Michael Jackson at The Orphans Christmas Party - with Gwen Carino

Before my chat with episode 5's main guest, The Michael Jackson Book Club's Shari Thurman Wilks joins me to tell us about an awesome project that The Book Club are doing this August to honor Michael Jackson's 65th Birthday.

Then, as seen on page 94 of my book “Humanitarian – The Real Michael jacksn,” Gwen Carino was PR officer at the Manila Hotel in The Philippines & was assigned to head their annual Orphan’s Christmas Party in 1996.

In this episode, Gwen tells us about how Michael Jackson volunteered his time over the day to help distribute Christmas presents to the kids as well as signing autographs and posing for photos. The story is a popular one in the fan community and it was lovely to get to hear all the details directly from Gwen.


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Transcript

Paul:

Before my chat with episode 5's main guest, The Michael Jackson Book Club's Shari Thurman Wilks joins me to tell us about an awesome project that The Book Club are doing this August to honor Michael Jackson's 65th Birthday.

Then, as seen on page 94 of my book “Humanitarian – The Real Michael jacksn,” Gwen Carino was PR officer at the Manila Hotel in The Philippines & was assigned to head their annual Orphan’s Christmas Party in 1996.

In this episode, Gwen tells us about how Michael Jackson volunteered his time over the day to help distribute Christmas presents to the kids as well as signing autographs and posing for photos. The story is a popular one in the fan community and it was lovely to get to hear all the details directly from Gwen.

Gwen:

Hi, I'm good.

Paul:

Thank you so much for talking to me.

Gwen:

Oh, thank you for your invitation.

Paul:

How are you this morning?

Gwen:

Good, thank you.

Paul:

So I just wanted to have a chat to you. I was wondering if you could start off by telling the listeners about your history, where you grew up and how you became to be a PR manager and if you're a Michael Jackson fan.

Gwen:

Right, well, yeah, I grew up here in the Philippines, so I'm full Filipino. And, yes, Michael Jackson fan at that. In fact, a lot of my friends and family members say that I may have manifested the encounter with him because I am such a big fan. Yeah, I had all sorts of Michael Jackson stuff, and even, like, when, let's say, relatives would go to the US. And come home, they would bring magazines. Michael Jackson magazine. Yeah, right. But, yeah, I was a PR officer at the Manila Hotel then, and the Manila Hotel is one of the most prestigious hotels here. It's very historical. It was built in 1912. I think it was the same years that I took that long ago. So during our time, especially, a lot of the celebrities and heads of states were housed in the hotel. And we were very lucky. I was very lucky to have experienced all of that. And it really helped me with pursuing a PR career, even after corporate being employed. So eventually, like, right now, I have my own agency, but thank you. In terms of what happened that fateful time, we usually do a lot of activities in the hotel, and there were yearly activities, including an orphans Christmas party that we did yearly, annually. So we would really treat 300 orphans at a chosen orphanage. A chosen orphanage to treat and honor and just spend the whole day with. Yeah, that particular year, I was assigned to it because at the time, we were about, like, maybe three PR officers. And then we had our director, and I was assigned to work on the Orphans Christmas party.

Paul:

Was that the first time you had done that?

Gwen:

I think it was my second time to do it. Yeah. It was my second time. And I had to make announcements, as we usually do, to all the rooms. So we had a Dear guest flyer, and just to inform the guests that on the particular day that we will have the orphanage Christmas party, it will be noisy and it will be full of laughter. And they're free to watch, they're free to donate, whatever, but it's really just to make guests aware that there will be a party that day and it will be noisy.

Paul:

For younger children. Yeah.

Gwen

Right. For younger children. Because these are children aged three to eleven. Three to twelve. Sorry. Three to twelve. Three to twelve. Since we had Michael Jackson as one of the guests in the hotel, because he had his I think it was his History concert yes. That year, and he stayed with us, so he chanced upon the flyer.

Paul:

Wow.

