“It’s nice to come home,” exclaimed erstwhile actress and beauty queen Rochelle Romero Ong in an exclusive interview on a stormy night at the SM North EDSA.
After twenty years of absence from the local entertainment and glamour scene, Romero Ong, 1998 Mutya ng Pilipinas, is in town for a short vacation.
“Miss na miss ko na ang Pilipinas (I miss the Philippines so much),” said Rochelle who is with husband Ivan Carpio and son Sean.
According to her, there are developments of modernity in the Philippines but the traditional ethos remains.
Romero Ong, after her stint as the Philippine representative to Miss Asia Pacific and the global stage, had brief television and movie appearances.
While doing show business and being an ambassador of arts and culture, the UST of Faculty of Arts and Letters alumnus established her own garment business.
“I was also business-minded,” she admitted, owning up her entrepreneurial skills and spirit from her parents, Rolly Ong and Faye Romero (who are also artists, the former is a musician and the latter, a multimedia broadcaster).
But then again, Rochelle’s heart was somewhere else because her mom and dad were abroad at the time.
And a younger sister, Anne, was already working overseas.
Romero Ong migrated to the US and found herself loving her new socio-cultural environment.
Since then, Rochelle has been involved in the US health care industry and committed to it as top-ranking personnel.
What she learned in school and society with a great exposure to Western lifestyle has made her more open-minded about diversity that nurtures her personal interrelationships.
It is also in the US that she met her ideal man, got married and started a family
Vacationing in the Philippines for her is a breather.
Rochelle and her family recently took a Boracay hideaway.
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