At a young age, Emmeline “Em” Aglipay Villar already knew she wanted to serve the public and continue what she had started in high school—spearheading community development programs in both urban and rural poor areas.
In the last five years of her career as a legislator, she co-authored and championed the Kasambahay Law, the Reproductive Health Law and the Anti-Drunk Driving Act. She also initiated 45 livelihood programs in 100 barangays, which have benefited more than 6,852 families all over the country.
In 2012, she was given The Outstanding Young Men Award (TOYM) for her work as a public servant and in recognition of the successful community development projects she has headed since 1995.
As a party-list representative of Diwa (Democratic Independent Workers’ Association), which focuses on the labor sector with special advocacies on the rights of women, children and persons with disabilities, her job is definitely not easy.
Thankfully, certain passions and interests provide her with much needed balance and inspiration. While fitness, food and her dogs make her days more colorful, it’s her husband, Las Piñas Rep. Mark Villar, and their daughter, Emma Therese, that fill her life with meaning and love.
Beauty tips
After campaigning, co-authoring bills, and mommy duties like breast-feeding, she makes sure to look her best, with beauty tips for the woman on the go.
“I am passionate about fitness,” says Villar, who engages in different sports and isn’t afraid to occasionally try a new workout.
This partner at Plana Forma adds, “I try to not let a day pass without some form of physical activity.”
When it comes to caring for her skin, she prefers to keep things simple by getting eight hours of sleep, drinking five liters of water a day and taking her multivitamins.
“After a tiring day, I take a long, warm bath, then I do my nightly rituals with all my oils and creams. I feel very clean, relaxed and moisturized,” shares Villar.
Unknown to many, she struggled with alopecia (a type of hair loss that occurs when your immune system mistakenly attacks hair follicles) for several years. Her bald spots “ranged in size from a P1 coin to a large cookie. There even came a point when my hair was like The Hobbit’s Gollum.” Thanks to Mark, the condition didn’t keep her from feeling beautiful.
But she’s always had an unwavering confidence, even as a child. Despite the usual growing pains, she was always comfortable in her own skin. Even when she was overweight, she “didn’t have a care in the world.”
“I had bigger things on my mind,” says Villar. “I was focused on my community development projects.”
Today, if there’s one thing she would tell her younger self, it would be “stress makes you look old and sick—it’s not worth it.”
For the dedicated public servant, wife and mother, “beauty is whatever makes your heart sing.”
Beauty book
Together with Rustan’s, LOOK’s latest beauty book “Face: Beauty for Every Woman” celebrates women like Em, Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach, Amina Aranaz-Alunan, Joanna Preysler Francisco and Iza Calzado, and others who continue to march to the beat of their own drum, inspiring others to live the life they’ve envisioned for themselves.
The 180-page book is also full of practical tips from experts, exclusive interviews with the likes of Camille Goutal (daughter of perfumer Annick Goutal), manicurist to the stars Deborah Lippmann and Jane Iredale whose eponymous brand of mineral makeup changed the beauty industry.
Written by Carmencita S. Sioson, Stefanie Cabal Rostoll and Ronna Capili Bonifacio, “Face” follows other mini books launched by Hinge Inquirer and Inquirer Lifestyle. The three previous ones were “Help! I’m a Bagaholic!” “Help! I’m a Shoe Addict!” and “I Do!”
“Face” will be available in all leading bookstores nationwide by June.