PBB: Jam

Jamilla has fallen from grace more than once yet she has managed to pick herself up and start all over again. She is not embarrassed to admit that she didn’t grow up in a normal family set up. She is not ashamed to say that she was just a 17 year old Nursing student when she got impregnated by her boyfriend of 4 years. And she is also not hiding the fact that she worked as a model and GRO in a girly bar. Because for Jamilla every person has a chance for a new beginning and she believes her time for a new life is now.

Growing up not knowing her Puerto Rican father and having an OFW absentee mother, she and her sister were left in the care of different people. “Lumaki ako sa lola ko dahil sa trabaho ng mommy ko. Tapos sa tita ko. Actually noong unang alis ng mama ko sa kaibigan niya kami iniwan. Naaalala ko pa hanggang ngayon yung itsura ng sister ko, malnourished na. Napabayaan kami. Di siya nagpapadala. Then nakakita ako ng pictures niya sa abroad, nagpapakasaya siya may boyfriend pa siyang kasama.” That’s why Jamilla is closer to her grandma than her real mom. “Mahal na mahal ko ang lola ko. Siya ang takbuhan ko kapag may problema.”

When she got pregnant by her boyfriend though she was very grateful for her mom’s intervention. “Pinaghiwalay niya kami. Nakita niya na tamad at iresponsable yung boyfriend ko. Hindi na nagpakita ulit after kong manganak, ni singkong duling wala siyang itinulong. I realized in the end na tama pala ang mama ko.” Jamilla considers her baby a blessing even though the child had a cleft palate and lip when he was born. Her baby needs 5 operations so she accepted a job as a GRO in a girly bar. “Nagmomodel ako or tine-table. Bawal ka naman lumabas and choice mo din kung sasama ka sa customer.” Tips average from zero to P30,000 a night but the biggest amount she was offered was P100,000. And she accepted this amount once for her child’s first operation. “Isang beses ko tinangap para sa baby ko. Kilala ko na rin kasi yung taong nag-offer nun. Alam kong hindi siya hihingi ng kapalit. Sobrang bait siya. Kaso ayoko ko muna kasi mainvolve sa kahit kanino dahil ang priority ko ay ang anak ko.”

Pinoy Big Brother seem to be the answer to Jamilla’s prayers. “Gusto ko na talaga huminto sa ganitong klaseng trabaho. Sa pagsali ko mabibigyan ako ng chance di lang matulungan ang baby ko, pati na rin yung pangarap ko na maging artista.”