Bianca Umali opens up about losing parents at young age, credits grandmom for raising her

MANILA, October 9 ------ Actress Bianca Umali looked back on the painful experiences that shaped her childhood, including losing both of her parents at a young age and being raised by her grandmother, whom she calls her “superhero.”

In an interview on “Oh My Gan!,” Umali shared that she lost her mother to breast cancer when she was only five years old. Five years later, her father died of a heart attack. Umali admitted that she was too young to fully understand and process what was happening at the time. “I only have flashes of memories. Very few memories with my mom. Very few memories pa na yun are most of it she was already sick,” she recalled. She said many of her memories involved seeing her mother undergo treatment and being kept at a distance because of her condition.

Umali had more memories with her father, whom she described as taking on the roles of both mother and father after her mom passed away. “I was really a daddy’s girl. And I loved being a daddy’s girl. My dad became both a mom and a dad to me,” she said.

She fondly remembered accompanying him to work, watching him tinker with his motorcycle, going on road trips, and singing and playing the guitar together. But tragedy struck again when Umali was 10 years old. Her father suffered a heart attack on what would have been her mother’s birthday. Umali recalled being in the vehicle with him as they rushed to the hospital and watching as he struggled to breathe. He was declared dead on arrival. “I both saw their last breaths,” Umali revealed, noting that she had also been present when her mother passed away.

Umali said she was left frozen by what happened and did not have the emotional tools at the time to understand her grief. “I don’t think I was skilled to process anything. I didn’t know, I didn’t even know what questions to ask, or who to ask or where do I go?” she said. “Anak ako ng dalawang tao na nawala, so saan ako mapupunta?”

It was only as she grew older that she slowly began understanding the weight of what she had experienced. “Yung naging effect ng naulila ako nang maaga is that yung pagproseso ko at pag-intindi ko ng mga bagay slowly happens as I have gotten older,” she explained. Despite experiencing loss at such an early age, Umali said she never questioned God. “I never did. Up until this day, I never did. I never do. And I never will,” she said. Instead, the actress said she chose to view her experiences as a source of strength rather than a reason to pity herself. “I choose to look at it not as something that I will pity myself for. I choose to look at it as something that I have become strong because of my experiences,” she said. “Naulila ako because ganun kalakas yung tingin sa akin ng Lord. Alam niyang kaya ko. Alam niyang ganun ka-strong yung puso’t isip ko.”

Following the death of her parents, Umali was raised by her grandmother, Mama Vicky, alongside several cousins. At one point, she said there were 15 girls living under one roof. For Umali, her grandmother became the woman who changed the course of her life. “I call my lola my superhero kasi sinagip niya ako. If it wasn’t for her, I wouldn’t be where I am now, I wouldn’t be who I am now,” she said. Umali also recalled how Mama Vicky supported her budding showbiz career even when they had limited resources.

The two would commute from Parañaque to Quezon City using different modes of public transportation just so Umali could attend auditions. In one of her most unforgettable memories, Umali said her grandmother even brought her from store to store inside a mall, personally asking brands to sponsor her. “Nilako niya ako,” Umali said with a laugh. “Inisa-isa namin yung mga stores sa department store.”

Although no one ever called them back, Umali said the memory remains a reminder of how deeply her grandmother believed in her. “Every time I would go back to that, it’s a humbling experience… That reminds me of why I want to continue doing what I do and why I want to achieve more,” she said.

Today, Umali said she and her cousins are paying Mama Vicky’s sacrifices forward by supporting the younger members of their family. “Kung ano yung ginawa para sa amin ng lola namin, gagawin din namin yun para sa iba,” she said. For Umali, one of the greatest lessons Mama Vicky taught her is that genuine love does not keep score. “Madali kasing magmahal, pero hindi madaling magmahal na hindi ka rin nag-e-expect ng pagmamahal in return,” she said. “Yung lola ko, she was that selfless. She gave everything she had, including herself, to us without anything in return.”

Umali said that while the childhood losses will always remain a part of her, she has learned to see even her most difficult experiences through the lens of faith. “Lahat ng pagdadaanan natin sa buhay will pass. This too shall pass,” she said. “We have different levels of pain. We all have different experiences. But whatever those experiences are, good or bad, there will be a reason for that.”

Source: news.abs-cbn.com