The title of the Sarah Geronimo-John Lloyd Cruz starrer aptly describes Aiko Melendez’s current state of the heart — finally found someone which, incidentally, applies to Sarah (happily engaged to Matteo Guidicelli... wedding bells ringing middle of next year?) but not to JLC who is reported to have broken up with Ellen Adarna after barely three years of a relationship blessed with a son.
Asked how long she has been going steady with Zambales Vice Gov. Jay Khonghun, Aiko replied with a sparkle in her eyes, “Two years and two months to be exact.”
Are they bound for the altar to exchange vows for better or for worse ’till death do them part (just as Aiko did not just once but twice and sadly didn’t live up to the vows)?
Keeping her fingers crossed, Aiko wished, “Sana, sana. That’s what I am praying for...hopefully.”
Now lighter (33 pounds shed) with her blood pressure stabilized (from 150/100 to 110/70, all thanks, she claimed, to the F2N Theobroma Superfood she is endorsing), Aiko has survived two marriages, first to Jomari Yllana (with whom she has a son, Andre, 21) and then to Martin Jickain (they have a daughter, Martina), and she’s confident that her third, well, “attempt” will be successful. She and the vice governor are seriously planning to get married as soon as the legal blocks are cleared. Aiko’s two marriages were annulled while Khonghun’s case is pending in court. Jay has a seven-year-old son with his estranged wife.
“Sabi nga nila, it comes in 3’s so I’m sure my third marriage will be for good, forever. Jay and I are in the same direction, alam namin pareho ang aming patutunguhan, so we really click.”
Having been a public official (as councilor of Quezon City), Aiko proved to be an asset to Khonghun during last May’s elections. Also showbiz savvy, she shrugged off tsismis about her private life and even filed a case against their opponents.
“Jay and I understand each other very well,” confessed Aiko (who is into a plant-based diet). “Give-and-take kami. We do fight but only over petty things; nothing serious. In the beginning, the trouble didn’t come from us but from outside forces, from people around us who thought na hindi seryoso ang relationship namin ni Jay, and they stopped when they realized kung gaano kami ka-seryoso. All is fine now.”
Aiko showed up at the Theobroma event with her left arm in cast. Oh my, did she hurt herself during a fight with the vice governor? She was teased by Your Funfarer who was a ninong at Aiko and Martin’s wedding.
“I fractured my forefinger during a boxing workout,” laughed Aiko who let loose a loud OUCH(!!!) when I accidentally touched the cast as I took a picture of it. “I’ve been boxing as workout for four years now. I also run. Jay doesn’t box or run. He plays basketball.”
At the time of this interview, Jomari was in the news, accused by his girlfriend of “womanizing” and abandoning her and two little kids. (Jomari is welcome to air his side anytime he wants to.).
Asked for comment, Aiko begged off.
“I am friends with Martin and his wife but not to Jom. I haven’t seen him in three years. Ang daming nasa puso ko pero sa akin na lang yon. I have so many things to say but I’d rather not say them. I leave it to Andre kung may gusto siyang sabihin.”
Mother Lily happily accepts Lifetime Achievement Award
Nobody could be more deserving of a recognition from the industry people than Regal Matriarch Lily Monteverde who got a Lifetime Achievement Award at last Saturday’s Luna Awards of the Film Academy of the Philippines (FAP). Here is her acceptance speech:
To the Film Academy of the Philippines and the Film Development Council of the Philippines
Maraming salamat for this honor you are giving me tonight.
A lifetime Achievement Award can be overwhelming.
It means that your peers have given such great value to the work that you have given for a lifetime. But in Regal’s half a century of producing movies, it has never been work for me. It has become and will always be my life.
I guess I am being honoured because I lasted this long.
I am being given this distinction because despite all the ups and downs, all the challenges and rewards… all the changes brought by the decades, I am still here. And if I have continued to make films despite all the trials and difficulties in this ever-shifting industry, it was never just because of the box office. It has always been the joy of discovery.
It is about finding the next generation of writers, directors, actors and all the artists who make entertaining movies and create great films.
I look around this room and realize that I must have worked with almost all of you. For you are honouring me for still being here and remaining the mother that I have always been like so many before me in this industry.
And if only for that, then I have indeed claimed my greatest achievement.
Thank you very much for this moment. You fill my heart with so much joy and pride.
(E-mail reactions at rickylophilstar@gmail.com. For more updates, photos and videos, visit www.philstar.com/funfare or follow me on Instagram @therealrickylo.)