Gwen:

Yeah. And saw it as an opportunity to help.

Paul:

So did he approach you to help or did you guys approach him?

Gwen:

He had an aide who came to the office one morning, I think it was about, like, close to 10:00 A.m., just to say that I couldn't even remember his name, that he was from Mamarao Productions. And Mamarao Productions at that time was one of the groups involved in the concert and the documentation of his trip. So the aid of Mamara Productions came to the office and I was there, and he asked, who's handling the Orphans Christmas Party? And I said, It was me, and asked if Mr. Jackson could participate in whatever way we could suggest.

Paul:

Wow.

Gwen:

Yeah. And he said, if you need more toys, if you need money, just let us know how we can participate. How he can participate, and he'll be happy. So I was so stunned.

Paul:

Yeah, of course.

Gwen:

It's like, oh, my gosh. Right. He approached us for this, and I had to tell the person in terms of donation or money, we were covered. I said, this is the first time that I was able to get, like, 40 sponsors for the Christmas party, for the Orphans Christmas party. And I had to point the storage room, and it was full of it was full of giveaways already. So I said, thank you so much. But in terms of giveaways and monetary, we're pretty much covered. But it would be amazing for Mr. Jackson to participate. And he said, what's your suggestion? And I said, Will it be possible for him to help us just help distribute these toys and giveaways and just be there to smile with them and cheer them up? And he said, that's amazing. That's amazing. Because that's genuine, it's authentic, and he would love that. Give me time and I'll get back to you after lunch. That's what he said.

Paul:

Okay.

Gwen:

So okay. I was just, like, trying to compose myself. Okay. It would be great if that could happen, so let me know then. I'll just be here after lunch. They're like and I wasn't even able to have lunch because I was so excited and nervous and I really don't know what the outcome would be. But long story short, he arrived after he came after lunch and said mr. Jackson said yes.

Paul:

Wow.

Gwen:

Right. No, I tried not to scream. I did after when he left and my office mates were laughing at me, but I did say, I will have to make provisions.

Paul:

Yeah.

Gwen:

I will have to make provisions because we never have that much of security. And knowing how mystical he is and how he creates all this group of a swarm of people, I had to make provisions for security. First and foremost, a lot of security. A lot of security.

Paul:

Because I imagine, and correct me if I'm wrong already, there's probably fans and people outside the hotel.

Gwen:

And they knew.

Paul:

Yeah, they knew he was there already.

Gwen:

Even if it was confidential. Just people just know. Because just his arrival in the hotel was crazy. A few days before that, it's a shoulder to shoulder. People were pushing. We weren't even able to have a proper welcome. We were part of the welcome line. Our general manager was there. The board of directors of the hotel were there. But all this crowd of people from all walks of life were also there. And we had to cordon that off after it got so full and yeah, it was very tough for the hotel after that evening that he arrived. I said, we really need provision for security. Which was the first thing I did after that confirmation team. Because if we just relied on hotel security, it won't be enough. So we had to get government security.

Paul:

Oh, wow.

Gwen:

We had to get government security there.

Paul:

Do you know how many sort of security guards that means?

Gwen:

I cannot recall, but maybe in the 30s.

Paul:

Wow.

Gwen:

Yeah. Which eventually we realized was not enough.

Paul:

Wow.

Gwen:

Yeah. Because the crowd was just different and everybody wanted to have something going on with him.

Paul:

Yeah, of course.

Gwen:

Anyway, the day of the Orphans Christmas party came and we briefed all the departments well, because all the departments of the hotel were involved. So let's say the print shop at that time took care of the games. F and B took care of the food, and all other departments had their own thing. Our PR department took care of the program. So I had to get child stars to entertain. I didn't let them know that Michael Jackson was coming. Let them know because they would be nervous. I didn't let them know.

Paul:

This party was a full day event. Was it?

Gwen:

It was from 10:00 A.m. To about 04:00 p.m.. It was a full day event.

Paul:

Yeah.

