'Because I can, because I want to, and because you said I couldn't'

MANILA, Philippines - “I’m never going to be in a relationship with an actor ever again,” KC Concepcion disclosed to veteran director Jose Javier Reyes during an intimate, closed-door interview at a Quezon City restaurant last December. “I don’t want to insinuate anything, but…when you’re already moving in a world of make-believe…you want your private life to be as real as possible.”

The rest of their revealing conversation is published in this month’s issue of Rogue magazine, one of the country’s top-selling glossies, where Concepcion graces the cover for the second time.

“The idea of putting KC back on the cover of Rogue was actually broached some months back by my friend Iya Guingona-Lagdameo of Plana Forma, the fitness program that KC follows and endorses,” says Rogue editor-in-chief Paolo Reyes. “But it never really materialized until the early days of December, when KC became the subject of national media attention in the wake of her very public breakup. At that point, there was no question in our minds who should be Rogue’s first cover subject of the year. KC had a message and we had no qualms about being the medium.”

KC had a message and Rogue had no qualms about being the medium

Orchestrated by Rogue creative director Miguel Mari and photographer-at-large Mark Nicdao, the controversial image has been spreading virally over Facebook and Twitter (the magazine was a hot trending topic in the social network last Jan. 24), where many were quick to comment on its seemingly subliminal elements.

“The cover is completely open to interpretation,” says Reyes, when asked about the amusing responses. “The readers of Rogue are a very smart and creative lot. So we’ll leave that to their imagination.”