get tired.”

Based on the movie trailers, Mommy D is having the time of her life. She is full of energy and is a natural comedian. She was pitted against veteran actors, and passed the test with flying colors.

Mommy D has co-stars Ai-Ai delas Alas and Candy Pangilinan to thank for making her (Mommy D) look hilarious. The veteran comediennes have given their debuting comedienne pointers on how to put people in stitches.

In the movie, the half-Pinoy, half-American Sam Milby asks Toni Gonzaga to marry him. This piece of good news doesn’t only excite Toni but also her mom Ai-Ai, who herself wants to walk down the aisle with husband Erap. Mommy D’s presence will bring drastic and destructive changes to the wedding plans.

After Ang Tanging Pamilya premieres, Mommy D will fly to Vegas to witness Pacquiao’s fight with Puerto Rico’s pride, Miguel Cotto.

Like what she has religiously done before, Mommy D will pray for her son’s victory.

Aside from acting, Mommy D wishes to be back on the dance floor and entertaining us with her ballroom dance moves. It was in dancing that Juan dela Cruz first noticed Mommy D’s charm as a person and gracefulness as a performer. She is also looking forward to having her own album and meeting her idol Imelda Papin.

How is Mommy D taking her popularity inside and outside the biz?

“I never thought I would be doing this,” she replies. “My son would tell me, ‘Mama is more popular than me.’ (Kungsabagay), walang Manny kung walang Mommy D.”