Gwen:

Full day event. Yeah. So we started the usual way. We would start it welcoming the kids, letting them have morning snacks. And we had all these kiosks of French fries and waffle dogs and ice cream. Everything was sponsored, so we probably had like twelve kiosks of sponsored food items.

Paul:

Well done.

Gwen:

So that's how it started. We welcomed the kids. There was a mini program. We started with a dance number from a child actor. Then his name is Stefan Omori. And then after that we had games. We had games for the kids. Michael wasn't there yet when those happened. And then we were able to invite his backup singers to also sing.

Paul:

Oh, cool.

Gwen:

Yeah. Which of course we prepared early on. So they sang. And then when the second child entertainer was about to sing, when she was about to be called up on stage, that's when I got the word that Michael will be arriving early. Like, early for this? I was told it could happen. Yeah. So we set a table with a tent by the right side of the stage, just in case. And there were security there already. So he came early because he said he wanted to watch the program.

Paul:

Beautiful.

Gwen:

Yeah, because he knew. He knew. And it's funny, this child actress, her name is Carol Banawa, she was so shocked and she stood there and she was like and then she was done. She didn't know what to do. Couldn't sing. She couldn't sing, yeah. She was so nervous. And Michael said, I want to hear your beautiful voice. That's what he said. All these kids want to hear your beautiful voice. He wasn't even in his mic. He was just talking to her from down the stage and she was able to render her song. Yeah. So anyway, after that, we fed them, like, their lunch. We fed them their lunch. And at that time that was happening, I just briefed him. I briefed him together. I was with two other PR staff and our boss and the GM of the hotel was there. The board of directors were there, but they were in a particular area as well.

Paul:

So while the kids are having lunch and you're briefing Michael, are the kids aware that Michael Jackson is just over there?

Gwen:

They were, but prior to that, we talked to them and told them that we will have a very special guest and it would be best for everyone to remain calm and behaved. The kids followed. The problem was the adults.

Paul:

Really.

Gwen:

The adults. So anyway, yeah, the lunch finished and he was just patiently waiting. He had a drink or two. He didn't want to eat. Yeah. And normally the gift giving would really come last. There were still games in line, so we weren't finished with the games because games before lunch and games after lunch is how we do it. So we had to break that and distribute the gifts first because he was there. And we particularly noticed that there were people who were not part of the activity that were coming, but there was an area, it was cordoned off, so they weren't allowed to go past that ribbon. And we started we did the young kids first, ages three to six, and then six to eight, I believe, and then eight to twelve.

Paul:

And so someone was there to give Michael the gift, and then Michael would give them to the children. Is that right?

Gwen:

Yeah, we were there to hand it. I was there. Santa Claus was there. Yeah. Like in the photo. And he would hand it, and he was so I don't know, I just saw magic going on there. Because he would patiently talk to the kids one by one. Yeah. And these are sequential children. Yeah. And he would come up with conversation with them, even how simple or how brief it could, but he made sure it was meaningful and picture with each and every child after distributing the gift.

Paul:

Oh, wow.

Gwen:

Yeah.

Paul:

So did you have someone there to take a photo?

Gwen:

There was a studio at the lobby of the hotel called Velous. And they were our official photographer as well.

Paul:

Cool.

Gwen:

It was that guy who took this shot, this very candid shot of us. It's a great shot. It's the same. I think there are about three of them. There are about three of them, yeah. So the other one was doing random shots of the kids around and two were taking photos from this one from up the stage and one from down.

Paul:

Okay.

Gwen:

Yeah. That was the longest part of the program, because one by one, each kid right. And the moments in between, that was precious because I somehow had a really beautiful personal experience with him. And there were times when we were waiting for the next kid to come. We were telling stories. He asked me what my position was and who helped me plan.

Paul:

Yes. He was really interested.

