Diamond Star Maricel Soriano opened up about her childhood struggles with poverty.

During an interview for "TicTALK With Aster Amoyo" on YouTube recently, Maricel remembered a time from her childhood when she woke up to find no food on the table.

"Yung natutulog ka tapos magigising ka, magtatanong ako kung may breakfast ba tayo? Sabi ng mga kapatid ko wala tayong breakfast. Matulog ka na lang muna mahaba pa ang araw. Ganun ang mga usapan namin," said Maricel.

(When you sleep and wake up, I will ask if we have breakfast. My siblings said we don't have breakfast. Just sleep first, as the day is long. That's how we talked.)

She added: "Tapos iinom na lang ako ng tubig. Ang sakit nun. Yung gutom na gutom ka tapos mahapdi ang sikmura. So iinom ka na lang tubig at naiiyak ka na lang. Hanggang sa makatulugan mo na lang yung iyak at pag gising mo, wala pa ring pagkain. Lord tulungan n'yo naman po kami kasi wala kaming pagkain."

(Then I'll drink water. It hurts. When you're very hungry, and then your stomach hurts. So you drink water, and you cry. You sleep and then cry. When you wake up, there's no food. Lord, please help us because we have no food.)

Maricel finds motivation to work harder whenever she remembers this episode in her life."Kapag naaalala ko yun, ginaganahan akong magtrabaho."

Despite coming from a broken family, Maricel said she never felt it. Maricel experienced a sense of belonging with a real family while working on the set of John En Marsha, a popular but now-defunct television series from 1973 to 1990.

"I came from a broken family. Tapos sabi nila sa school, ay ganun? Hiwalay ang mommy at daddy mo. Sabi ko may pangsagot ako sa tanong mo. Hindi porke galing ako sa isang broken family, hindi ko na alam ang feeling ng isang buong pamilya. 

(I came from a broken family. Then they said at school, is that so? Your mommy and daddy are separated. I said I have an answer to your question. It's not because I come from a broken family; I don't know the feeling of having a whole family.)

"Kasi may buo akong pamilya. John en Marsha ang pangalan nila. Daddy ko si Dolphy at mommy ko si Nida Blanca. Doon ako na mould. Ibang klase kasi yung sitcom na yun eh. Sa kanila ko naramdaman na buo ang pamilya," she said

(Because I have a whole family. Their names are John and Marsha. My dad is Dolphy, and my mommy is Nida Blanca. That's where I'm molded. Because that sitcom is different. With them, I felt like a whole family.)

Maricel mentioned that she, too, felt like an adopted child of Dolphy. "Ang dami kong natutunang leksyon at ang dami kong natutunan noong nawala siya. Naiintindihan ko na ngayon yung mga bilin niya sa akin. Yung mga pangaral niya sa akin."

(I learned a lot of lessons, and I learned a lot when he left. I now understand his instructions to me. His advice to me.)

On Nida, Maricel said: "Sobra rin yan mag-alaga. Feeling niya anak niya ako. Siguro once upon a time in our lives baka naging pamilya ka. Parang somewhere, somehow, meron kaming connection noon pa."

(She takes care of me. It feels like I'm her daughter. In our past lives, we may have become family. It's like we connected back then.)

"My real mom Linda is my rock. So noong nawala siya, hindi ko alam kung saan ako dadamputin. "Everyday kausap ko siya eh. I pray everyday para makausap ko siya. Sobra kong mahal ang mommy ko. S'ya rin ang best friend ko eh," she added.

(My real mom, Linda, is my rock. So when she passed on, I didn't know what to do. I talk to her every day. I pray every day to be able to talk to him. I love my mommy so much. She's also my best friend.)

With five decades in the business, Maricel thanked the comedy king who taught her how to balance being a dramatic star and a comedienne. "Galing yan lahat kay daddy (Dolphy). Sino ba naman ako ako na baguhan pa lang at walang pangalan."

More awards

Maricel, 58, has received numerous awards from various organizations. However, she has lost track of them.

Aster reminded Maricel about her trophies from Famas, Luna awards, and box-office awards. She was taken aback when she discovered she had already won five Famas trophies.

But if there's one prestigious award she hasn't received, it's the Gawad Urian Award from the Manunuri ng Pelikulang Pilipino, where she has been nominated eight times. Maricel has been in the industry for 52 years but has never won the Urian award. "HIndi talaga ako tumama."

It was in the 90s when Maricel became a dramatic star, now dubbed Diamond Star, and it has remained so up to the present.

"Sa akin naman wala yang mga labels na yan. Dapat hindi ganoon (na may labelling) kasi hindi ganoon ang pagpapalaki sa amin ni daddy."

(As for me, those labels don't exist. It shouldn't be like that (with labeling) because that's not how daddy raised us.)

Maricel currently stars in two televison series: the drama serye "Linlang" on ABS-CBN and the the weekly comedy program "3-In-1" on Net25.  But the award-winning actress couldn't hide her annoyance when she was treated with disrespect in the billing process of one of her movies.

"Nabastos na ako sa billing. Masyado ako nasaktan noon. Noong ginawa ko ang Batang Quiapo, ang billing ko noon Fernando Poe Jr and Maricel Soriano. Hindi ito sa serye. Sa pelikula rin. Ang liit ng pangalan ko. Sabi ko deserve ko ba yan? 

"Whether I'm nice or not, hindi ko deserve yan. Sabi ko na lang sa sarili ko, kaya ka Maricel Soriano dahil kinaya mo lahat ito. Kaya laban lang tayo. Na-depress ako noon. Kung buhay pa ang daddy ko, tatanungin ko siya, daddy deserve ko ba ito? 

"Kahit na sabihin nilang mataray ako, huwag nilang isasama rito ang trabaho. Huwag naman sana nila akong bastusin ng ganoon kung mabait man ako or impakta man ako. Pero tapos na yun," she said.

Asked about her biggest showbiz crush, Maricel said it's Hollywood star Brad Pitt.

"Siya yung mga type ko. Ang gwapo niya di ba? Gusto ko foreigner. Kung makita so siya in person, kakausapin ko siya at yayakin ko s'ya," she added.