Sa dami ng mga nakasalamuhang tao no Bernadette sa ilang taon niya sa mundo ng broadcasting at public service, ay napakarami na rin niyang life lesson na natutunan mula sa kanyang mga naging karanasan.
At ang ilan nga sa mga naging experience at realizations niya sa buhay ay mababasa sa ginawa niyang libro na may titulong “When Bad News Is Good News: Stories To Keep Your Hope Alive.”
“I think the main reason for why I wrote the book is really out of gratefulness. A lot of us have gone through a lot in our lives including myself.
“But all the time whenever I would go through something so difficult, ang hugot ko would always be the experiences, the people that I met on the field. Iba ‘yung faith that I witnessed so sabi ko it was just so hard to not write about it,” ang pahayag ni Bernadette sa interview ng “Headstart” ng ANC.
Sey ng news anchor, halos lahat ng hirap at problema ng mga Pinoy sa iba’t ibang panig ng Pilipinas ay nasaksihan na niya kaya naman nais niyang ialay sa lahat ng mga kababayan natin ang kanyang unang aklat.
“I think I’ve seen the worst case of problems of our kababayans — distressed, frustrated, health issues, poverty issues — and yet ang tanong ko ‘Bakit nakakangiti ang Filipino?’
“I guess that’s the question that a lot of people have about Filipinos. ‘Bakit tayo nakakangiti? Bakit ang resilient natin?’
“And somehow because I’ve been exposed to them all the time, nu’ng ako ‘yung nagkaroon ng mga pinagdaanan din naging hugot ko at inspiration ko ang mga kababayan natin din.
“So this book is actually an offering to honor all the Filipinos that I’ve interviewed in the past 20 years of my life,” aniya pa.
Mababasa rin sa libro ang naging journey nila ng asawang si Emilio “Orange” Aguinaldo IV sa kagustuhang magkaroon ng anak.
“The message that I want to say here is dapat hindi tayo judgmental of people and we have to be more compassionate of others because we don’t know what others are going through. This is not just about my journey, it’s about each one of us,” aniya.
Bukod sa kanyang libro, ni-launch na rin ang kanyang kantang “Bubog,” na tumatalakay sa mga hugot ng isang tao sa mga naging kaganapan sa kanyang buhay.
Base rin daw ito sa love story ng composer-arranger na si Homer Flores at ng asawa niyang si Rocky. Si Bernadette ang sumulat ng lyrics ng “Bubog,” habang ang musika nito ay in-arrange ni Homer.
“Para sa akin, music healed me and I know music can also heal people in their journey. So that’s the lyrics that I write, that’s also the melody that I write,” sey ni Bernadette.
Available na ang “Bubog” sa iba’t ibang music streaming platforms.