Gwen:

He was really interested. You see the genuine side of him, and very authentic. Nothing staged. Nothing. You'll feel it. Yeah, of course you'll feel it. And yeah, we had funny moments, too, because kids would come like, let's say with a dead leaf, asking for his signature. Whatever they can hold, because they weren't prepared. Right. No paper, no nothing. A pop balloon. Yeah.

Paul:

Could he do that?

Gwen:

Yeah. And he would gladly sign on each. There were a lot there was a handkerchief. There were even kids who had their shirt signed at the back. So he was very patient. He didn't even drink until I forced him to because it was getting hot, the stage was getting crowded and very sweet. It was also there that I realized that he really has a skin condition.

Paul:

Oh, really? How did you realize that?

Gwen:

Is it called Vitaligo Vidalago? They were so light next to each other. And you'll see the he was in long sleeves. But you see, when he was reaching to give, you'll see that there were patches of white underneath his nails. It was white. And some parts of his hand.

Paul:

Wow.

Gwen:

And he was wearing a hat. And you'll see here and his part of his neck.

Paul:

Yeah.

Gwen:

Very close. So I said people mocked him for doing whitening and all that, but it's true that he had Vitaligo. He really did. So, yeah, the moments in between were precious because we also let the kids take a break from lining up and we had to stop a little so that we can reset on stage. And he was just like talking to the staff. He was talking to Santa, he was talking to my boss, my boss, Dulce, my colleague Annette, another colleague, Francis. And he requested it, actually. Can we take a short break? Of course. He probably got tired too, because you've.

Paul:

Been out there for what, a couple of hours now?

Gwen:

A couple of hours already. And the sun was getting hot towards twelve noon. He had water and orange juice, didn't eat, just talking to us. And he was also talking about how he will be in the hotel for a week. And people did not know that he was actually in the Philippines for a week.

Paul:

Okay.

Gwen:

So this was like very private information because people knew that he was just going to be there during the duration of his concert, which he did.

Paul:

He's at two concerts over three or four days.

Gwen:

Two days, yeah. And he stayed for a week. He visited charities, he visited other orphanages, he visited hospitals during the time that he was there.

Paul:

Wow. I knew he visited paranoia.

Gwen:

Orphanage, but.

Paul:

There was others as well that he visited.

Gwen:

Yes. So he did the round, but mostly in the South Manila area. South Manila area. Yeah. So that was nice. That was sweet. It's funny because I would say during that time, the hotel staff were just too excited to see him pass by. He didn't pass by the lobby because we had to protect him. He would pass by the employees entrance and the kitchen.

Paul:

So he came and left a few times.

Gwen:

Came and left a few times. And we knew about it because we had memos just to be quiet about it and to anticipate. So it's funny, one time I was at the hallway of the Mezzanine where our offices were located, and I saw our GM, she just pressed the elevator so it would stop on our floor. Because it was that moment that the time that Michael was coming down from the suite, from the penthouse suite, and she just pressed it so it would open on our floor. And she just did this. At that time, people weren't we were just festive there. It was such a festive atmosphere. I wouldn't say we weren't working, but, you know, whatever opportunity we could as very behaved employees just to say hi.

Paul:

Well, it's a once in a lifetime opportunity, isn't it?

Gwen:

Right. And there were like, let's say, floors where we knew he would pass. Departments would be there, but they were limited. Like, let's say, okay, you can be here by the stairway of so and so, but only the sales department, so we don't deprive them. Yeah. So there was something going on in the hotel as well, and it was just very happy and festive. And then the entire week that he was there, we had the strings in the lobby, and they only played Michael Jackson song, beautiful. And even our piped in music, like when you call yes. Yeah. They were all Michael Jackson song, which.

Paul:

Someone calls the hotel and you say, Please hold Michael Jackson.

Gwen:

Right. Yeah. The whole time that he was there, because it wasn't a secret anymore. People knew anyway, so we capitalized on it, not really publicized it, but enjoyed it, made it offensive and made it meaningful. That was nice. I'm veering away from the program first because I might forget some details. It was also nice because, like, the salespeople who handled his account, because they occupied an entire floor, his entourage occupied an entire floor, but he was in the penthouse. Yeah. Sorry, I got a bit lost. The people who handled his account, they were telling us when he left, they were invited to Neverland.

