Aiko not ready to commit after two failed marriages

Author: Mario E. Bautista
Column: Dream Factory

THE annulment casefiled by Aiko Melendez against her second husband Martin Jickain will have its first hearing today, July 18. She’s hoping it will not drag in court for so long so that she and Martin can both move on with their lives. Earlier, her petition for Permanent Protection Order against Martin was granted by the court. This means Martin cannot go near her at all. She won’t reveal if she requested this because Martin had previously hurt her physically.

"I’m just happy that I’ll now be stress-free and also free from any form of abuse in the future," she says. "But it doesn’t mean ipagkakait ko na kay Martin ang anak naming si Marthena. Tuloy pa rin yung privilege niya to have our daughter every Sunday and when it comes to that, bilib ako sa kanya as he really spends quality time with our baby. Kapag may okasyon din sa family nila, he makes it a point na isama lagi si Marthena para hindi maging malayo sa familyniya. I’m still hoping that in spite of what happened to us, maging friends pa rin kami one day for the sake of our daughter."

Is she in a hurry to have her marriage annulled because she’s now into a new relationship with Patrick Meneses, a vice mayor in a town in Bulacan? "He’s a good friend and I really want to thank him kasi tuwing may problema ako, nandiyan siya. But I’m not ready to commit myself again. After two failed marriages, I want to be very very careful."

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Gretchen Barretto is the special guest star in the first episode of "Maalaala Mo Kaya" in its new day and timeslot, Saturday, 9:30 p.m.

"Lagi kasing late ang slot ng MMK noon at marami tuloy ang hindi nakakapanood ng ending," says head writer Mel del Rosario. "Nag-start kami sa Wednesday, then Thursday, Friday at ngayon, Saturday na nga. Inagahan na para mapanood nyo ng buo ang show."

In this special episode, Greta plays the wife of a jobless man, Tonton Gutierrez. For the sake of their family, she gets involved with their town mayor, Phillip Salvador. "The first time I guested in MMK was 15 years ago," she says. "Noon, gusto ko, basta matapos na lang ang taping. Now, I’m more focused. They gave me three different stories and I chose this one which is about a mistress. Pero may mabigat siyang dahilan kaya siya naging kabit. I chose this kasi bagay sa’kin. I really want to try drama at gusto ko yung material na kaya kong gawin, lalo ngayong mas marami na akong baong emosyon. I chose Kuya Ipe as the mayor and Tonton as the husband based on the requirements of the script. Si Kuya Ipe, macho pa rin kahit mature na. Si Ton naman, bagay na bagay as the batugang husband. Enjoy ako sa taping pero inabot kami ng three days ng walang tulugan just to finish it. Sa umpisa, tawanan pa. But at 3 in the morning, pagod na ako, nage-emote na ko at sabi ko, what am I doing to myself. Ang usapan namin up to 6 a.m. lang ang taping. Nang 6 a.m. na, may six sequences pa raw na hindi nakukunan, pero umalis na ako. Hinarang nga ng producers namin ang sasakyan ko at handa silang magpasagasa para sa show. But it’s worth all thepagod and all the puyat. I watched every scene we shot at maganda talaga ang buong episode namin."

Will she do in real life what her character did for her family? "Ayokong maging kabit. Yun lang."

Was she able to relate to her role? "No. Kasi I’m not married naman. I don’t have a husband."

The episode is directed by Nuel Naval. "It’s an honor and a pleasure to direct Gretchen," he says. "She did this not for the money kundi dahil gusto lang niya."

"Kulang pa yung talent fee nila na pambili ng bag ko," Greta quips. "I had a hard time playing the role of a poor woman, likesa scene na she says to Tonton: ‘Paano bukas? Anong kakainin natin?’ I cannot relate to that kasi wala akong pinoproblemang ganun. Ang problema ko, saan ako kukuha ng pambili ng bagong bag?"

"But Gretchen is good," adds the director. "She gave the role all her heart and soul."

How would she rate her acting? "I’d like to be modest about my performance. Kasi mahirap itaas ang sarili kong bangko. You watch it and tell me how I did. Nahirapan ako sa lahat ng scenes kasi kailangang hugutin mo lagi ang emosyon. Mahirap even physically kasi masakit sa dibdib ang drama scenes, like that hospital scene with Kuya Ipena nahirapan ako huminga dahil sa emotion."

Don’t miss Greta in this special 17th anniversary presentation of MMK tomorrow night after "Pinoy Dream Academy 2."

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Is she really a vegetarian? we asked Yasmien Kurdi at the presscon of "Loving You," her first movie with JC de Vera produced by Studiomax. "I am," she says. "Nagkamali lang po si Nay Lolit when she said on TV that I’m not. Talagang puro gulay na lang po ang kinakain ko kasi nga tabain ako."

