Gem: Yeah. So what do I do? Oh wala. When I say a lot, my calendar is really filled up with I would call it service, you know. I think that’s my mission in life right now to really give service to our clients. Why? Because the first thing that really attracted me with what I’m doing is I study behavior of people.
So when I study the behavior of people, we use our tool, and the tool is called life orientations. Yung life orientations kasi um hindi ka bina-box kung ano yung nakikita ng tool namin sa iyo. Meaning to say there are some tools kasi that boxes you. Ikaw na yon no?
Gem: And I’m not going to tell the other tools. So I’m going to focus on life orientations. What’s really beautiful with that is that there are a lot of validation points. The validation point is that our tool, yung life orientations, is the only one that can analyze your behavior based on favorable and unfavorable conditions.
So hindi ka kinakahon. So here come a lot of clients. Hindi na lang muna ako magme-mention ng client’s name of that. Okay no? So we have big manufacturing companies.
Gem: Uh, I think during our pep talk I mention you some of my clients, from distribution to food, and very big construction companies yan ang mga kliyente namin.
Philippe: So we’re talking mainly enterprises
Gem: Super, super enterprises. And why why do they get life orientations? May slash pa yun ah. Yung life orientations pag kinuha kasi ng tao, inaaral namin paano yung current behavior mo.
Not how you were before, not how you will be in the future. Yung ikaw ano ka ngayon? Who are you right now? And oftentimes, especially itong client ko lang ngayon, e-commerce naman, malaki din. May mga questions sila sa selfawareness. Yun yung medyo mabigat ngayon.
Gem: Especially with the society that we have the very big question of who I am what I am what am I doing in this society right now especially here the Philippines. Huwag muna tayong lumabas sa ibang bansa dito muna tayo.
So marami silang questions and one of the things I’ve said lalong-lalo na dito sa mga taga-ecommerce kasi mga gen z’s, sabi ko during the time na pandemic which is a couple of years ago, 5 years ago and nag-open lang naman 2023 ang society natin globally parang nagkaroon ng vacuum lahat ng tao and there’s a very big question in our mind na ano ba ako?
Gem: Even I question myself wait a minute yung identity ko parang nagba-blurry na ba? Sabi ko, “Teka, ano hindi ko ginagawa yung normally kong ginagawa? Why am I waking up for? Who am I waking up for?”
Parang nawala yung questions na yon. Yung yung sagot doon sa questions na yun nawala. So I had to go back to the tools that I was using. Isa na nga tong life orientations. Nung sabi ko, “I’m also teaching innovation.” Dapat in 5,10 seconds alam ko ‘yung gagawin ko kasi I have to innovate.
Gem: Hindi pwede yung ginagawa ko paulit-ulit and I’m going to expect a different result because the scenario is different. It’s pandemic. I cannot go out. So andiyan na yung ayan may mga online online. So ang head office ko kasi is in Japan. So I I’ve created a tool online na hindi naman ako nag-program kasi hindi naman ako programmer.
But the idea ikinonnect ko dun sa tool namin sa life ko. Yun nagamit globally kahit tuwang-tuwa kami kasi hindi na hindi kasing massive yung yung output versus face to face pero hindi nawalan ng chance ang tao to reach out to us and we to reach out to them.
Gem: So yung vacuum na yon yun yung sinasabi ko especially now, ano na ba ngayon 2026 parang yung mga gen z’s ngayon malalaki ang questions nagkakaroon ng identity crisis, kasi parang ngayon o sige ano ba yung what will make me happy that’s the first question they have.
What will make me happy so akala nila the happiness is about having nice clothes, having nice makeup, um yung mga material things kasi at the end of the day hawak lang nila cellphone nung pandemic. Yun lang yung sort of communication nila in the outside world. So dito wala silang touch of reality.
Gem: I told my son just the same. Sabi ko, “Kuya, ang mundo hindi parang games na may gold ano gold coins ka diyan at the end o kaya o may three lives pa ako and bibili ako with my coins.
” No, you try to go out and that’s the real world. Yun yung vacuum na sinasabi ko na nagkaroon. Lahat naman tayo at the end of the day parang kinag-question natin may bukas pa ba? Even I didn’t realize na magkakaroon pa ng business ako. I was so scared that time. I was thinking I told my professor then in financial management.
Gem: Sabi ko non, sir, umiiyak ako sa kanya kasi that was also the time 2021 December yung typhoon odette. It was so massive diba. I have a beach property in Cebu. Wasak yun. Wasak, kasi doon dumaan si Odette eh. Alam mo yung eraser parang iner-ase, nawala yung beach ko doon. So I had a lot of um investments there. Wala nawala yung lahat. So iyak na ako.
And I told my son that time we were in Starbucks. Tini-treat niya ako kasi siya yung stable yung trabaho non. Sabi ko, “Kuya, wala na tayong beach.” Iiyak ako talaga. Iyak ako. Sabi niya, “Mama, okay lang ‘yan. Walang problema yan. Importante may trabaho. Sabi ko yun nga eh kasi ganun ganun yung trabaho nung pandemic eh ba.
Gem: Tapos what what was really humbling was that para bang lahat ng kaartehan ko before the pandemic. Ito shine-share ko lagi lalo na dun sa professor ko. Sabi ko, “Sir, kasi ganito ‘yan eh. So nawala ‘yung beach.” Sabi ko we were discussing sa klase sa advanced financial management dun about profit, saving. Sabi ko, “Sir, sa totoo lang wala ako niyan lahat.”
That was 2021. Wala ho ako niyan lahat. Sabi niya, “Teka muna alam mo bang may pandemic ngayon?” Sabi ko, sabi ko, “Oo naman, sir. Ikaw naman.” Sabi niya, “Oh, anong ine-expect mo?” Reality, lahat ng tao walang pera ngayon. “Ano ka ba?” Sabi ko weh di nga. Gem sabi niyang ganyan, “Come on, open up your eyes.” Magtatanong muna ako.
Gem: Sabi niyang ganyan sa akin, “Nagkasakit ka ba ng COVID?” “Hindi po.” “Anak mo?” “Hindi po.” “Okay.” Kung Ilang beses ka kumakain? Minsan tatlo. Pag gabi gusto ko ng ice cream, punta kami 7-Eleven. Sabi na, “My God, you can still afford ice cream. Nagrereklamo ka pa.” Sabi niyang ganyan.
Sabi ko, “Sir, hindi mo nagrereklamo. Kaya lang para ba ‘yung bank account ko nung kashing kashing kashing kashing. Palabas lang ng palabas yung pera. Parang oh my God, wala talaga.” Then yung kaartehan ko na wala.
Gem: Kasi sabi ko ilan ang rubber shoes ko non? Cabinet ko 35 ang rubber shoes ko non. Kung anong kulay ng damit ko, kulay ng rubber shoes ko, kulay ng loob at labas ko ganun akong kaarte. Wala lahat yon. So most of my sneakers, anong nangyari? So ‘ ba ano bumubuka hindi mo gagamit eh.
So bumukhang ganiyan, ginawa ko nilagyan ko ng halaman. O eh di nagamit ‘di ba? Tapos so ‘yun tapos sabi ko sa sarili ko, “What is the message of God to me?” Kasi alam ko may mission ako. Pero bakit? Bakit parang may ang laki-laki ng barrier ngayon? I’m, I’m using life.
Gem: I’m using ITS parang walang effect. And that was my real, parang wakeup call. Parang sabi ko, “Oh my God, ang poor poor ko na pala. Hindi ko alam. Tapos sabi ni professor, sabi sa akin ni sir, “O sige, sinabi mo wala kang profit, wala kang savings, lahat naman tayo.” Pero isa lang itatanong ko sayo, alam mo ba na yung sinasabi mong ang kumpanya mo ay may loss of savings, loss of profit?
Tawag diyan ‘yung kabayo mo may sakit? Pag ang kabayo mo may sakit, saan mo dinadala? Sa vet or binabaril mo? Pinapatay mo. Napaganon ako. Syempre ano ako e. I respect the presence of animals. No, I have 22 cats by the way. Ano?
