IF I had to describe my mom's life by way of song, I'd start with 'Love Changes Everything.' I haven't seen 'Aspects of Love,' but my siblings and I know that song's lyrics, and can sing along to most musicals, as our mother, former House deputy speaker and five-term elected representative Girlie Villarosa, loved them. I can easily see my dad's life in the lyrics of 'The Impossible Dream.' Our very own 'Man of La Mancha,' my dad Joe Villarosa was a former governor, representative and mayor of Occidental Mindoro.

It was this romance that brought Dad, Mom and, by extension, us five siblings back to Occidental Mindoro in the late 1980s. Dad's affection for his 'hometowns' (yes, plural) and Mom's love for Dad (her family is from Bataan) drove them into the 'public' sphere of our nation, and pulled us children into a world of unbelievable experiences.