A real Mano Po story

Theirs is the real Mano Po story of a girl’s rich Chinese family who is entirely against her marriage to a Filipino guy. Their love story also has traces of Sleepless in Seattle, with that memorable meeting on top of the Empire State Building in New York, a real tearjerker.

No wonder, the romance of Taguig Mayor Freddie Tinga and wife Kaye Chua merited a full-length drama tonight on ABS-CBN’s Maalaala Mo Kaya (MMK). Playing the couple on TV are real-life sweethearts Jericho Rosales and Heart Evangelista.

Kaye, who grew up in a typical Chinese family in Binondo, never expected fireworks and magic to happen to her when it comes to falling in love. "I love watching movies," Kaye allows. "In fact, I watched four Mano Po films. Before Freddie came, I believed that magic and fireworks only happened in movies or pocketbooks. It would never happen to me."

But fate proved otherwise. Kaye met Freddie at the UP College of Economics, where they both earned their undergraduate degree. She took her MBA at the Fordham University in New York, while he earned his from the University of Oregon in Portland. They later saw each other at Citibank, where they both previously worked. An unexpected turn of events caused their friendship to blossom into love.

She later moved on to work for a European bank, while he worked for a foundation which was running a livelihood center. In June 1994, Freddie and Kaye agreed to meet on top of the Empire State Building. She was there to attend a seminar for her work, while he was there to accompany his sick mom who would see a doctor.

"Before we left Manila, we already agreed to see each other at the Empire State at a particular day and a particular time," Kaye shares. "There were no cell phones yet at that time. There was no chance for us to confirm our meeting. But both of us came. That was when we decided to get married."

On July 16, 1994, Freddie and Kaye tied the knot at St. Alphonsus de Liguori Church in Magallanes. The reception was held at Grassi’s Restaurant then at Ortigas Center. "It was a no-fuss, very simple wedding with only 100 guests," Kaye says. "We managed to keep it small even if his dad was a congressman in Taguig-Pateros at that time. We simply wanted to get married."

After the wedding, Freddie and Kaye lived in the US, only to return to the Philippines after eight months because of Freddie’s mom who was sick with cancer. His mother died two years after they got married.

The union has been blessed with three children — Kylie, 11; Kerry, nine; and Kody, four. Kaye is again on the family way and is due to give birth in June to another boy whom they will name Kristian.

"Milenyo baby ’yan," says Mayor Tinga of their coming baby. "He was made at the height of the bagyo and the brownout."

Asked about the secret of their relationship, Mayor Tinga remarks, "You have to realize that to keep a marriage together, you have to have a happy marriage. It’s parity. You have to find a balance for everything. She is smarter, but you can’t just push her around. In the same way, she can’t push me around."

It took a lot of convincing for Mayor Tinga to give his nod to the dramatization of their love story on MMK. The idea was brought about by their friend, Eric Pe-Benito, who shared the couple’s romance with the drama anthology host, Charo Santos-Concio.

"I’m embarrassed that someone is portraying my life," Mayor Tinga says. "But it is interesting to know that people find your life interesting."

The Maalaala Mo Kaya script underwent several revisions, according to Kaye. "We asked the production to change the script because initially, it had a very stereotypical portrayal of a strict Chinese father which was not realistic," Kaye explains. "Until the time they were already taping, they were still revising some parts of the script."

Jeffrey Jeturian directs the romantic story, which will start from the time of courtship of the couple to their wedding.

Heart discloses that Kaye’s story hews closely to her own. "I was able to easily relate to her because I also have a strict dad and a very conservative family," the young actress grants. It is no secret that Heart also had problems with her parents when she started her romance with Echo. But Heart has received the blessing of her parents to go on with her relationship with Echo.

This coming election, Mayor Tinga is seeking for his third and last term as mayor of Taguig, determined to continue his devotion to progress and his vision of making Taguig the premier city of the Philippines. Kaye, for her part, has simply stayed in the sidelines supporting her husband’s political career with her own, fervent commitment to public service.