Gem: Outside and inside yan. So sabi ni sir, isipin mo. So sabi ko iyak-iyak ako. Online lang din yun na nasa kung saang coffee shop siya. Iyak-iyak ako never forget his answer. Ang kumpanya mo kabayong may sakit gamutin mo. Huwag mong babarilin. Kasi kapag binaril mo yan and you close shop, it’s harder to recover.
Dahil saan ka kukuha ng pera. Sabi ko, oo nga no. Kasi I also have maintain an office in in Makati. Eh alam mo naman mga office sa Makati, hello? Diba, Makati yun? CBD pa, central business district ng buong Pilipinas. So medyo may kamahalan.
Gem: Sabi ko, “Diyos ko talagang sabi ko kashing kashing kashing ganyan ang back account ko.” Sabi ko, “My God, ano ba tong pinagpapapasok ko sa buhay ko?” Pero hindi nawala ang tiwala ko kay Lord. Sa totoo lang talagang kapit ako kay Lord.
‘Yung yung kasabihan, hindi kapit lang kay Lord, talagang kumapit ako kay Lord non sa yabang ko non, sa arte ko at yung sa akala ko lahat na lang ng bagay mabibili ng pera. Dati, before yun talaga yan, Philippe.
Gem: Wala akong kaproble-problema sa pera I want this, and this is a a lesson I think I want to share to people especially with the youngsters kasi um it’s the same message I was telling the gen z’s no, na akala ko ang ikasasaya ko noon for the longest time was pera.
Para akong binatukan ni Lord non, hoy, andito ako diyan nung pandemic. And I think I became a vector of of hope, integrity, love to people and to and to the planet because na-realize ko eh ay wala naka-hang lang yung mga gown ko. Naka-hang lang yung mga jacket kong sobrang mamahal na yung dating arte ko nasa mall.
Gem: Sabihin ko sa EA ko non, “Punta lang ako. Magla-lunch lang ako sa ano sa Green Belt.” Ay ang ganda, buy! Yung hindi mo naman kailangan bakit mo bibilhin pero iba-buy ko ‘yan ching ng card gan’n akong kaarte no’n at ang tanong ko hindi anong size anong kulay, bibilhin ko lahat ng kulay.
Oh my god pag nare-realize ko ‘yung kaartehan ko, sabi ko, “My God, that’s so wrong. Andami ko lang perang, hindi alam mo yun hindi hindi worth it na inilagyan ko. And low and behold at the height of the pandemic my best friend, who’s got at that time isa na siya o dalawa yatang PhD.
Gem: Sabi ho sister syempre sister siya. Sabi niya sa akin, hindi tayo pwedeng bobo sa pandemic. Sabi niyang ganyan. Magphd ka na go. Hah? Pake ko pa, ang dami ko ng title sabi ko hindi ‘yan wala yang master master mo.
Sabi niyang ganyan wala ‘yung master master mo. Go mag-enroll ka. Saan ako mag-e-enroll? Sabi niya, “Mag-enroll ka dito kung nasaan ako. So sa Jru siya.” So sabi ko, “Ah, okay. Online?” Online? Okay ‘yan. Sabi ko, “Wala akong pera.” Meron kang pera. Hindi ko alam kung paano ko na-afford ‘yung 52,000. per quarter for 3 and half years since 2021.
Gem: I don’t know how. So gumawa ng paraan si Lord para alam mo na yun yung kaartehan ko medyo sinan tabi ko. Pinark ko muna kaya sabi ko ‘ ba, diba sabi ko kay kuya no no no I don’t like very expensive coffee. I don’t even go SB. Kasi prinsipyo ko ang mahal niyan. Magkano yan?
Magkano 3 and one? Sampung piso lang, diba? Oh naging akong frugal, naging akong kuripot. Sobra, na to the point na na I have this thing at the back of my head. I cannot be poor again. That poor. Baka pag sinabi ko sa magkano yung bank account ko nung pandemic maloka ka.
Gem: But still I survived. But still I eat, my son and I. And by that time six cats palang ako non. We’re eating three times a day and my cats were not eating so so food. Cat food yan lahat. Nag adopt pa ako ng adopt. So parang, pag inisip mo paano ko na-afford ‘yun.
See at the end of the day pag hindi mo inisip na may miracle sa buhay mo hindi hindi mo ma-appreciate what you have. Ang lagi mong iisipin yung wala ka. And that’s the message, the first message na gusto kong sabihin na with all the tools I was using, akala ko capable na ako.
Gem: I’m the master trainer of both ha, master practitioner of both. And I’m capable of teaching both life orientations and ITS internationally because syempre ang mood of communication naman natin in the Philippines is English. Kaya ko ituro pero may kulang pa eh.
Yung equiping mo sa sarili mo kung kulang at wala kang faith wala kang kwenta kasi that is so material that is so makamundo dito lang yan, dito lang yan. And that wake up call for me was very humbling very humbling kung nakikita mo yung mga bag ko dito mga regalo yan i don’t buy those.
Gem: Ano lang ah anong tawag dito caution lang ting ting ting, caution. Kasi wala namang magagawa nirgalo ng ate ko eh. Eh di thank you ba yung mga ganon. Even may sneakers right now regalo din ng client.
Philippe: With what you do, Miss Jem, can this be translatable to the masses of
Gem: Yeah, absolutely.
Philippe: Because meron naman tayong crisis dito is because I’ve worked with a lot of manpower agencies in the past, and then, we organize a lot of job fairs. We talk to a lot of job seekers. That is the reason why.
Either namatayan asawa, sila ang hereditary. Uhm, fresh grad ako. I want to be the breadwinner. Eh, no choice, and what the data na gather ko with all of you know the questions the experience working with, you know job seekers and companies is that no matter what type of job they take, as long as you can put on the table, masaya na sila, but in reality.
Gem: Yeah
Philippe: In reality yung attrition rate ng mga bata
Gem: Ang taas ba, ang taas diba?
Philippe: Correct, because I don’t think it’s because of the work environment. But what what we dug deep into it, nakita namin is unang sahod splurge.
Gem: Exactly.
Philippe: Pangalawang sahod splurge ulit. And then kahit 1 year or 2 years na sila in the company, everytime may sahod hindi sila nag-splurge, but for example, for a minimum wager ah magkano na naman sinasabod ng ganyan, wag with everything happening right now tumataas yung presyo.
Gem: correct
Philippe: but pagdating ng sahod, uy est all you can tayo. They’ll pay 500 to 1,000 per person. And that can go a long way in their household pero they go out celebrate they drink
Gem: Yeah
Philippe: They spend on. That’s that’s the that’s what we found out. That was the deeper problem that nobody came to realize, it’s not the work talaga, but I think it’s the mindset of the Filipino, lalo the masses.
Gem: Yeah
Philippe: They’re not well educated with, ang dami daw financial advisors pero ang daming nagbibigay ng financial advice pero hindi siya suitable sa mass so how can translate what you do with life and other things that you do to the masses.
Gem: Beautiful question because that’s exactly what I was telling the Gen Z’s. I told them you’re the future of the Philippines. Your mindset should be correct, and that is my moral responsibility in order for me as a facilitator and as a coach and as a leader myself to lead you to where the right direction is, the right journey to becoming a very functional ah, very highly functional Filipino.
Number one, you go back to your passion. I told them perfectly they, know that if they hear me say this, they will laugh. Sabi ko sa kanila, if your reason to being here in this organization or to being in any job is money, then maging magwawalis na lang kayo. And and they said, “Ha, why?” Because you want money. They also want money.
Gem: Sweeping the streets can earn like mga 500 a day. Multiply mo yan or 1,000. I-compute mo yan in 30 days ‘ ba may 30,000. How much are you earning? Tumahik sila. Magkalapit halos. So hindi ka na mag-e-effort. Magwalis ka na lang. May may money ka. But why are you here in this very nice room in this very nice posh office? Why?
Philippe: Status
Gem: Status. Pupunta ka may mga ganun kasi na pupunta ng office kahit hindi afford afford. Ang ganda ng bag pero naka-jeep. Alam mo yun? Fake na ano fake na anong tawag doon? LV. Fake na ano parang para lang masabing ay meron siya ‘yan ang hindi pinakita ng nanay ko sa amin.
