One of the most difficult interviews I did was the one I had with Chad Borja where he revealed he had cancer of the thyroid. Chad was in agony. He could barely talk. At one point, no words would come out of his mouth. Instead, tears flowed out of his eyes. The pain was more emotional than physical. It was like the anxiety of a bird losing its wings, or a dancer breaking a leg or a lover losing his mind. I almost choked in that conversation because my mother was in the UST Hospital lying helplessly on her steel bed in her white hospital gown, clueless why she lost over 40 pounds in three months and why she rejected everything she tried to eat. So I was in front of Chad who collected himself quickly and displayed strength and hope and faith in Him up there who owns Chad’s voice and a dancer’s pair of legs and a bird’s wings. I, too, had nowhere else to go but kneel and pray for my sick mother.
Today, I thank God for his kindness. Chad is healed and is back with a fantastic album, Show Me the Way. Nanay regained her 40 pounds and she’s back in Samar where she is konsehal of our small town.
So I profusely apologized to Kristine for having made her cry. I was actually carried away by my own emotions, which admittedly I haven’t been able to deal with completely, in so far as my own relationship with my sister is concerned. But I asked her a question that I also wanted to ask myself. Does she blame herself for doing better than her sister? Is she guilt-ridden because she gets preferential treatment from her parents? My questions were based on information I got from sources that Kristine’s sister would take the cab going to her appointments while Kristine would use the car. That in depression or rebellion, Kathleen, her sister, actually attempted suicide. Has Kristine been able to deal with this? Kristine bravely acknowledged that there was indeed a problem. And they are trying to deal with it; that she and her older sister have been able to talk about it. She proceeded to thank Kris and me for giving her the opportunity to explain her side of the story and the chance to re-assure her sister how much she loves her. Offcam – her mom informed me that Kathleen has her own car now.
Kristine was on the Buzz to promote Pangako Sa ’Yo – the new teleserye of ABS-CBN which has her and Jericho Rosales in the lead roles. The AVP of Pangako Sa ’Yo is impressive. According to Rory Quintos the telesine combines the elements of a soap opera and a movie. Pangako Sa ’Yo takes the timeslot of Labs Ko Si Babes, that made Dominic Ochoa this year’s Star Awards Best Actor for a drama series.
Jericho Rosales, looking fidgety beside Kristine Hermosa, had a toothache. Somebody spotted him at Timezone later that evening.
I like Jericho. Given more years he’s going to be a great actor. Today, he is one of the best young actors in the industry. He also looks good, even with a problematic skin. At the Star Awards where he won the Best Actor Award for a Single Performance, he looked gorgeous in a blue suit by Arielle Agasang. He looked so palatable, I wanted to sprinkle kalamansi juice all over him and devour him raw – like fresh tuna sashimi. But before the kalamansi arrived, he went onstage to accept his trophy and he started to smile, wiggle and mumble. I changed my mind, I promised to leave him alone; I decided to order sushi instead. But that doesn’t change my opinion about Jericho Rosales – being a gifted young actor.
But Jericho is young and nervous. Recently, he was in the news because Kai Palomares, a ramp and commercial model came out to reveal that she is seven months pregnant with a baby fathered by Jericho.
At 21, with an upswing career and a teleserye that recently started, this must have been calvary for Jericho. How does he come out of this ordeal without going through the crucifixion? My guess is that his enormous talent and passion for his craft will see him through this maelstrom.
Here are some lines from Nobel Laureate novelist Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s farewell letter to his friends (he was diagnosed with cancer of the lymph nodes). Read on Jericho:
. . . I would walk when others hold back, I would wake when others sleep. I would listen when other talk, and how I would enjoy a good chocolate ice cream! . . . With my tears I would water roses, to feel the pain of their thorns and the red kiss of their petals ... My God, if I had a piece of life ... I wouldn’t let a single day pass without telling the people I love that I love them. I would convince each woman and each man that they are my favorites, and I would live in love with love....
"I have learned that everyone wants to live on the peak of the mountain, without knowing that real happiness is in how it is scaled. I have learned that when a newborn child squeezes for the first time with his tiny fist his father’s fingers he has him trapped forever.....