What Does it Truly Take to Build a Happy Family? Paolo Trillo and Rissa Mananquil-Trillo Share Their Secret

Now married for over ten years, Paolo and Rissa face the usual ups-and-downs that test every wedded couple. In many ways, these challenges are inescapable, but
the couple face them together. “We make sure that we have each other to lean on through difficult times,” says Paolo. “We are very fortunate to share the same values in life and this just makes our marriage even stronger through the hardest of times.” 

Like the time Paolo was diagnosed positive with COVID-19 in 2021. “It was incredibly hard,” says Rissa. “Even if you feel like your loved one is in the best of circumstances—Paolo only had to isolate at home and his symptoms were manageable because he was fully vaccinated—it’s difficult not to be anxious and to not think of the worst.” With the added responsibility of caring for Audra and Celestia, Rissa needed to find strength within herself. “The hardest part was telling our daughters. They bawled their eyes out and seeing them cry made me cry too. It was one of the most painful things to go through,” she recalls. “Looking back, the only way our family was able to go through that was by taking things one day at a time. When a difficult circumstance hits your family, the best way to cope is to deal with things a little bit at a time, so that everything going on and your own thoughts don’t overwhelm you too much.”

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Thankfully, the family has been able to overcome the situation; and though the pandemic situation remains volatile, the Trillos seem to have manage it to the best of their abilities. “In our home, we’ve had to learn to allow each one the space to be vulnerable and to process their own emotions,” reveals Rissa. “Last New Year’s Eve, we had the kids draw from ‘emotion cards’ to help them process the year that was. As a parent, I love hearing them express joy and happiness, but I also must remember that even negative emotions are an opportunity for building stronger connections. I want them to be able to run to me when they need to and to pour their heart out, knowing it’s okay not to be okay.”

For their part, Celestia and Audra seem to make parenting as easy as they can for mum and dad. Both bright girls, the sisters “are like best friends”. “One minute they’re quarrelling on what game to play and the next minute they’re hugging and laughing over a silly prank,” describes their father. “They’ve grown especially close during the pandemic. Celestia is very independent, creative, a critical thinker and voracious reader, while being intelligent and street smart at the same time. Audra is a girl who lives life to the fullest, very adventurous, while also being affectionate, compassionate, witty—a big dreamer and explorer with an amazingly sharp eye for detail.”

For Paolo and Rissa, one of the most important things for them was to ensure that their children felt safe despite the uncertainty. “Paolo and I had to have difficult, but important conversations with Celestia and Audra about what was happening in the world. These conversations, though not easy to bring up with young children, brought our family so much closer,” comments the mother. A manifestation of their earnestness, this type of straightforward parenting shows how seriously Paolo and Rissa take on their roles as parents. “We take the responsibility of raising the next generation and the future citizens of this world very seriously,” confirms Rissa. “We see it as a way of contributing to public good.” 

And while this kind of sentiment is common among parents, it seems to be something of a passion for mum and dad, both of whom have agreed that they’ve learnt “an enormous lot” from their own parents. Rissa, who is the daughter of editor and writer, Millet Mananquil, shares that she was taught unconditional love by her mum. “From [Paolo’s dad] Joaqui Trillo, we learnt that life is like a sports game, you have to be a good coach or referee—to be just and fair,” she adds. “From [Paolo’s mum] Imelda Trillo, we embraced that family memories are life’s true riches. From [dad] Robert Mananquil, we learnt to be fiercely patriotic.”

At this time, Rissa and Paolo want Audra and Celestia to understand that gender has nothing to do with capability. “A proud moment for me as their mother happened recently when Celestia had to answer an assignment for school,” recalls Rissa. “There was a sentence in her worksheet that talked about a woman, describing her only physically and implying that her values were conditional on how she looked. Celestia’s worksheet instructed her to review what was wrong with the sentence, and she pointedly wrote that the sentence was wrong because it didn’t mention anything else about the woman’s skills, intelligence, or principles, which were more important values to work on. She did that without any help from Paolo and I. Small, but impactful moments like that make us feel like we’re doing something right for our daughters and their future.” 

As an entrepreneur and artist, this kind of empowerment is of obvious importance for Rissa. Never one to give up on her passions, she shares that despite the usual notions of busy parenting, being a mum has only made her a better entrepreneur. “Being married to Paolo has taught me that a woman’s secret in juggling numerous roles can be as uncomplicated and as simple as having an excellent support system,” she notes. “Seeing my children each day makes me more mindful of what kind of world I’m leaving to them and their generation.”

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Nowadays, Rissa, who has made a name for herself as a co-founder of local beauty brand, Happy Skin, continues to advocate for the kind of world she strives to leave her children. “Those close to me know how sustainability has always meant a lot to me,” she shares. “This is why I decided to further my education by taking up Business Sustainability Management at Cambridge. I want to lead businesses to be innovatively profitable, socially responsible and environmentally respectful, and to be a catalyst for change and steward of my children’s future and the next generation’s.”

The model and entrepreneur had earlier made waves about her decision to leave Happy Skin after almost a decade at its helm. “It was a long discernment process,” she shares. “But I am at a point in my life where I pursue only the things that feel like a complete yes for me. For anyone at a crossroad, I’ve realised that even if it is undoubtedly hard, you don’t lose when you choose the values that are most important to you.”

Rissa continues to hope for the best for Happy Skin and wishes that it will continue to represent every Filipina’s needs and her desire for high-quality and creative innovation.

So, despite the bittersweet goodbye to the brand, it seems as if Rissa and her family are more than ready to head on to their next chapter, knowing within themselves that growth will come “from happy skin to happy heart and happy mind.”

This story was originally published in the February 2022 issue of Tatler Philippines. Download it on your digital device through Zinio, Magzter, or Pressreader.

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