Sa up non pumapasok ako, butas ang rubber shoes ko dahil hand me down kasi I’m bunso, so may mga kapatid ako, na neng sa iyo na yan, neng, sa anong tawag doon sa Tagalog, lipasan, so mga hand me down, at okay lang kasi ang gaganda ng damit ng ate ko, okay lang, alam mo yung tattered pants, panahon ko na tanong kung anong student number ko sa UP.
Gem: Yung tattered pants non. May tattered pants na kami non. Not because nabili mo sa H&M but because hindi namin kayang we can’t afford. Kasi my sisters din that time kasi medyo malaki yung agwat namin mga ano na sila nasa abroad na nasa mga, may mga trabaho na ako sasalta pa lang ng college.
So sila may mga boyfriend na ako sasalta pa lang ng college. So natutunan ko sa magulang ko non is the principle of okay lang maging mahirap. Huwag lang maging magnanakaw. Uulitin ko ha. Okay lang na wala. Okay lang na mahirap. Huwag lang magnanakaw. Laging sasabihin sa akin ng magulang ko non, ang meron lang tayo ay pangalan.
Gem: Kasi ang mommy ko was a daughter of former mayor ng city namin. So maprinsipyo yung lolo ko. I’ve never seen him because he died like wala pa, wala pa ako. So ang tatay ko naman ang prinsipyo, integridad. So maliit pa ako. Kakain kami. Sasabihin mga kinakain niyo hindi yan ano ah galing sa kable ng Meralco eh. Kahunghangan ko bata pa ako.
Mama, yung ba spaghetti natin galing sa Meralco yung yung wire. Sabi ko, ayoko ng kumain ng wire. Diba? parang and then when I was growing up nadidinig ko sa mommy yung conversation nila mommy. O si Mang Tani na ano na, si kuya ganyan nawala na. Sabi ko bakit nag-early retirement dahil nahuli, na nagbebenta ng kable ng Meralco. ‘Yon pala ‘yon.
Philippe: Ayun.
Gem: Okay. So iyung valuing na sinasabi ko sayo Philippe, is it it got rooted from me like way back in in when I was a kid, from the smallest seat of society. And it’s the same information, it’s the same campaign that I am sharing to my participants to the people who listens to me. Sabi ko, “Gusto mong maging leader?” Number one, you show up.
Hindi ka pwedeng, ma’am pasensiya na may sakit ako. Ma’am, absent ako. Ma’am, masakit and ganyan ko.
My God, Philipp. Sa totoo lang since February, no since January February, dire-diretso ang kuda ko. Ang servicing namin. Umabot na ako ng umuubo na ako. I was there an hour before the workshop. Dire-diretso yan. Hanggang kahapon I never fowter because of commitment because of my passion because of the level of integrity I have.
Gem: Unang sabi ko, you want to be a leader? You want to have a job? Show up. Show up. That’s number one. Pero kahit anong unos, kahit anong problema, be resilient. Hindi ka pwedeng parang ay kasi napapagod ako sa ano ‘yun nightshift. Ah hindi ako pwede kasi binigyan naman akong trabaho ni ma’am ni sir. Ah, my God.
Sabi ko, “Gusto niyo ng trabaho? Gusto niyo ng pera?” Dalawa lang yun. If you want job, if you want a job, magwa-walis ka na lang. Wala kang kaproble-problema kasi kikita’t kikita ka ng pera. But if you want growth based on your passion, yung gusto mo talaga and that’s a message. Ang ang kino-conquer mo kasi yung gusto mong gawin.
Gem: Yung magiging masaya ka na at the end of the day when you wake up, you love it. And you said, “Oh Miss Gem, thank you that you gave us your time. It’s a Saturday ganyan. May kalaban ka mamaya, diba. Pero why am I here? Like 100% of me walang arte because gusto ko ‘yung ginagawa ko.
Yun ang formula. Hindi mo gagawin. Hindi ka magfo-flourish. You’re never going to be successful in life basing your success in ang ganda ng bahay, ang ganda ng kotse, ang ganda ng damit.
Gem: Nawala sa akin lahat yan eh, at the height of the pandemic. Anong natira sa akin? Values. Ang natira sa akin prinsipyo. I was offered corruption by the way. Ay sorry. Pwede bang sabihin yon?
Philippe: Of course.
Gem: Inoffer ako ng corruption at the height of the pandemic kasi meron akong, tinawagan kami. Oh Miss Gem, submit ka ng ano ah transformational leadership. Oh ang ganda ng design ko. Punta ako sa office, diyos ko ganyan ganyan pa. Sabi ko kay Mang Boy, sabi ko don sa driver ko, “Hindi pa siya retired non by the way.” Sabi ko, “Mang boy, punta tayo.” Ganyan.
Punta kami. Diyos ko. Ang syempre, yung ano nila ‘yung mga 3 meter ano ba ‘yun? 3, 1 meter ganyan yung difference. Diyos ko. Ang lola mo nasa labas nakapila parang ano sabi ko sige na nga okay lang. Para sa5 million pesos. Ganyan ako. 5 million yung ano yung account.
Gem: Submit ako sa procurement daw yun. O sige. In one week’s time tinawagan ako. Sabi sa akin, “Miss Gem, ang ganda ng ano mo. Ang ganda ng design mo. Nag-top three ka.” Sabi ko naku ma’am, thank you naman po. Confident ako syempre. Confidently beautiful with a heart ako. Syempre ang ganda nung design. I use LifeO.
So gustong-gusto nila yung yung pagpasok ng paggamit namin ng feedback charts, yung ah yung mga surveys namin. Gustong gusto nila, and the design itself. Paano ka magiging leader? May catch.
Gem: Eh, kaya lang ma’am hindi mo pinirmahan yung ano technical specification. Sabi ko, “Ha, ang Texpex diba parang diyan nakalagay yung specification na ilalagay ko sa proposal. Yeah. Yeah. But you didn’t sign it. Sabi ko, “Ma wala naman nakalagay na sign here. It’s just a guide.” Yeah. But you have to sign kasi five ano yun? Five projects and that’s 1 million each.
Ma’am, ang binigay ko sayo 656,000 ha, isang project hindi 1 million. Kaya nga nag-lowest bid kayo, ‘di ba? Oo nga. Oh ba’t naman eh biniro-biro ko, nilambing ko pa eh.
Gem: Ba’t naman hindi ako ang pipiliin mo? Ikaw naman eh kasi nga hindi ka pumirma eh. Mawala nga nakalagay sign here. Eh ba’t ako pipirma doon? O sige kung hindi ka pipirma hindi ka namin pipilian.
Point black my face. Sabi ko ma’am, ikaw naman. Para ka namang others. They were my client even way back. Sabi ko na-realize ko, she bashed me by the way. Down the drain. Wala hindi ako pinili kasi I stood, I stood ground. Sabi ko, “Ma’am, hindi ako pipirma diyan kasi hindi kita binigyan ng 1 million. Binigay ko sa’yo 656,000 isang proyekto ba’t ako pipirma sa 1 million?”
Philippe: SOP.
Gem: Meron daw ano may tawag ako doon sa isang kong, ano friend dun sa isang agency, sabi ko friend inoferan ako ng ano ni ni ganitong department. Naku, ma’am buti na lang hindi ka pumirma, mamaya ikaw makikita sa senate hearing wala ka ng ano. Sabing ganyan.
Anong walang ano? Wala kang negosyo. Wala kang pangalan. Wala ka na. Sabi ko, “Ay ganun ba ‘yun?” Umiyak ako talaga. Tawag ako doon sa boss, exboss ko. Sabi ko, “Sir, ganito, ganito yung nangyari.” Sabi niya, “Gem, at the end of the day, kikitain mo uli yan.
Yang 5 million na yan will be peanuts for you.”
Gem: Okay lang ‘yan. Ano ka ba? E para sa kanya wala. Sabi ko, “Sir naman.” Sayang naman. Five. That was 2021 at the height of the pandemic, Sir. So I stood ground, and after that when I say this story to people, they know who I am. They know what I stand for. Yun iyung third word na i-introduce ko sayo.
