It takes a pure heart to heal a wounded heart.
This observation from among his friends in show business holds true for veteran actor-model Lito Gruet.
Controversial beauty queen-actress Azenith Briones and socialite-model-actress Geena Zablan can attest to Lito's purity of heart in healing hurting hearts.
It was Azenith who vouched Gruet's sincerity and vivacity in caring for others at this point in his life.
Of course, healing others starts from oneself.
It's no denying that Lito was also wounded in the past.
This he admitted in his digital testimony in his Facebook posts: “I survived a life of hell on earth. Crawled out of an endless pit of hopelessness and despair. I overcame being a hardcore addict, a lawbreaker and a convict. I fiercely fought hard to reform and reinvented my life to become the best version of myself. This time with meaning and purpose.
“In my own humble way, to thank HIM for my salvation, I do what I can to help humanity. Not for financial gains or recognition, but to gratefully pay it forward. For this is HIS purpose for me and I remain a work in progress.”
Despite criticisms from cynics, Lito goes on with his mission to help others.
As he transformed to a renewed person, Lito readily opened up his heart to all people whose hearts are pained, one of them the late Dr. Rey de la Cruz's Liquor Beauties, Brandy Ayala who turned astray because of drugs.
Brandy became a street wanderer in Tondo, and mentally challenged.
Being the Executive Director of Battle Against Ignorance Foundation (BAIF) and one of the prime movers of Havensafe Recovery Village, Gruet and his fellow life savers adopted and are taking care of Brandy, Remedios Estrada in real life.
According to Lito, Brandy made wrong choices and suffered the consequences of these choices. “But in God's Eyes no one is hopeless and beyond redemption,” the actor quipped.
Ayala, Lito said, deserves a better life.
“No longer is she roaming the streets wasting away her life. She is now in a loving and safe community where she is cared for.
“Though she still is a work in progress and full recovery may take some time, the important thing is that there is marked improvement,” Lito shared.
Before, Brandy would just spend the day sleeping anywhere and being given food by good Samaritans.
Now, Brandy’s life is reformed and structured.
Inside BAIF, Ayala follows a routine that makes her life useful like listening to her counselor Nanete Maglasang, fixing her own bed, washing her own plates, and folding her own clothes and sharing life with others.
Brandy was brought to Cebu through the facilitation of many people which included entertainment broadcaster Morly Alinio.
At the moment, Lito is active in modelling and one of the sources of funds for his facility is walking down the ramp, the latest of which is a show at The Reef Island Resort in Mactan, Cebu.
#WeTakeAStand #OpinYon