Martin speaks up

If Pops Fernandez comes, can her ex-husband Martin Nievera be far behind? The exes have become like two peas in a pod, seemingly inseparable even if they have legally parted ways.

So if either of them gets involved in an issue/controversy, the other is inevitably dragged into it.

Case in point: The break-up of Pops and Jomari Yllana’s four-year romance, happening barely three weeks after Pops and Martin’s Missing You concert last Feb. 6 at the Big Dome produced by Fearless Productions, the company put up by Jomari and Singson brothers Ronald and Ryan (whose next projects are the concert of American Idol’s David Cook/David Archuleta in May and that of Britney Spears in September).

Martin is airing his side, the first time he’s doing so.

“I learned about the break-up right after Valentine’s. Pops texted that she had something to tell me and if I could call her. At 3 a.m., she was still awake and we talked on the phone. She said that the day after the concert, Jom was nowhere to be found; in fact, we couldn’t find him for one whole week. We thought that he was trying to take a rest from the pressures of the concert as most producers do.

“After one week, I kept texting him, asking him to please return Pops’ calls and reply to Pops’ text messages. I was the one who was texting him and that’s how I became kind of involved in this. It was after Valentine’s that Jom told Pops that he wanted to call it quits with her. It took Pops by surprise and same with me. We didn’t expect it.”

According to initial reports, which was denied by both Pops and Jomari, money was a factor in the break-up. Pops told Funfare that she was “clueless,” left in the dark, but Jomari also told Funfare in a separate interview that it was “irreconcilable differences” that did them in.

Martin: “I don’t think money has anything to do with it. As far as money is concerned, I have a couple of questions about that, like 1). to this day, I don’t even know who really paid me, and 2). I was just told to say that Jom is the producer. What I know is that Pops was the line producer. The concert was not an original idea; it’s an old idea which came from Pops and me. It was only after Pops and I agreed on the date and the venue that Pops said, ‘Martin, would you mind if Jom is the face of the producer(s)?’ Jom is the face of Fearless, parang ganoon. How can I say no to Pops?”

In the Funfare interview, Pops admitted that she was “healing but hurting.”

Martin: “It hurts me that she’s hurting. I asked Pops if she wanted me to ‘mediate,’ to do something, but she said, ‘No, no, no. I’ll be fine, I’ll be fine!’ I didn’t really want to get involved. The reason why I’m talking to you now is because my name cropped up in some write-ups.”

No, selos (jealousy) was also not a factor. It was even Jomari who taught Martin how to kiss Pops during the pictorial which Jomari helped “direct.” The photographer was Ronnie Salvacion. It was Jomari who suggested that “kissing scene.”

Martin: “But I’m there for Pops anytime she needs me. After all, we are friends. I will be there for her always.”

So what does he think caused the break-up?

Martin: “Maybe there was just too much pressure from the concert. Pops was blaming herself and I keep telling her, ‘Stop blaming yourself!’ It’s funny but the (piece of) advice I am giving to her now was the same one that my family and friends gave me when I was trying to pursue Pops after our own break-up: The most important thing for you to do right now is to not scare him away.’ How? Don’t force him to explain to you or to go back to you. Jom calls the shots. He said he wanted it over and now you’re hurting. I told Pops, ‘Take it from someone who scared you away. Give Jom enough space and time to think things over. If he comes back to you, then he’s really yours. But if he doesn’t come back to you, then you two were not meant to be’. Pops said, ‘I don’t want to go through something like this again.’ It hurts me to hear her say that.”

Asked about their fans’ “impossible dream” of him and Pops getting back together again, since Pops is free again and so is he (or so unconfirmed rumors say), Martin said he doubted it.

“I’m just trying to be a friend. My priority now is to be there when Pops needs me. She has her own life now and I have my own. We have children; we have become very good friends. All I want is for her to find someone who can make her ridiculously happy... if ever that kind of man exists, one who will not hurt her.”

And what unsolicited advice can he give Jomari?

“I don’t know Jom well enough to give him advice. But this much I can tell him: Until there are no more question marks in both your and Pops’ heads, then and only then can you end up maybe not as lovers but as friends.”

Well said. The voice of experience, no less!

Beware, said Fr. Joey Faller

Here’s an urgent statement from healing priest Fr. Joey Faller:

Somebody sent emails using my email address [email protected] telling people that I, Fr. Joseph A. Faller, am in the United Kingdom and that all my money was stolen and that I need 1,500 euros to go home. This is a hoax since I am here in the Philippines. A friend of mine in California sent 800 euros already. Here is the address of the person doing this: 102 Preston Blackburn United Kingdom.

I would like to inform the public that I am not aware of the ongoing solicitation worth 1,500 euros. This is a SCAM that I have no knowledge of and I wouldn’t allow myself to be a part of the said activity. I am not in Europe right now. I am in the Philippines rendering service to the people.

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