Integridad. What is integrity? Diba doing something, doing a lot of things without anybody looking. So hindi ko kailangang i-pulis mo ako para ako gumawa ng, Diba may mga paarte-arte, mga paganyan ganyan kasi may camera kasi may ano. I don’t need a damn camera. I will do what I want to do when I want to do it in your face.
Gem: I will tell you, malinis ang konsensya ko kasi may pangalan ako. I think I remember telling your assistant. I said I’m not gana name names because the people knows me. When when people hear me talk, they listen. Ganon akong klaseng influencer. Hindi ako influencer na hello- dance dance din.
It’s what I stand for. And when I say what I stand for is I show up, but if I can’t sinasabi ko up front hindi ako maarte na ang dami no yan yung gusto kong ipabaon sa tao na kapag ang ginawa mo is not according to your will is not according to your passion because that’s what I teach in LifeO.
Gem: LifeO stands for Life Orientations. Passion for excellence, passion for action, passion for reason, passion for harmony. Kung hindi mo own yung passion mo, eh ano ka? Sino ka? What are you made of? Ay kasi kailangan talaga ng anak ko, kailangan talaga ng pamilya ko yung pera.
Okay? But what do you want? That’s the first question I always ask my coaches, my students, my participants. What do you want? And when I say how are you, I’m not saying how are you?
Gem: What I’m actually saying is who are you? Who are you right now? What are you made of? Kasi at the end of the day, pag sinagot mo yan, then ang next question ko during coaching, are you doing what you want? Kasi kung hindi then you are you are the loneliest, saddest people on earth because you’re not doing what you want.
Hence the reason of attrition rate para lang yang ano square peg and a circle hole pinipilit mo yung square ipasok sa circle eh hindi naman hindi siya uubra dahil hindi mo gusto yung ginagawa mo. Ako pilitin mo akong mag-ano, magpunta ng medical doctor. Ayoko ng blood ew ‘di ba?
Gem: Pero medyo dalhin mo ako sa IT baka pwede pa. Magtiya-tiyaga ako, pero wala akong tiyagang mag tawag dito tawag ng anak ko language yung mag-intindi ng language. Yung may mga ganyan, my God, please don’t. Yung mga ganon pero when i am task to to do coaching, inspire people, do leadership programs, do team building programs, do communication programs, higher productivity, innovation, sustainability ay game.
Kailan ganyan ang tanong ko, so that’s why we are fully booked right now because I’m not I’m not doing my job. I’m fulfilling it. I’m fulfilling a life. I have a life. This is my life. So sabi nila, char char lang to ha. Miss Jem, bakit parang hindi ka tumatanda?
Gem: Sabi ko, “Alam mo kasi happy ako kasi pag nakalagay sa Facebook, my mission is to say happy, kasi if I will be sad, if I will be the vector of loneliness, sadness, anger, then hindi ako yung sinasabi kong ako na ako ay leader, ako ay coach, ako ay doctor ng ganyan.
Hindi. Fake news ako. So I like to show people that life is short. Life is so short. Maximize mo yung productivity mo. Hindi ka pwedeng arte-arte. ‘Di ba, na yung ang dami mong arte sa buhay na wala akong ganyan. Wala akong ganito, din work hard. Work your, diba.
Philippe: What do you deal with people that you know that they aiming for the wrong passion? Kasi for example, recently I ask my, my 7 year old. What do you want to be when you grow up? And his answer was surprising.
Ang sabi niya I want to be an influencer. To me, that’s surprising because that 7 year old doesn’t know what an influencer is.
Gem: Yeah.
Philippe: But my assumption is nila sumasaya. Nagtitiktok.
Gem: Exactly. Yeah.
Philippe: Gone are the days na I want to be an astronaut. I want to be a doctor.
I want to be a fireman. I want to be a policeman. Right now, it’s an influence. What kind of influencer do you want to be? I don’t know. I just want to dance in front of the camera and post tiktok. Sabi ko, what happened to our society?
Gem: There you go. Exactly.
Philippe: Your role is very important in, in our society basically not only in the Philippines but everywhere else because right now I believe that where we are right now is the lack of what you do and the lack of what people tend to follow because for sure when they get to listen to you say ay what the how
Gem: Yeah, they say that.
Philippe: How can I follow my passion .
Gem: Exactly.
Philippe: Gusto kong mag for example may isa gusto ko magfashion, gusto ko magphot -photography. I can’t, I can’t afford a camera. Gusto kong mag-videography. I want to create movies. I can’t afford it. I want to be a doctor, but I want to be a pilot, but I can’t af to go to school. I’m stuck in, in this minimum wage gap.
And doon sila they’re thrown in time until to the point na tumanda na sila. They couldn’t follow their passion. So, how do you, how do you teach them how to follow their passion even if they can’t afford it?
Gem: I will go back to what I said earlier, values. Kasi ang values ko non, and don’t get me wrong, Philippe ha, I went into really a very, you know, um closely neat family to materialistic to now.
It was a, it’s a journey in my life pero still I get I get to say that, hindi masamang maging influencer pero babalikan ko si 7 year old. Anong gusto mong i-influence? You want to be a good dancer? Then be a good dancer. Learn how to be a good dancer. Kasi hindi masamang maging influencer.
Hindi masamang to follow your path, but lalagyan natin ng values. Kasi ang nangyayari o gusto maging dancer and then after that what do you want? Kasi I always ask people what do you want?
Philippe: Paano pag sinabi niya macho dancer?
Gem: Then be the best macho dancer as long as you love what you’re doing. I told that to my son when he was a little bit confused about what he wanted to do in life. Sabi niya nung ano yan eh honor honor yan since kinder honor ng kinder honor ng elementary.
Valedictorian, scholar ng high school pagdating niya ng college dito sa Mapua, na-realize niya oh Mom, I’m not the only intelligent person on daw sabi kong ganyan. Of course you’re not.
Gem: Sabi niya kasi mga kalaban daw niya Savior, Ateneo, UP, Lasalle siya galing siyang province in our province pero valedictorian yan number four siya, in the whole Laguna. Okay. But I said, “Sweetheart, that’s high school.
College na to. Ibang laban to.” So nagkaroon siya ng question in his mind and the same thing that I will tell the people who’s listening right now. The first thing na sinabi ko sa kanya, “Please make mistakes.” If you do not make mistakes, you will never recover.
Gem: You will never know what is correct. Kasi, if you see, kasi mama, successful ka na, of course not. I made a lot of mistakes in my life. I made a lot, I made a lot of zigzag roads in my life where I am right now being a CEO.
Hindi yan madali. So akala mo naafford ko yung mapua mo, sabi kong ganyan. Nag isang ganon lang. Of course not. I literally work my.. just to put you in that beautiful good school. Don’t get me wrong. Pasa siya sa UP kasi syempre UP ako, eh di iu-UP ko rin yan. Pero anong tawag ko doon?
Gem: Yung kota course syempre, brinaaso ko pa yan kay Chancy. Kay chancellor. Ma’am eh ano siya 2.79 ang passing is 2.75 sabi niya, sabi ni Chany non, Ma’am, yung sa engineering 2.76 siya, hindi ko tinanggap e. Engineering dapat siya. Sabi ko, “Ba’t ka kasi nagkota course? Ba’t hindi ka nagkota course? Pwede mag-shift?” Sabi kong ganyan. Make mistakes.
If you want to be a little bush. Be the best little bush. And that’s the same message I’m telling the 7-year-old influencer. I have a a neighbor who’s I think five or six. Oh my god, she’s dancing.
Gem: She’s really supported by the parents. That’s what I’m saying. You want to be it, be it. Own it. Embrace it. You want to become a macho dancer, be the best macho dancer. But i-own mo yon. Huwag yung gagawin mo yun.
Because sabi ni nanay, sabi ni tatay, sabi nung kapitbahay namin, sabi ikaw anong gusto mo? So you have to go back and say to yourself, “What do I really want?” You ask me right now, Philip, what do I want? This is exactly what I want. Exactly what I want in life.
