MANILA - It has been eight years since her husband died unexpectedly of heart attack.

She had already pulled through the process of such significant loss.

But for Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat, there's no fully getting over a loved one's death.

"The pain will always be there, but you just learn how to cope," she told DZMM Teleradyo's "Good Vibes."

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It was in the summer of 2010 when her husband Dave, a lawyer, died of heart attack while playing football.

She didn't grieve immediately. She just went through the motions of life.

"So ang coping mechanism ko nun was, I just worked. Work, work, work," she shared.

"Ang maganda kasi sa trabaho ko is it's impersonal. Hindi mo iniisip. Trabaho lang ako ng trabaho."

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Puyat has been in public service for 12 years before being appointed to lead the Department of Tourism (DOT).

Grief, she said, only caught up with her two years later.

"'Yung finally tinamaan ako, iyak lang ako ng iyak ng isang buwan. Wala akong ginawa kundi umiyak," she said.

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Though she is now in a relationship with Tarlac Rep. Carlos Cojuangco, Puyat said she cannot never get past Dave.

"Like tulad ng ito ngayon, nung nalaman ko biglaan 'yung oath taking ko last Monday, birthday ko pa. So sabi ko, ano ba ito, naisip ko lang nun dapat nandito si Dave," she said.