Paul:

Oh, wow.

Gwen:

They were invited to Neverland. And he gave contact details of people that they could call should they decide to take up on his offer.

Paul:

Oh, wow. Do you know if anybody did take him up on the offer?

Gwen:

I don't know. I'm not sure if a guy called named Luis ALDE did, but at that time, he said he was thinking about it. I never knew if he did. Yeah. Because at that time, he was going to get married and he was going to have his honeymoon in the US.

Paul:

Wow.

Gwen:

I think he was able to share with Michael. That's why he was invited. So there were others, too, particularly, I think, reservation staff.

Paul:

Wow.

Gwen:

How nice. I don't know who among them, because if I got that invitation yeah, of course I'd fly, right?

Paul:

Yeah.

Gwen:

So those were some things that were happening in the hotel. And then going back to the party, he was asking us if we were watching. He asked me and the others, too, but when he was asking me, I said, yes, I'm watching on the second night, and I'm going to be with people very close to me. My favorite cousin. Yeah, sorry. Yeah, the concert. And I said, My favorite cousin with his girlfriend and another favorite cousin with our best friend. I did say that. And then he said, that's wonderful. That's wonderful.

Paul:

Yeah.

Gwen:

So later on, we pursued giving gifts to the kids, but we just noticed people just kept coming, kept coming, kept coming. And the place was getting jampacked, and even the stage, we couldn't control anymore. People were going up the stage who weren't part of the weren't part of the program. And his head security, his name is Wayne, he's a black guy too. Really tall, huge black guy, and he was in a suit and he kept shouting, michael, we have to go, we have to go. He was panicking for him. We have to go, we have to stop. And then he said, it's all right, I'm going to finish this until the last child. Wow, it's concerning because even I was catching my breath because it was so crowded already and I couldn't breathe properly. And that was one of the concerns of Gwaine his security. And then let's go, it's suffocating. And he said, well, look at Santa.

Paul:

Look at Santa?

Gwen:

Yeah, that's what he said. Look at Santa with his beard and his attire. It's hotter in there. That's what he said. So he was a bit, I wouldn't say pissed, but maybe just proving a point that it's okay, we're still here, we're doing what we're doing.

Paul:

He wanted to complete the job.

Gwen:

He wants to finish it. He wanted to finish it. And finish it he did. Up to the last child. Up to the last child. And made sure he had a picture with the last child. But really sadly, he had to be whisked away by his security already. He had to be whisked away because imagine there were several functions going on in the hotel at that time, and one of which was a wedding right next to the gardens where we had the program. So this is called the Champagne Gardens and there's a really beautiful event restaurant there events place where weddings are held and it's called the Champagne Room. And we saw the bride like crying, sobbing, because she was left with no guest. And everyone had transferred to the Champagne Garden to get a glimpse of Michael. Everyone, I think it was just her mom, mother in law and husband. So she was sobbing. Really sad. It's really sad. And we saw people dressed in attire for attending a wedding there in the garden and others from nearby function rooms and the ballroom where there was convention. So imagine how full the place was already. So he really had to be whisked away. And I'm like, I had a separation thing because he was whisked away. And then I said, oh, no, we didn't get to say goodbye. It was so sad. And just a few minutes after that he came back. He came back to the stage, he did wane an attitude and he came back just to say goodbye. And he said, I'm so sorry, I just have to say goodbye. I have to say thank you for making me part of your orphans activity and this means so much to me. He said, and I couldn't go without saying goodbye.

Paul:

He said, wow, thanks for allowing him.

Gwen:

To he said thank you to us and I said thank you as well. We all said thank you, too. Thank you so much. Your presence is magical. Your presence is something we don't have for Orphans Christmas party. The conversations had to be fast because people were just coming and it was a sea of people already. And then the last thing he said was, hey, see you at the concert. That's what he said. Yeah.