Gem: That’s why in my eyes you can see naglitter literally in otherwise naging glitter yung mata ko kasi I love my life right now. This is what I want to do, to communicate my thoughts. To communicate I’m not perfect by the way. No one is. Pero with that kind of akala nila successful ako and all.
Hindi eh, ang dami kong sacrifices. I wake up at 5:00 in the morning. Sabado, anong oras ako gumising? Ginising ako ni partner, diba he’s Dutch by the way. He’s not here.
Gem: So ginising niya ako bago siya matulog. He woke me up. Diba, ba’t ba’t ako pupunta dito? What for? So sabi ko if this is a venue if this if I will become a vector of hope, love, integrity towards other people.
Why not? Then sabi ko kay Lord, “Eh di sige gamitin mo ako. Go, pero Lord huwag mo naman akong bigyan ng hoarse voice or ubo ako ng ubo.” Sabi ko, “Ikaw talaga.” So punta ako ng St. Luke talaga two weeks, two weekends ago. Sabi ko, “Kuya, hindi ko na kaya.” So I changed my medicines and I became better.
Gem: So nakapag-perform ako better. And now you can hear me well. Oh my god. Ah ubo ako ng ubo for the past 2 weeks. Hindi ko na gusto yung parang prophylactic lang yung mga gamot ko kasi nag-self medication ako by the way. So nung two weeks ay sabi ko ayoko na. But stil,l I went to my first principle.
I showed up to all my clients. Wala akong binitin, the usual 1 hour before the call time I was there. Preparing kami ng team ko ganyan. Wala silang masasabi and the evaluations I had as really escalating. No. So ibig sabihin we’re true to our words. Sabi nga nung staff ko, “Mamaya ang gusto ko sayo walk the talk eh.”
Gem: Sabi ko ano man ano ba gagawin ko? Walk lang na walk walang talk or talk lang ng talk walang walk. Sabi ko dapat ano ‘yun ‘yung yung ibinibigay mo sa tao isinasa buhay mo. At babalik at babalik ako sa tanong mo. How will I influence people? Ito kung anong gusto mo, doon ka pupunta. At kapag hindi mo pa nami-meet si Lord, utang na loob, try God. ‘Yan lang sasabihin ko sa’yo, sa inyong lahat.
Philippe: I love that. Best advice would ever heard.
Gem: So wala tayo eh. We’re nothing. So many miracles have been given to me by God. Na akala mo walang wala yung laman ng wallet mo biglang, Miss Gem, can you do this, can you do that? Ah, okay sige go naman ako.
Yung yung ganon yung akala mo walang wala ka ng hope kasi isa lang ang mantra ko lagi kong sinasabi pag may doubts ako ag may anxiety ako. Lord bahala ka na ba sabi mo ikaw ikaw gagawa Eh nung una yabang ko. Nagdadasal ako dati. Hindi, gaganyan lang ako. Lord thank you ha. Ganyan.
Gem: Tapos wala akong focus. Wala akong focus kay God non. Wala, kasi kaya ko eh. Ang lakas ko eh. Nag-gym ako. Nagma-martial arts ako. Mga ganyan. Lahat pala yun makamundo. My God.
Lahat pala yun material things lang. And with the mistakes I’ve had, na parang I woke up in that environment na we are nothing, we are nothing talaga pala. And that was during the pandemic.
Gem: Everything was so humbling in my world. Doon ako, natutong magtanim. My God. At dahil the pandemic, my dear meron akong bahay kubo. Yung kanta ng bahay kubo, anoy yan may kamatis ako, may pepper ako. Bibili lang ako ng maliit na salmon kasi yun lang afford ko. Maliit na salmon. Meron na akong sinigang.
Philippe: Atleast, may salmon ka.
Gem: Diba? Mura pa nung araw, nung pandemic mura. Tapos pumunta ako sa roof deck. Merong kamatis. May talong ako. Oh my god. And I’m sharing it to my neighbors. And then nung una sabi ng admin bawal daw. Ang sabi ko, “Hindi walang bawal-bawal sa akin. Go.” Masama bang magtanim? Sabi kong ganyan. Go, tanim ako.
And then yun, nagkaroon ako ng ano ng vlog yung Gem’s Green Box sa YouTube. Then I influence for people. Yun yung doon na, doon napunta yung direction ko sa sustainability. Kasi wala ka pala eh. Wala ka eh.
Gem: If you don’t sustain the planet, tapos ang kwento. Nasaan tayo lahat? Wala tayong planet eh. Nasa planet tayo eh. Diba, parang ano lang ba anong tawag dito? It’s a very logical reason why you have to protect the planet. Because at the end of the day we are all nothing.
The planet do not need us. We need the planet. The animals don’t even need us. They can survive by themselves. But we need the animals. So I don’t eat pork. I don’t eat beef. I eat fish and chicken on the side. Pero more vegetables.
Philippe: Let’s dive into sustainability.
Gem: Oh, game!
Philippe: As you mention,
Gem: You still have 3 hours.
Philippe: No, we still have many hours. When we say it’s sustainability. Kasi, we know that syempre all the nations could consider us third world daw tayo. And then we don’t have the technology, the facilities, or the commitment, you know, to make change within our own environments locally speaking pa.
Because the way I see it, dito sa Pinas, the one mere reason why I moved here is I saw opportunity. The most, that the masses don’t. Right now, ano yung mga problems as of 2026? March, ano ‘yung problems natin, ngayon? Energy prices.
Philippe: Yes. Oil prices, uh gas and then manufacturing, the goods, the retails, everything is going up. The dollar is Oh, no not really the dollar. The peso itself is humihina.
Gem: Yeah.
Philippe: So many crisis, so many problems, not knowing that we already solved most of them, but
Gem: Yeah
Philippe: But we’re not committed in sustaining that solving the problem. So number one, diba, let’s talk about the the elephant in the room uh oil prices since we’re so dependent with oil itself. Diba baka magkaroon tayo ng lockdown, energy lockdown part two of the pandemic and then tataas daw lahat.
The one solution there was, if everyone so worried about gas prices going up why don’t we convert to electric? Another solution to another problem is basura. We know the technologies out there yung mga incinerators that converts trash to pash to electricity. Singapore has it, Vietnam has it, Japan has it Uh, Finland, Sweden, Switzerland. It’s there.
Gem: Yeah.
Philippe: But the commitment to make that happen year wala. Other crisis, humihina daw yung ano, humihina daw yung peso of what happened last year. All the corruption has mind. I don’t want to get go there.
I don’t want to go to politics and all that. But that’s one of the main reasons. Another thing is we’re not proactive. I’m talking from the very up to the very low.
Gem: Yeah.
Philippe: We’re not proactive. We’re very reactive with things that are happened. Hanggang July daw yung supply natin ng gas, oorder tayo. It’s so reactive, diba? Why not prevent that? Right. Right now, ang daming tao may anxiety because oh my god, ma-lockdown na naman tayo.
Hindi na tayo lalabas. Ma-stress tayo, we be locked in our homes. Yan na naman. May black may blackouts ng kuryente kasi wala ng coal, wala ng anything diba. So anyway going back there, when we talk about sustainability.
Philippe: I know it’s a big factor in many nations the UN supported in a lot of these European countries.
Why can’t we, what’s missing there? Is this the mindset of up there and down here? Or is it what is it really? Like enlighten us. Tell us what you see is the problem.
Gem: Values, again. Babalik ako sa values. Kasi, um when I was young ah I was playing you know marbles, no with my cousins and it’s um what you call this it was all soil and then my cousins my boy cousins were digging holes so that magjo-jolen kaming, take note I’m a girl but nakiki-jolen ako.
And then one time when I was digging myself, no, I saw a plastic. I will never forget that because that is a stepping stone for me to realization. 10 years old or 9. Sabi ko, “Mama, bakit may plastic dito?” Sabi niya, “Akin na, akin na hinuhugasan ko.” And then I always see that the plastics that we use, hina-hang ni mama.
