Claudine: Rico broke his promise again

"He broke his promise again!"

Between sobs, Claudine Barretto broke her silence yesterday afternoon in an interview with Boy Abunda on ABS-CBN’s The Buzz about Rico Yan, her former boyfriend who died in his sleep due to hemorrhagic pancreatitis on Good Friday at the Dos Palmas resort in Palawan.

Choking with emotion, Claudine said that before Rico left for Dos Palmas with five friends, among them his MTB and Whattamen colleague Dominic Ochoa, the actor promised to "fix everything" as soon as he came back.

"But he broke his promise," cried Claudine, who had to be sedated when told about Rico’s sudden death while she and her family were vacationing in Subic.

Rico did come back at around 6:30 p.m. on Good Friday, his body in a leather body bag, accompanied by his father Roby and brother Bobby first to Camp Crame for autopsy and then to the Arlington funeral home on Araneta Avenue in Quezon City for embalming.

The remains now lie at a chapel at the La Salle Greenhills, with the burial set for Thursday, April 4, after the 9 a.m. Mass at the Manila Memorial Park in Parañaque City. He turned 27 last March 14.

Even if they had reportedly broken up three weeks ago, Claudine said that she and Rico were in the process of ironing things out and that Rico even called to say "I’m sorry" before he left for Dos Palmas. "Give me time to think," Claudine quoted Rico as saying. "When I come back after Holy Week, I would know what to do. Everything would be okay."

Whatever their problem was, according to Claudine, they had already forgiven each other.

She then admitted that last Mar. 5, the day after they celebrated their fourth anniversary as sweethearts and barely a week after their last movie Got 2 Believe started showing, she and Rico did have a big fight "over nonsense, over nothing," leading to their reported break-up.

"In fact, Rico invited me to go with their group to Dos Palmas, a trip they’d been planning as early as December last year, but she said she begged off because she wanted to spend time with her family in Subic, including her parents, older sister Marjorie and her husband Dennis Padilla and their kids.

Rico’s father Roby disclosed that the Yans initially planned to take a family vacation at the Plantation Bay.

Recalling the events that Good Friday, Claudine said that she suspected that something was wrong when she was left alone by her companions at the lunch table.

"Then, Marjorie told me that my Dad wanted to talk to me, so I went down. The first thing my Dad told me was, ‘Be strong.’ Then he broke the bad news, ‘Rico passed away in Dos Palmas.’ I couldn’t cry. My mind just went blank; I could feel my whole body trembling. I stood up and tried to call Rico on his cellphone but it was ‘off.’ I couldn’t breath. I was hoping that he was just in the hospital still breathing. I was telling myself. ‘This can’t happen to him, this can’t happen to me, this can’t happen especially to him!’ I couldn’t believe it."

Claudine had to be sedated when she became hysterical; she later went into shock, able to speak again only yesterday morning after continuous medication. She was still looking pale and without any make-up when she faced Boy Abunda in the Buzz interview.

"You sleep and you wake up and you realize that the person you love most, the one person most important in your life is not there anymore. It’s painful. I don’t know how I can get through this. How I can go through life without him," she said.

Asked how much she loved Rico, Claudine tried to calm herself and broke into a sad, weak smile before answering: "God, so much! I love him so much, sobra-sobra!", adding, "We shared so many plans and so many dreams, and so many secrets, too."

She then asked their fans not to forget Rico whom Claudine described as a "wonderful person."

"I miss you so much, Hon," Claudine sobbed toward the end of the interview, admitting that with his sudden death, Rico is "slowly killing me."

Claudine, clad in white, visited Yan’s remains at the Divine Chapel of the De La Salle campus in Greenhills, San Juan at around 6 last night, accompanied by her sisters Gretchen and Marjorie and brother-in-law Padilla. They arrived in two Ford vans, escorted by motorcycle policemen.

They supposedly met with Yan’s brother Bobby at the Chili’s restaurant before they proceeded to the chapel.

Once inside the glass-enclosed chapel, Claudine took a long look at Yan as she wept profusely. It was supposedly the first time she saw Yan since the late actor’s birthday on March 14.

Presidential condolences

Meanwhile at Malacañang, President Arroyo condoled with the family of Yan, one of the handful of showbiz personalities who supported the people power 2 uprising that catapulted her to the presidency.

"The President shares the grief of the family of Rico Yan over his untimely death," Press Undersecretary Roberto Capco told reporters. "Rico has served as a role model for many young Filipinos."

"We hope that his exemplary concern for the welfare of the Filipino youth will continue to be a model for many young Filipinos," he said.

He said the President was still trying to schedule when she could attend the wake of the actor because of her busy schedule.

Yan was one of the few movie personalities who called on the people to gather at the EDSA Shrine to push for the ouster of former President Joseph Estrada.

Yan also helped the Arroyo administration in promoting its anti-poverty programs after the May Day riots instigated by Estrada loyalists.

Yan was also tapped by Education Secretary Raul Roco to serve as the Department of Education’s youth representative in its programs.

At the same time, two civilian and police four coroners, who conducted an autopsy on Yan late Saturday, have established Yan’s cause of death as cardiac arrest due to hemorrhagic pancreatitis, more commonly known as bangungot.

Yan’s uncle, Metro Manila police chief Director Edgar Aglipay released the official findings yesterday to allay published reports that Yan succumbed to an overdose of the designer drug Ecstasy.

"Two civilian and four police doctors examined his body and they are one in saying that he died of acute hemorrhagic pancreatitis, or bangungot," Aglipay said. Yan apparently slept facing down with a full stomach, squeezing his pancreas and causing it to stop functioning.

Yan’s remains will be open for public viewing starting today at the La Salle Greenhills where he graduated from high school. - With reports from Paolo Romero, Cristina Mendez, Non Alquitran