Kahit pa may COVID-19 pandemic, naglakas-loob Si Rovilson Fernandez, ang host ng GMA-7 infotainment show na Ang Pinaka, na bumiyahe papuntang U.S. para makapiling ang kanyang pamilya ngayong Pasko.
Sa panayam ng PEP.ph (Philippine Entertainment Portal) kay Rovilson via Facebook Messenger noong nakaraang December 14, 2020, napag-alamang umuwi siya sa San Jose, California noong December 5 dahil naging tradisyon na raw ng kanilang pamilya na magkakasama silang lahat tuwing Pasko.
Naging daan ang pandemic para mas makilala pa ni Rovilson ang kanyang amang si Rody, isang retired electrical engineer sa U.S. Navy.
Aniya, "As a military man, feelings and emotions weren’t expressed in our household, and as a household of four boys, we were okay with that.
“But this pandemic has made me realize how life is so short, and I needed to let him know he is an amazing father and we appreciate him."
Sa kanyang social-media pages, inamin ng 47-year-old celebrity na nito lamang niya nalaman ang makulay at mahirap na pinagdaanan ng kanilang ama, at manghang-mangha siya sa mala-pelikulang life story nito.
Heto ang unang bahagi ng kuwento ni Rovilson na ipinost niya noong December 9:
"I'll remember 2020 as the time I got to spend, hang, learn and just bond with my dad. We were never close, he was always the 'strong, silent' type. A military man.
"I’m amazed at all his incredible stories of hardship, growth, timing, sacrifice and pure luck; from scavenging for scraps of food as a child during the Japanese occupation of the Philippines and eluding soldiers, to supporting the family at a young age (grandfather died in the Bataan Death March) sending/paying for his sisters to attend college and running the household, to fighting the relentless North Vietnamese Army in the Mekong River Delta, to almost missing his wedding in Dagupan cause he was quarantined for days in Manila for Agent Orange exposure and had no way of calling my mom to let her know he was alive! (But he made it, just hours before the wedding. That’s another incredible story) to the great American cliche of 'arriving in America with just $10 in his pocket' (he had $10 but sleeping in the YMCA took $2 his first night)."
Ang agent orange ay paggamit ng "herbicide and defoliant chemical" ng U.S. bilang bahagi ng chemical warfare program nito during the Vietnam War noong 1961 until 1971.
Back to the life story of Rovilson's dad, inihalintulad niya ito kay Forrest Gump, ang titular role ni Tom Hanks.
Sa pagpapatuloy ng TV host, "I swear my dad’s life is Forrest Gump. But replace shrimp boat captain with Electrical Engineer (in a fledgling town full of dreams and cherry orchards later to be known as 'Silicon Valley'), replace pingpong champ with Chess champion and making an incredibly fortuitous windfall from @apple stocks.
"Just like Forrest Gump. And just like Forrest Gump, my dad has the biggest heart and is the most generous man I’ve ever known."
Ipinagmamalaki ni Rovilson na maraming napag-aral ang kanyang ama.
"So many people have gone to school/college because of my dad (and I don’t just mean his four spoiled sons). You know when you always say to yourself, 'I swear my life is a movie,' well my dad’s life story is definitely my favorite adventure film.
"Oh, and next year he’ll be celebrating his 50th Wedding anniversary with my mom. They don’t make guys like him like they used to anymore (he still rolls his sleeves up like a Navy man). So ya, that’s my dad. What a bad ass."
More than ever, mas appreciative si Rovilson ngayon sa kanyang mga pamilya, and he takes advantage of this period para mas maka-bonding sila.
Ang sabi niya sa PEP.ph, "Some people didn’t get that opportunity with their father’s.
“Their generation is the greatest generation in our modern era. They laid the foundation for what we are enjoying now.... the greatest time to be alive.
“That family and loyalty is everything, that behind every great man is an amazing woman/wife, and that pure luck snd skill are divinely intertwined."
Para sa taong 2021, ang wish ni Rovilson para sa mga FIlipino is “to be more brave” and "for the Philippines to be the great country it is destined to be and its citizens to realize that."