Bernadette Sembrano
Real-Life Fairy

Charmingly petite with an infectious smile, everything about her was cool and warm at the same time as she breezed through the studio for the photo shoot. There before my eyes was the face that launched a million smiles, touched thousands of lives and made millions of televiewers cry in joy.

Bernadette Sembrano is as real as real can get. If she exudes warmth and dow-to-earthness on TV, that's because she really is warm and down-to-earth in person. On TV, when you see her hug people, cry or laugh with them, she is not putting you on.

Bernadette is one versatile broadcast journalist. She can be as sweet and caring as a fairy godmother who grants people's wishes at one time, a perky show host in the morning, or a serious investigative journalist at another time.

These days, Badette, as some of her friends call her, is no longer granting wishes to people, but this fairy continues to weave her magic wand the Magandang Umaga Bayan (MUB) show of her new home, ABS-CBN. With the docu-drama Lukso ng Dugo, Badette is back to what she does best - public service.

Badette was at first hesitant to grace this issue's pages of V, especially when she was told she was our choice for Most Powerful YoungPerson in Public Service. She says that whatever she was doing for Wish Ko Lang should be credited not to her, but to the team. It took quite a while for her to say yes to our request for a pictorial and an interview.

What she did not realize was that in our eyes - and in the televiewers' as well - she was the driving force behind the show, that when people saw her, they saw a friend providing hope for their lives. While it is true that a show may have noble objectives, the host undeniably plays a central role in its success. She may not agree with us, but Wish Ko Lang would not have made for itself without her. It was her sincerity and warmth that gave life and meaning to the show.

posted in YEHEY.COM