Paul:

And that you did. You went and saw the concert. Did you enjoy that?

Gwen:

Oh, yes. It was amazing concert. Really?

Paul:

Did you see him anymore at the hotel after the Orphans party?

Gwen:

I did, but just to go back, I was able to get autographs.

Paul:

Oh, yeah.

Gwen:

So I brought my CD and had it signed beautiful. And prior to that, I had about three photos of him developed in black and white and had him sign those. I still have them.

Paul:

Oh, wow. Beautiful.

Gwen:

Yeah. So the day he was leaving and from the penthouse suite, he had to pass by the fifth floor, I believe, to make a connecting elevator ride to the entrance where his entourage and car was waiting to go to the airport. On the fifth floor, the PR staff said goodbye. So we said goodbye to him. We were able to say goodbye. And it's so nice because his eyes lighted up when he recognized all of us. And he shook our hands and he just said, thank you. I can never thank you enough for having me join your he even said, for having me intrude.

Paul:

So I think you gave him something magical as much as he gave you something magical.

Gwen:

I would like to think so.

Paul:

That's really nice.

Gwen:

And that was beautiful. It was magical. And it's really now part of the Manila Hotel history. And they're very proud of it. You'll see it in their archives. You'll see it in relevant places in the hotel. I'm very lucky to have been at the right place at the right time and see his authenticity and his kindness and how he's really not just sharing his songs or gift of voice to the world, but also his heart.

Paul:

The gift of love.

Gwen:

The gift of love, indeed. It's an experience I'll never forget.

Paul:

And it's so nice to see that 25, maybe even longer, 25, 30 years later yeah. Still has an impact on you. It brings a smile to your face. It makes your heart happy.

Gwen:

It does. It truly does. Like, genuinely does. And I post about it, actually, every if you're a friend in any of my social media, I just say it's that time of the year, so give this to me. It's my excuse to post this photo. And I get the same excited, happy response from everyone. It's that time of the year posting this. He's just so amazing. If I think about it, I can't think of anyone at that time. We're talking of something like almost 30 years ago. He was so attuned with himself. He was so attuned with the world, just spreading about what healing is about, because his songs were about healing. Healing personally, healing the world, healing Earth. He was so attuned during his time and it's just so amazing to think about that.

Paul:

Yeah, I think it's sad because the world needs those messages still.

Gwen:

Yes.

Paul:

We don't seem to be getting the messages from anywhere else.

Gwen:

Right. And this is a person giving that message, but a person who's wounded and abused and taken advantage of. And yet he's able to impart all these amazing lessons and messages through his work, his art, his singing and his heart.

Paul:

And stories like these. So my hope is that stories like these bring those messages back to people into the public forum about healing and being kind and just everything that you for.

Gwen:

Yeah, it's just so amazing.

Paul:

Is there anything else about Michael or the orphans party that you want to mention?

Gwen:

Well, I think I've imparted everything.

Paul:

Your story is amazing and you're very particular in the way that you've expressed it. And it's those words you've given it life and a bit of feeling.

Gwen:

Thank you. Thank you so much.

Paul:

Thank you. I really appreciate it. As I said, I will email you again and get your address so I can send you the book.

Gwen:

Yes, that would be great. Yeah. I plan to visit Melbourne in December to spend the holidays there, so maybe we can get together and meet each other in person. Actually, Melbourne is a happy place. I have a sister who's based there and before the Pandemic, I would visit yearly or every other year. This just stopped. I think the last time was in 2019 before the Pandemic came and I had accompanied my Leia salonga because she had the tour in Australia. So that was the last time I visited. But we're coming. Me and my two kids are coming.

Paul:

I'd love to say hello.

Gwen:

Yeah, would be great. Yes.

Paul:

Thank you, Gwen. I won't keep you. I know you have work to do.

Gwen:

You too. Thank you. Bye.