She and JC have done three hit teleseryes as a love team. What does she think is the chance of "Loving You" at the tills? "Siempre, kabado kami dahil first movie nga namin ito and we’re hoping our fans who supported us on TV will also watch this on the big screen. Hindi naman kami mapapahiya kasi maganda talaga ang stories dito. We’re not the only stars here as there are three other teams: John Prats-Ehra Madrigal, Aljur Abrenica-Kris Bernal, and Jean Garcia-Polo Ravales. Bawat isang pair, may sariling magandang story. In the case of JC and I, we’re childhood best friends who don’t realize that we are really in love with each other. Nagkaroon siya ng ibang girlfriend, Andrea Torres, at ako naman, si Brent Javier. We try to suppress our feelings for each other and our love lives only become more complicated."

Is it true she’s jealous because JC was paired with former girlfriend Michelle Madrigal in "My Monster Mom" and with Rhian Ramos in the new TV show, "La Lola?" "I want to make it clear na hindi po ako nagseselos at hindi ko inaaway sinuman kina Michelle at Rhian. Buhay nila yun, bakit ako makikialam? Isa pa, nagmumukha akong cheap na ako pa ang lumalabas na naghahabol kay JC. Hindi ako naiirita at all kahit sinuman ang ipareha sa kanya."

But does she like JC? "Of course, enjoy akong katrabaho siya. Ang inaamin ko, naiinggit ako sa kanya kasi ang lakas-lakas niyang kumain, pero hindi siya tumataba at all. Unlike me, tingnan ko lang yata ang pagkain, nadagdagan na agad ang timbang ko. Isa pa, si JC, nakaka-tuwang katrabaho kasi he comes on the set prepared, memorized na ang linesniya at masaya siyang kabatuhan ng linya. Comfortable na ako sa kanya. Ngayon ngang wala kaming tine-tape na show, nami-miss ko siya kasi dati, halos araw-araw nagkikita kami sa taping. But I guess magkikita kami uli ng madalas to promote ‘Loving You’."

***

Email from Korina fan Secheylles Foronda: "Vindicated si Korina Sanchez sa ginawang pag-pull out of Bureau of Food and Drugs sa Lucida DS sa mga outlet dahil sa kulang na glutathione content. Nagbanta pa ang Lucida noon na idedemanda si Korina gayong nagsasabi lang naman pala ng truth my fave newscaster. Ang nakakatawa rito ay si Gabby Concepcion na ine-endorse ang produkto at nakabalandra ang mga "Thank You, Lucida" billboard. Ano kaya ang masasabi niya ganyang first product na ine-endorse niya after his comeback ay minalas agad? Kamalas naman niya, ano? Kababalik lang dito, nasangkot pa sa ganyan. I’m sure tuwang-tuwa si Jobert Sucaldito at ang Met niya."

In connection with this, we got this message from Jobert himself: "Ms. Korina Sanchez was indeed vindicated from the Lucida DS mess. She just did her job as best she could as ABS-CBN Chief Correspondent when she exposed the findings of PIPAC (Philippine Institute of Pure and Applied Chemistry) on the glutathione contents of said product. PIPAC said that the claim of Lucida and its sister product, Vaniderm, that their products contain 500 mg of glutathione is not true as they contain only 4.5 mg and 5.4 mg respectively. Ms. Sanchez came out with this finding in ‘TV Patrol’ and ‘Bandila’ and that triggered so much controversy between her and the manufacturer of these products. They even threatened to file libel against Ms. Sanchez. It’s the BFAD that pursued the investigation and their verdict was to order the recall of certain batches of three brands of dietary supplements for containing insufficient amounts of glutathione. In an advisory, BFAD Director Prof. Leticia Gutierrez, identified these products and Gultalife, Lucida DS and Vaniderm. She said: ‘In the interest of public welfare and public protection from deceptive sales and practices, the BFAD warns and advises all concerned that it has directed the importers and distributors to immediately recall from the Philippine market the specified batch/lot of these products. "May isang pagkakataon diumano na merong emisaryo na suhulan si Ms. Sanchez para matigil ang nasabing imbestigasyon. Name your price ang offer sa kanya pero hindi siya pumayag dahil hindi siya nagpapasuhol. Sa radio program na ‘Failon at Sanchez’ sa DZMM, Ms. Sanchez said: "Marami pang brands ang nanloloko ng publiko habang sila’y nagpapayaman. Kailangan nang buhayin ulit ang konsumerismo sa bansa natin nang mapangalagaan ang mamimili."

Source: Malaya

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