Laurice on why she was a ‘failure’ as a mom

Since Mother’s Day was two weeks away, Laurice Guillen was asked at the presscon for Man and Wife if she had ever failed as a mother.

“In a sense, yes, I did fail as a mother and that was when my daughters were small,” Laurice admitted in all candidness, referring to Ina and Anna, her daughters by her late husband Johnny Delgado. “Most of my life, while they were growing up, I was always out of the house shooting movies. Ina would make things hard for her yaya (nanny) so that her yaya would give up at mapipilitan akong alagaan siya.

“So I consider it as my failure as a mom because I was never a 100 percent hands-on mom to them, even if every now and then I would bring them to the set so they would know what kind of work I was doing. Luckily, my daughters grew up independent.”

They both followed in their parents’ footsteps into showbiz. Besides an actress, Ina Feleo is a figure skater, dancer and writer; while her sister Anna is an opera singer, actress, and a facilitator of the Eric Morris System. Trained at Bova Actors Workshop in New York, she’s a teacher at the Laurice Guillen Actors Studio.

Now showing nationwide, Man and Wife is a Mother’s Day offering from Cineko Films, distributed by Cinescreen. It stars Gabby Concepcion as Carding and Jodi Sta. Maria as Luisa, a married couple torn between their love for each other and issues of their respective families. If the characters’ names sound familiar, it’s because they pick up where Carding (Ronald Corveau) and Luisa (Marian dela Riva) have left off in the hit weepy ’70s TV drama Gulong ng Palad. The movie could have been titled Gulong ng Palad Ngayon but for certain copyright issues. Enough said.

Laurice Guillen with Jodi during the presscon.

“Gabby and I have worked several times, on movies (Tayong Dalawa with Sharon Cuneta, etc.) and TV (the GMA searing love-triangle drama Ika-6 na Utos), so we are comfortable and quite familiar with each other,” said Laurice when asked how, if he did, Gabby has changed through the years. “Walang nabago, hindi nagbago, he’s still the Gabby Concepcion that I’ve known. Gabby na Gabby pa rin, the most charming actor I’ve ever known. He has never shown bad behavior on the set; he’s very considerate. When he’s running a bit late, text siya nang text that he’s near already.”

But it’s Jodi’s first time to work with both Laurice and Gabby. Understandably, Jodi was initially “intimidated” by both of them only to realize that there was no reason to be.

During the presscon, Jodi was coping with a bad case of sore throat that she contacted during a trip to Bangkok. She recalled that her love scene with Gabby was the first to be shot.

“As an actor, Gabby is magaling talaga and that’s a given. As a person, he’s humble. I’m not used to doing love scenes so I was nervous. But Gabby was a big help. He made me feel at ease by being careful where and how to touch me. We were a couple so we made that scene credible — you know, alangan namang magtititigan lang kami.” (Laughter).

Years ago, when Jodi was around 16 (she’s now more than twice that age, survivor of a failed marriage and a single parent to a fast-growing boy), she was among those presented to Laurice for the title role of a movie (Santa-Santita) she was about to shoot.

“It was produced by Star Cinema and Johnny Manahan (Mr. M) sent to me all the young actresses in the company. Mayroon kabaitan at kamalditahan ang character and I didn’t see it in Jodi. I ended up choosing Angelica Panganiban.”

An appeal song for love and hope for the country

Fourteen Pinoy singers and groups answered the call to appeal for love and hope for the Philippines during the midterm elections on Monday, May 13. The result is a song called Sana Naman, Taumbayan that captured the appeal, and more, as seen on the lyric video released on May 1.

The 14 are (at random) National Artist Ryan Cayabyab, Jamie Rivera, Jed Madela, Robert Seña, Isay Alvarez, Maysh Baay of Moonstruck88, Myke Salomon, Reuben Laurente, Jay Durias, Mitch Valdes, Mass Appeal Choir, The CompanY, Agot Isidro and Bayang Barrios.

Composed by hitmaker Louie Ocampo and penned by singer-songwriter Joey Ayala, the task of producing the recorded song was given to award-winning radio broadcaster Noel Ferrer and The CompanY’s Moy Ortiz who were incidentally looking for a way to bring the Filipino musicians’ voice to the public discussions about honest elections and real service to the people.

In a video message, Ocampo talked about his gratitude at finally having the song released. “This Taumbayan version came to life in time for a crucial elections. In a country that is so divided because of politics, I am very grateful to the people who contributed their time and effort and bravery in making a stand for free, honest, orderly, and peaceful elections that transcend our individual beliefs...Boboto po tayo para sa taumbayan.”

All together now, here’s the song’s lyrics:

Sana Naman, Taumbayan

Panahon na ng pagpili

Panahon na ng halalan

Madami namang kandidato

Madaming mukha at pangalan

Sino kaya

Ang bagay sa’ting bansa

Di lamang porma’t salita,

Sino o sino kaya

At sana kahit na sino’ng manalo

Pagkatapos ng bilangan

Sana naman ang panalo ay

Taumbayan

Sino kayang mananalo

At magiging totoo

Sa pagnanais ng taong

Umunlad sa ‘daling panahon

Sinuman siya

Pagasa kaya ang dala

Sana naman sana siya’y

Tuwid at tapat sa bansa

At sana kahit na sino’ng manalo

Pagkatapos ng bilangan

Sana naman ang panalo ay

Taumbayan

La la la la la la la ….

Instrumental

Sana naman

Isipin ang kapakanan

Ng mga mamamayan

Maging gabay sa lipunan

At sana kahit na sino’ng manalo

Pagkatapos ng bilangan

Sana naman ang panalo ay

Taumbayan

Sana naman ang panalo ay

Taumbayan

Christian surprises 2 moms

Christian Bautista and wife Kat Ramnani with Christian’s dad Ebert, and (back row, from left) Christian’s mom-in-law Maureen, mom Jo and brother Joshua…

Last Sunday (May 5), Christian Bautista surprised his mom Josefa Rizalina “Jo” Bautista and mom-in-law Maureen Ramnani to an early Mother’s Day lunch buffet treat at Solaire’s Fresh Café. But that’s not all. To cap the afternoon, he took them for afternoon tea at the Oasis Garden Café for a special performance of their favorite songs.

Joining Christian on piano was Hong Kong Disney’s musical director Rony Fortich.

…Christian singing the new song My O My, accompanied by Hong Kong Disney’s musical director Rony Fortich…

Christian sang Colour Everywhere, She, Lean On Me, a Gary Valenciano medley and a new song titled My O My composed by award-winning songwriter Jungee Marcelo.

My O My, recorded by Christian featuring his brothers Joshua and Jordan, is produced by Solaire Resorts for Mother’s Day. It will be part of an EP (Extended Play) track list featuring other holiday themes recorded by Martin Nievera, The CompanY and Trina Cayabyab (daughter of National Artist for Music Ryan Cayabyab).

…and Christian and Kat with Christian’s manager Carlo Orosa.

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(E-mail reactions at [email protected]. For more updates, photos and videos, visit www.philstar.com/funfare or follow me on Instagram @therealrickylo.)