Gem: Nire-reuse niya. Tas sabi niya, wala pa yung sustainability sustainability hindi kasi ano hindi ito matutunaw sabi ni mama, ah okay. Moving forward with your question bakit values ibig sabihin kung ang leader natin ay naka-focus sa totoong sustainability ng mundo, ng country, huwag muna mundo Philippines pa lang then ang una niyang ang iisipin tao.
How am I going to protect my people? In protecting my people, number one, i-educate ko yan. Kung ako presidente ng Pilipinas, ha, bakit? Eh hindi ko kayang mag-isa. Utang na loob. Kung ako lang nag-iisip ng ganito at lahat ng mga kasama ko bobo, anong gagawin ko?
Gem: Diba ako lang? So anong gagawin? Magiging pyramidal ang approach. Do this, do that. I will solve the problem. Eh di, pyramidal dictador ang mangyayari which is happening. A leader is converting the mindset of people to an upright rectangle.
Lahat tayo may boses, lahat tayo gagawa. Team kasi tayo collaboration. Meaning to say kahit iba ka iba ako. Let’s collaborate because hindi naman tayo talaga pagkakapareho sa totoong buhay.
Gem: And what I’m telling you na to go back to your values, ano ang mindset ko? And my mindset, I will have to go back again to my tool and to my values na, it came from my smallest seat of society which is my family. I love my mom. I love my parents. I love my father. No? So ibig sabihin kung ano ako natutunan ko yun sa pamilya ko.
The responsibility now of the people leading us should go back to ano ang values. Eh alam mo ng may problema yung dating values noong nakalaang, diba? Ba’t iboboto mo pa? So sinong tanga? Ang tanga Pilipino, diba?
Gem: Ano bang ah I was uh was um it was a Monday, Monday kasi ban yung sasakyan ko so nag-grab ako tapos ma’am tinatanong ko o ganyan mataas na daw gasolina ganyan o sige tinatanong ko sino daw binoto ko sinabi ko sino binoto ko.
Sabi simple lang huwag nating tanong kung sino yung iboboto natin sa susunod kuya itatanong ko say’yo. Ano ang prinsipyo mo sa buhay? Kasi ang prinsipyo ko dapat ang tinitingala ko the person na I’m looking at here. Dapat may integridad, dapat resilient, dapat kung anong sinabi yung ginagawa.
Gem: Dapat marunong tumingin sa tao kasi ganun ako. Ikaw anong prinsipyo mo? Yun ang hahanapin mong leader eh. Ang prinsipyo ko, mag-protect ng hayop. Nakikipaglaban ako sa condo namin pag they are you know bashing me for the stray cats they’re not stray cats community cats and there’s a very big difference i-google mo.
Sabi kong ganyan, stray cats do not have owners, community cats are being fed by the community. Kaya sila nadyaan and they cannot be punished. Napakasimple. Same with the stray dogs. Wala sila dapat stray dogs.
Gem: Bakit sa ibang bansa sa Japan, oh my god, ang stray cats ganito kakataba. Everybody is feeding them. In Turkey, in Hawaii, may isang isla panay pusa. Bakit sa Pilipinas papatayin ang pusa? For convenience, so babalik ako sa values. Ang gusto ng mga Pilipino shortlive, shortcut.
Bukas mayaman na ako. Wow, ang dami kong pera. Wow, sosyal ako. Again, saan nanggaling yan? Dun sa prinsipyo nung dati, na buhay ng tao mga 20 years ago. Mahirap ang bansa pero may 3,500 na sapatos. Ako yung sapatos ko sa UP butas ng ilang taon, okay lang. Walang problema.
Gem: Diba? When I can afford, eh di bumili ako 35, nagamit ko yun during the pandemic? Hindi ,babalik ka ni Lord dun, sa prinsipyo mo na sinasabi mong values mo and the wakeup call that we have in life should be heard not here but here.
Yung puso mo ang nakikinig dapat yung soul mo dapat ang nakikinig kasi kung lagi na lang ang isip natin you know the anxiety or I’m so stressed, I’m so anxious, may anxiety attack ako. God, alam mo gusto ko sanang sabihin, arte lang yan. And then nainis ako sa mga ganon yung mga arte-arte.
Gem: My goodness parang at the end of the day it’s not really anxiety. It’s not really stress. You’re choosing your life. Remember, hello. That’s their life. You chose it. I can choose to step out of the balcony and and commit suicide when I didn’t have money. I didn’t do that. And I saved about a couple of people during the pandemic. One has got a gun.
The other one has got a tali, here. The other one wanted to step out of her apartment at 26th floor. Awa ng Diyos, lahat yan buhay pa sila lahat. And why am I saying this? I went back to life. I went back to anong pwede nating ma-innovate. So ibig sabihin hindi ka nakatenga sa iisang mentality na pera pera pera pera.
Gem: I want to be successful. Ano mga language mga bata ngayon? I want to be financially independent. Anong financially independent? Na may may gusto kong bilhin bukas or ang trabaho mo yung nagdi-dream sila ng lahat material things which is for me a very very sick world.
And then anong gagawin? Meron material things, tapon, basura. Anyway, that’s disposable. There is no such thing as disposable. Even yung sinasabi sa mga shopping center na ano nakalagay doon, ano highly disposable.
Gem: No, this will crumble in a month. Pag inilagay mo yan sa cabinet mo, it will produce microplastics. Those microplastics will be what? Saan mo ilalagay sa basurahan? In every 100 km for heaven’s sake, we inhale already 25 grams of what? Rubber because of the wheels.
Okay. Walang walang ano dito. Walang libre ang ano ang ang what you call the lung disease. Lahat tayo meron yan. Hindi nawala ong ano ko. Ganyan ako ng ganyan. Dapat maganda boses ko lagi kasi kuda ako ng kuda. So babalik ako lagi sa mindset. Ano yung mindset mo?
Gem: If you have the mindset of I’m not saying everybody should be frugal, but please be. Bakit ka bibili sa Bakit ka bibili ng isang bagay na alam mo namang hindi matutunaw? So galit na galit ako.
Ito lang weekend nasa Cebu ako dun sa beach ko eh. Pinalagyan ko na ng ano ng fence pero meron pa ring ano mga basura-basura talagang nag-ano kami nag naglinis kami nung assistant ko don. Sabi ko ate grabe talaga no. So medyo naglagay ako sa Facebook nung ano ko doon sa page ko.
Gem: Sabi ko, “Utang na loob naman. Itong plastic na ‘to hindi matutunaw in 500 years. Very basic information. Hindi ito high faluting sustainability. Hindi po ito matutunaw in 500 years. Kinain ni, ni ano ni salmon. Kinain ni ano ni, ni bangus kinain. O ,anong magagawa natin? Kakain mo ‘yon? Hindi ‘ wala tayong fish.
Gem: Nun na nga sinasabi ko na si Typhon Odette, winipe out yung beach ko doon. Wasak ang coral reefs ko. Dive sight yun eh. I used to dive before kaya ko binili yun. Ganyan ang edge niyan. Ang ganda-ganda. Wasak na yan ngayon because of climate change.
Bakit may climate change? Sa akin sa totoo lang pabor malak mataas ang gasolina. Iilan lang ang nagaano. A ng AQI natin, air quality index natin actually improved kasi walang nagda-drive, walang excess CO2.
Gem: Eh kung may excessive CO2, wasak na naman ang ating ozone layer. So yung mga ganitong bagay napakasisimpleng information pero oo gagamit tayo ng electric car pero at the end of the day saan tayo nagcha-charge? Yung charging station still depends on oil and coal and everything and coal and everything.
So may end point nga lang ‘ ba. Saan tayo nagse-save ng ano ng from the solar panels? O take note ha. Ang solar panels hindi yan ano metal, plastic yan.
Philippe: Toxic din after pag after a
Gem: Eh, di certain time tapos na si life span niya saan mo ilalagay yung solar panels?
Philippe: Landfills
Gem: Eh, ganun din sa landfill din and there’s no such thing as disposable matutunaw yan of course not it will not be so yung mga ganitong basic information that are chewable for people talagang sinasabi ko like for example ganito gagawin ko na sa tindahan simpleng tindahan bibili ako ng something sa sa sa sari-sari store.
