Claudine flies to HK; solon wants House to honor Rico

How do you heal the wounds of a lost love?

Spend five days in Hong Kong. That’s what movie actress Claudine Barreto, former girlfriend of the late matinee idol Rico Yan, set out to do the day after the actor’s funeral.

She left yesterday for the former Crown Colony, the shopping paradise for many Filipinos, on board Cathay Pacific Airways, accompanied by her sisters Gretchen and Marjorie, two nieces, two helpers and two bodyguards.

Her face etched with a mixture of sorrow over the tragic end of Yan and rage over the hostility of his family and fans toward her during the burial Thursday, Barreto begged off from answering questions from reporters at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, saying, "I want to avoid any interview at the moment...."

Yan, who died at age 27 in his sleep on Good Friday at the Dos Palmas resort in Palawan, was interred at around noon at the Manila Memorial Park in Parañaque City with some 20,000 people in attendance, composed mostly of his grieving if also unruly fans.

Barreto was said to have been barred by the actor’s family, for reasons not disclosed by them, from getting near the casket during the Mass at the La Salle-Greenhills gym in Mandaluyong City preceding the funeral motorcade to the memorial park. She was sighted along with her sister Marjorie and her brother-in-law Dennis Padilla at a distance from the funeral rites and left before the burial was over.

At the airport, Barreto promised to "bare all" when she returns from Hong Kong on Wednesday and set the record straight after she was pictured as the "villain" in the death of Yan, especially on the reason of their breakup after a four-year relationship.

The young actress said she wanted to "rest for awhile" and "think of the wonderful things that Rico and I shared when he was still alive."

Barreto also said the death of Yan had affected her very much, it would probably take a long time for her wounds to heal. She said she might have to stay out of the country for some time.

She said soon after her five-day stay in Hong Kong, she might have to leave again for a more extensive rest and vacation away from what she described as "unfounded rumors."

Meanwhile, a Mindanao congressman wants the House of Representatives to honor the late Ricardo Carlos Castro Yan, better known as actor Rico Yan, as a role model of the youth.

In Resolution 495, Rep. Juan Miguel Zubiri (Lakas, Bukidnon) said the death of Yan "has brought grief to a great number of our countrymen whose lives he had touched in a positive way, from as far north as Batanes and as far south as Jolo."

He said Yan lent his popularity for the common good by serving as spokesman for the Department of Education, endorsing the national government’s youth programs and setting an example to young people by being a good student and a responsible member of the community.

Yan was a diligent and hardworking student at the De la Salle University and was one of the few actors who earned a college degree despite the pressures of an acting career, Zubiri said.

Despite his success, the late actor remained a humble, approachable, unassuming, and helpful person, added Zubiri, who was a friend and business partner of Yan.

Sen. Blas Ople, on the other hand, endorsed yesterday the founding of the Rico Yan Youth Foundation headed by the actor’s brother Bobby as a vehicle to perpetuate Yan’s memory and his desire to serve underprivileged young Filipinos.

The senator said the death of Yan has touched a universal chord in the Filipino nation and has made him an icon of Filipino youth –"the wholesome kid as a model for young Filipinos."

The senator also deeply regretted the loss of the two national artists for music –composer Lucio San Pedro and lyricist Levi Celerio –who died one after the other last week.

"As a nation we are greatly impoverished by their passing, but their inspiration will live on," Ople said. — With Jess Diaz, Aurea Calica