We have known Mariquita Salimbangon Yeung for as long as we can remember. As a young girl she used to appear in fashion shows and modeled on TV.

Mariquita danced in the rigodon de honor of the annual ball of the prestigious Bachelors and Feminas clubs of Cebu, always elegantly attired. That was in the early 1970s.

She lived in Cebu’s Beverly Hills subdivision with her sister Ofelia and her husband Ote Cue. She was often in touch with her dear neighbors Jose (Bebe) and Marfe Barba, sons of Mayor Marcelo Barba of Toledo City.

I remember all three of them drooling over the top tune of the day, “The Way We Were,” as sung by Barbra Streisand.

Dr. Bebe and his wife Fidelis would soon migrate to the US, take up residence in Park Avenue, NYC, and he’d become one of the most prominent oncologists in New York and New Jersey.

Mariquita would make a fateful trip to Hong Kong where she met Carlos Yeung, a young, good-looking and dynamic businessman in the diamond trade.

By coincidence, among the partners of the firm were Cebuanos: the late Henry Lhuillier, father of Michel, now the honorary consul of France in Cebu; Philippe, the Philippines’ new ambassador to Spain; and Marguerite, noted designer of furniture and home decor.

It was a whirlwind courtship, and Carlos and Mariquita were married and settled in Hong Kong.

Visits to Cebu became more frequent as the years went by, and eventually they bought a house in Nivel, along the road leading to Marco Polo Plaza Hotel. They also established themselves in London for their children’s eventual schooling.

Mariquita and Carlos also resolved to share a good portion of their blessings with the less fortunate and most needy.

From the balcony

What to do? First of all, careful planning.

They chose March 3, 1992, Mariquita’s 40th birthday, to launch the Mariquita Salimbangon Yeung (MSY) Charitable Foundation.

From a balustraded balcony overlooking the carpet lawn filled with guests, and attired in a filmy Chanel original, Mariquita announced her project.

She recalled that in her home, her parents, Martin and Milagros Salimbangon, had a medicine cabinet always filled with medicines. Whenever a neighbor came to their home, they shared the contents of that cabinet. So Mariquita was fulfilling a childhood dream.

The first thrust of the MSY Foundation was to set up medical centers in various points of Cebu province, particularly where most needed. Assisting Mariquita as executive director was a dear friend, Monette Aliño.

They set up an office which, as the foundation activities expanded, also had to grow. From a flat in a building they have moved to the MSY Tower at the Cebu Business Park of Ayala Land.

In 1997 MSY Foundation linked with Operation Smile, the US-based international project performing operations on children (and some adults) with hare lips, cleft palates and facial disfigurements.

The MSY Foundation needed more funding for this and appealed to the community which responded well. “I may have been the founder of this foundation, but it is Carlos who is its main funder,” Mariquita often quips.

For it is not only Operation Smile that is MSY’s concern, but also a whole range of philanthropic activity, ranging from scholarships to civic projects, you name it.

Volunteers

The MSY Foundation is supported by numerous volunteers and prominent members of the Cebu community, like pediatrician Vivina Chiu Yrastorza and Mariquita’s brothers, Rep. Benhur Salimbangon and Cesar Salimbangon.

The most recent Operation Smile in Cebu took place on the first week of March at Cebu Community Hospital. It merited the visit of Vice President Leni Robredo who congratulated Mariquita for her concern these past 20 years.

Culmination Day was held March 3 at Villa Mariquita where, 25 years ago, from the balustraded balcony, Mariquita pledged the perpetuity of her foundation. More so now that Carlos has said that for so many years his home is Cebu rather than Hong Kong.

This was an occasion to announce that the torch of the MSY Foundation is being passed to their children: son Martin Yeung and his wife Claudia; and the daughters Carla with her husband Chris Mackowen, and Jewelle with husband Phil Mugglestone.

It was quite a grand celebration filled with music, good cheer and mutual congratulations. Mariquita at 65 remains as pretty as when she was 20 and modeling, since she has also kept her svelte figure.

Now, what’s next? The indefatigable Monette Aliño says its same time next year for Operation Smile, which had scored more than 5,000 operations in Cebu during the past 20 years.

There is a grand celebration next year, hints party planner and Mariquita’s dear friend, Teresin Mendezona. For Carlos and Mariquita it will be their 40th wedding anniversary. “That means ruby, take it from there,” says Mendezona.