Ate, huwag na po ‘yang plastic kasi hindi natutunaw ‘yan. Ta’s may mga biro ako. Dalawa lang tao ang kilala kong plastic. Si D at si B.
Philippe: That’s a good one.
Gem: Tatawa sila. Ay ganun po ba ate? Oo. Huwag na tayong mag-ano. Ibalot mo na lang sa sa iyong lumang diyaro. Sabi kong ganyan or sabi ko huwag mo ng ibigay kasi ano ba naman ito kaya namang ihawakan.
Bakit pa may ‘yung mga SUV single use plastics? Huwag na ‘yan. Saan ba napupunta ‘yung single use plastics sa Pilipinas? Nasa Pacific Ocean. Meron. Alam mo yung GPGP? Great Pacific Garbage Patch.
Philippe: Where is this?
Gem: It’s in the Pacific. Tanong mo kung sino number one contributor diyan?
Philippe: Tayo.
Gem: Ahuh. 35%.
Philippe: Wow.
Gem: Diba?
Philippe: of the whole Pacific,
Gem: Yeah
Philippe: the whole Asia or
Gem: From Asia tayo number one kasi, diba gateway tayo sa Pacific?
Philippe: Yeah.
Gem: O ayun kakahiya tayo no. And people are not aware of this. They thought kapag may plastic plastic sila, ay naku ano yan ah mabilis mabilis. Yun ang gusto nila mabilis magaan sa trabaho. Pero pag titingnan mo, if you go back really, I have a bag here.
Yung makeup kit ko is bayong.
Why can’t we go back to bayong? Why? Why can’t we go back to bibili ka ng something sa tindahan nakabalot sa banana leaves. Pwede yun eh. that can be disposed because it’s organic. Ba’t hindi tayo bumabalik sa ganon? Yung mga soft drinks, bakit bum bakit naging pet bottles? Bakit hindi yung nahuhugasan?
Gem: Sorry ha, binigyan ako ni kuya kanina ng ano stirrer. Kaya lang sabi ko, “Ilang puno na naman ang puputulin natin? Eh di, okay na.” Hindi na nga siya plastic, okay lang. Oh kaya lang sabi ko, “Kuya, sorry ha, ginamit ko ‘to kasi sa kape natin. At least to huhugasan.” O, may downside. Pag hinugasan ‘to gagamit na naman ng chemicals. Saan pupunta si chemicals?
Philippe: Sewer system
Gem: There you go. So pag hindi mo alam yung sistema na yun, yung ecological system natin, pag hindi natin alam yang mga basic na yan, then you will just do whatever you want to do in life without caring for your home. And the only planet we have that we call home is Earth.
Gem: So everything that we do pala, should be aligned with sustainability, our choices. Yung lahat ng makikinat, iyong pananaw natin should be aligned with sustainability from our clothes to our drinks to the food.
Philippe: To our values.
Gem: To our values. I actually connect with trash to cashback. Hello, Sir Vince. Sir Vince Mercado is the president of Trash to Cashback.
Philippe: Is this the vending machine na meron or something else?
Gem: No, they connect with a lot of organizations. I’ve connected with them since 2022. Pandemic pa non. Tas nakita ko lang sa IG sabi ko, “Ba, okay to. This is the answer to my circular economy. They close the loop.” So sabi ko okay wala akong gagamiting plastic. I don’t use plastic.
So if I use plastic, saan ko ilalagay to? Parang hindi ko magawang itapon yung plastic na ginamit ko. Mamaya papakita ko yung wallet ko ha. Kasi kumakain ako, kami ng candy ni ano ni partner. Sabi ko akin na yan. O nito pa yung plastics ko tinatapon kasi conscious na ako.
Gem: Yun yung same consciousness na gusto kong ibigay sa tao na you should be conscious of what you’re doing in life. Hindi pwedeng tapon ka lang ng tapon, diba? Kasi, there is no such thing as disposable.
Papaulit-ulitin ko yan. Dati tinatawanan natin yung mga campaign na reduce, reuse, recycle. I live it. I live it. I reduce. I reuse. I recycle. Pag pupunta ako lalabas ako. Kakain kami ng restaurant. Ang anak ko ni partner wala. Akin na yan. Stirrer, plastic pork. Ay I keep it. I bring it at home.
Gem: Pagdalhin ko sa bahay huhugasan ko and then iipunin ko. Sa bahay mismo may segregated ano kami containers. And then once a month, I go to trash to cashback in Irma in Mandaluyong.
Philippe: Can you tell us more about?
Gem: Yeah. So, what they do on a massive point of view, they go to different organizations uh LGUs tapos they connect themselves. O kami ang kukuha ng basura niyo. Segregated items. They educate people. They educated me. And everytime, every year meron kaming sustainability summit, we invite them.
Eto lang. Last year ang pakulo naman namin plogging. Plogging means you plug is to plug is to pluh to pluh that’s literally English no? To pluh it’s a Swedish term iyung plogging. Pag plinac mo kukuha ka ng basura.
Gem: Bakit plogging? Kasi nagjo-jogging ‘ ba? Plogging. Kaya Sweden since I got my first education in Sweden on sustainability. Ah, they coined it plogging. Ay oo nga no. So pinakulo namin yan dito. This year, magpa-plugging uli kami.
Philippe: That’s nice.
Gem: Yeah.
Philippe: So, is this a private company that?
Gem: Yeah, we we do we did it.
Philippe: Okay.
Gem: Sa ACG ACG Human Capital Solution. Then we connected also with iyung mga sponsors namin, Avil Tanza, Ayamika, mga ka-partner namin iyan.
Philippe: And what did they do with the segregated trash? Where did they bring it?
Gem: We gave it to Trash to Cashback. Partner din namin sila during the event. Anong ginawa nila doon? They do recycled items. Nare-recycle kumbaga. And then ang ginagawa namin, ah we earned points, no? So yung points na sinasabi ko meron kaming Eco card. Yung eco card.
Ayan na. Dito na yan. Diba, wallet ko ano din pusa? May eco card tayo. Yung eco card, ayan siya oh. Trash to cash bacl? So para siyang credit card. Ang laman nito points. I go to separate um what do you call this? Mga mga stores and you can you can use it.
Philippe: Yeah
Gem: Yeah. Or you go to their store in Irma. You can buy your own groceries with your eco points. And there’s such a thing, if you literally may pera sa basura.
Philippe: I agree. I totally agree with that. It’s just it’s not well or maybe it’s not people are not aware.
Gem: Yeah, exactly. That’s that’s my role. I told Sir Vince bebenta kita because you close the loop of the circular economy. You’re making people hopeful na eh saan namin ilalagay yung basura. Ay I pick up. May pickup point sila sa BGC, sa Alabang, sa ganyan, sa ganito. May pickup point sila.
Philippe: And why can they work with LGUs to make this happen?
Gem: They they do that right now. That’s what they’re doing. That’s what they’re doing.
Philippe: I mean for example,
Gem: hindi massive diba?
Philippe: Hindi lang massive.
Gem: Yan yung sinasabi ko na bakit, bakit hindi itahi sa prinsipyo ng tao na like in Japan, no? Like in Sweden, like in in Netherlands, normal sa kanila na mag-segregate. Ako mukha akong tanga na ako lang nagse-segregate sa amin.
Tatawanan pa ako. Ang tawag sa akin, “Miss basurera.” Okay fine eh. Basurera pala ako. Fine, basurera. I don’t care as long as I know I don’t have the guilt of throwing plastics.
Philippe: So if you were to fix this,
Gem: Vote me as president. Joke lang. Ganyan ganyan ganyan yung mga sinasabi sa akin nung mga alam mo na yung mga sabihin sa akin, “Oh, ikaw na magpresidente.
” You know, one time I was bashed, you know, in the social media sinagot ko when will I start? Tahimik lahat sila eh. when I start kasi seryoso ako.
Philippe: Yeah.
Gem: Seryoso ako pag sinabi ko, anak ng tokwa, ilalaban ko talaga yung prinsipyo ko na ang ginagawa ko ay malinis ang intensyon ko. Yun yung core ng life mo. Dapat malinis ang intensyon mo, ang behavior mo at ang impact mo sa tao.
So when I say it, yung intention behavior impact mo, babalik ako kay LifeO. Kami lang ang measurable yan. Wala niyan yung ibang tools.
Philippe: I love that.
Gem: Yeah. Kasi ano ba yung intensyon mo? Dito pa lang may numbers na yan. May numerical ano kami, measurements na kami. Pagdating ng coaching makikita mo na yan ah, ito pala yung intenstension niya.
Ah kaya pala hindi kami nagkakaintindihan, kasi ang behavior niya ito. Ito yung intensyon niya. Ah ibang impact niya sa tao. Ako aligned yan. Aligned yan. Ano ang iniisip ko? Ano ang sinasagawa ko? Yun din ang impact ko sa tao. Kasi ang intensyon ko going back to my own principle ay malinis.
Gem: Hindi ako corrupt corrupt. Hindi ako magsasabi na ah kasi dapat meron akong under the table or dapat meron akong kabig diyan na 30% or 50% or dapat meron akong insertions. Hindi ko kailangan yun. Hindi ko sinasabing marami akong pera.
Ang importante sa akin, malinis yung pasok ng bank account ko kahit na sampung piso lang yan. Pero syempre hindi naman sampung piso laman ng bank account ko. Diba?
Philippe: I don’t believe that.
Gem: Pero the end of the day baalik at babalik ako doon. Tawagin niyo na ako kung anong tatawagin ko. I actually don’t care because I know myself so much. I know what I live for. I know what I want. I know where I’m going. I know who I am with. I know my tribe. I know my circle.
My circle is small. My closest circle, small. My core is small. Pero my reach is big. Kasi malinis ang intensyon ko. Ang intensyon dito yan eh. Cerebral yan eh. Iniisip mo ya. Pong pong pong. Ano yung gusto kong gawin?
Gem: Anong gusto kong anong gusto kong i isagawa? Hindi mo pa nagagawa. Ano pala? Dito pa lang wala pa. dito yan pag isinagawa mo yan when you behave when you exude your intention. Doon na yung ah, positive ba yan negative ang impact ba niyan sa tao positive negative then doon ka medyo pepreno ng konti so that when you deliver the message which is based on your intention makikita mo na ang impact mo is as such.
Ay naku mali pala, sabi ko, oh sige mali pala ang dating ko sayo can i reword my my sentence ginagawa ko yon. And you have the power to do that. When you do that, makikita mo yung intention mo planado, plantsado, and you reach that kind of impact to people where you are clear, you are aligned, you are um how will I say it?
Gem: Hindi lang aligned eh. Malinis. Hindi lang pala clear, clean ang intention mo. Hindi ka people will not doubt you. So lagi nilang sinasabi, Gem, kasi akala namin suplado ka eh. Kasi RBF ako paglalo naka-shades ako parang akala nila suplado ako. Ano yun?
Sosyal daming boyfriend, paladisco. Oh my god. Sana meron pa, nagsisigarilyo daw ako. Yung yung impression ng tao. Sabi ko, “None of the above.” Sabi kong ganyan, “I’m so busy serving my clients. And loyal ako sa clients ko. And my clients are loyal to me also.
Gem: So mga long standing yan no? Ang pinaka-long standing ko is 11 years. Kliyente pa rin namin ngayon. Yung ano yung magbi-beer ba siya? Oo. Medyo matagal na. 2015 pa kliyente na namin sila. So ibig sabihin pag nakikita ng tao sa iyo yung prinsipyo mo again babalik ako yung values mo dun ka is I don’t wan to use the word titingalain eh but dun ka susundan.
Yun yung sinasabi kong ganun akong influencer. So babalik tayo kay 7 years old. Anong klaseng influencer gusto mong maging? I think that’s the best question. If you want to dance in TikTok, why bakit hindi? Then dance. But be the best dancer. Be the best little bush. Kung yan lang ang kaya mo, eh di, pagpursigihan mo.
Gem: At ayokong ayoko nung mentality. Kasi ito lang kasi ako. Magwawalis lang kasi ako. Mahirap lang kasi ako. Naging mahirap ka kasi gusto mo. Kasi mahirap din kami dati eh. Our house before in the province. Although hindi ko na naka ‘yon pero, nakikita ko sa pictures ng parents ko yung yung lupa yung ilalim and then may what you call this? Anong tawag d may silong? May silong.
So nakita ko at pinagdaanan ni mama at papa. Hindi my parents were saying ang una naming table ano, ah box ng apple literal na ano ganun lang pinagdugtong daw nila pinag that that was their first table sila ni papa until the house we have now.
Gem: So kung ang parents ko nagkaganon at umigi ang buhay because of hard work integrity resilience. Why can’t I? So yun ang ginawa ko. Yun ang sinundan ko. And when I left my ex-husband kasi ‘di ba o hindi umiga yung buhay ko.
Pabigat siya eh ‘ ba nananakit eh. O ‘ ba gago eh. I was a battered wife by the way. Yeah. Annulled ako ha, by the way. Ah you don’t have to be sorry. ‘Yan ang lagi kong sinasabi, kasi maging sorry ang tao na na-interview na ako ng channel 2, channel 4, Bernadet Sembrano, lahat yan na-interview na ako about my life.
Gem: But it’s okay ngayon ini-interview mo ako. Hindi ako mahihiya. Mas mahihiya ako if I’m still there. Okay. At kung may mga manonood sa’yo na buttered wives, utang na loob, umalis na kayo ngayon pa lang. Yun yung summary ng buhay ko and I’m proud of my life kasi at the end of the day alam ko marami akong natulungang tao.
Yun yung tinatawag kong service. Yun yung mission ko sa buhay. From the planet, to the animals, to the to the plants, to the people. Yan yung buhay ko. So I have a very good partner right now. So si partner ay parehong pareho kami ng prinsipyo. Boom. Wala. Hindi sakit ng ulo ‘ ba. Boom.
Gem: Ganun lang yun. At babalik at babalik ako. Ano ang pinanghahawakan mong values? Ano ang iyong passion? What do you want? Kung medyo, diba yung sa cartoons parang may bubble dito. I want to be. Isipin, close your eyes. Ganyan ako pag nagpapameditate ako.
Philippe: Imagine.
Gem: Imaginin mo what would you like to be? I imagine when I was in grade 2, I like to become a leader. Eh di the leader ako ngayon. Ganon lang yon. You follow your dreams, kasi yan yung pinakamura. Diba, when you follow your dreams ako.
Philippe: Akala ko yung libre. Librenag mangarap.
Gem: Diba, libre mangarap eh. Libre mangarap eh. Kaya mura siya ba. So ibig sabihin at the end of the day ang kailangan mo pala is pagpursigihan ‘yung gusto mo talagang gawin para lang nanliligaw ‘yan diba?
Philippe: True.
Gem: Talagang ang hirap nasa kabilang ano pa city yung gusto mong ligawan pero hindi sayo hindi mahirap yun eh. That’s that’s that’s that’s exactly what I lived for. Hindi mahirap ang buhay ko.
Hindi ako naghihirap because ginugusto ko lahat nung struggles ko na pinupuntahan. In every struggle, sabi ko yan kay Sam Bernardo, in every stumble I stand up. I have one reason always to stand up. If I have 1000 reasons to give up, one reason lang, mag-stand up ako.
Gem: Sasabihin ko lang kay Lord, every morning ginising mo ako diba? Oh, di bigyan mo naman ako ng boses. Yung ganon. Utang na loob naman. Lord wala na akong boses. Paos na paos ako pero hindi nasa kliyente pa rin ako. Bumabalik ako. Again pupunta ako sa tanong mo.
Ano yung values ko? Pag wala kang pinanghahawakang values at ang tinitingala mo lang ay yung mga ang gaganda ng damit, gaganda ng mukha. I basically ask the gen z’s. Okay. Nawalan ka ng pera. Wala na eh, sabi mo gusto maraming pera. Okay. Tumanda ka na. Wala ka na nito.
Gem: Anong meron ka? Only one person said in the values. There you go. Now you know where I’m coming from.
