Marco Gumabao not keen to talk about love life

MANILA, Philippines — Darryl Yap’s film, Martyr or Murderer, the second installment of the Maid in Malacañang trilogy, apparently brought its two stars — Marco Gumabao and Cristine Reyes — close together. In fact, the two were even spotted in Siargao.

Marco and Cristine first worked together in the teleserye, Tubig at Langis, back in 2016. They have formed a solid friendship through the years.

In Martyr or Murderer, the two actors worked together anew. Marco played the young Ferdinand Marcos, while Cristine was Imee Marcos.

Recently, they started hanging out a lot, even working out together. Their photos in Siargao surfaced on social media recently, although those were reportedly taken last January. They went scuba diving. They were also seen buying things for their fur babies.

The two stars are both single. Marco, 28, refuses to label their relationship. Cristine, 34, has been separated from Ali Khatibi since 2016. They have an eight-year-old together, Amara.

Marco has kept mum about his private life for a long time. “I’m not inclined to post anything regarding my love life,” he explained. “I’m an actor who is not in a loveteam to share what happens in my personal life. As much as possible, I would like to keep my private life away from the public or social media.

“If there’s something that comes out, let it be. But I will not talk to brag about my love life. You don’t have to show the people what’s happening behind posts. You can be happy without bragging about your relationship on social media.

“That’s the problem with social media nowadays. If you’re not posting anything, that doesn’t mean you are not dating anyone or wala kang minamahal or hindi sila minamahal.

“As long as you know for yourself that you love a person, genuine ang love niyo with each other, you don’t need to prove it to other people by posting it on social media. I think that’s perfect. As long as both of you understand each other, it’s also peaceful and at the same time, that’s important.”

A ‘tamed’ Marco gets paired anew with beauty queen-turned-actress Kylie Verzosa in Viva Films’ romantic comedy, Baby Boy, Baby Girl, where he is reunited with director Jason Paul Laxamana (not in photo).

A “tamed” Marco gets paired anew with beauty queen-turned-actress Kylie Verzosa in Viva Films’ romantic comedy, Baby Boy, Baby Girl, where he is reunited with director Jason Paul Laxamana.

Admirably, the film is Marco’s third this 2023, following Jalz Zarate’s Spellbound with Bela Padilla and Martyr or Murderer.

“This Baby Boy, Baby Girl is my second with direk Jason Paul, who directed me in Just a Stranger which we shot back in 2019,” offered Marco. “All the films I finished last year, this year pinalabas at sunod-sunod pa. I’m so happy na maganda ang pasok ng 2023. I am also doing a sitcom with Yassi Pressman.

“I’ve been waiting for my comeback movie with direk Jason and this is it, Baby Boy. Baby Girl. I’ve been waiting and wishing for this movie. Of course, the topic is a bit controversial. When I read the script, it’s not a negative thing.

“May nakita din kaming positive thing, although I am not saying that being a sugar baby is positive. Sa story ng characters namin, it turned out to be positive, although I don’t want to give further details so as not to spoil the film.

“When we were shooting, hindi namin alam kung ano ang nakakatawa at hindi nakakatawa. It all boils down to editing how direk Jason projected the funny scenes.”

Others in the cast of Baby Boy, Baby Girl are Giselle Sanchez as Marco’s sugar mommy, Rey “PJ” Abellana as Kylie’s sugar daddy, with Yayo Aguila as Marco’s mom. Also starring are Marissa Sanchez, Yen Durano, Migo Valid, Gino Roque, Andrea Babierra, Marnie Lapus and Gary Lim.

Marco and Kylie had worked together in half-a-dozen projects to date. They appeared together on TV, on the big screen and on the streaming platform, Vivamax.

“Our friendship through the years makes our team-up work,” Marco admitted. “That was a very solid foundation for us, especially if you’re doing scenes that require chemistry, not just on-cam but your chemistry off-cam.

“We didn’t have any problems in our shoot that we finished in eight days. For me, that is quite fast and the quality didn’t suffer.”

When Marco first worked with director Jason Paul in Just a Stranger, the actor did a sexy butt exposure and steamy scenes. “You will see a different Marco Gumabao in Baby Boy, Baby Girl.

“I think that’s the difference of Just a Stranger and Baby Boy, Baby Girl. Here in this new one, it’s more of the camaraderie of the roles that Kylie and I play,” Marco offered. “I think different ang attack namin dito sa Baby Boy, Baby Girl.

“At the same time, this sugar baby and sugar dating story is also new how they are accepted in our world. Our characters ni Kylie are different and how brave direk Jason wrote the story and topic.”

Marco asserted it is never easy watching himself on the big screen. “Sometimes, I get this factor that I still cringe on what I did onscreen,” he disclosed. “I could have done better, I could have done this or I could have done that.

“Feeling ko naman, it’s a good thing that my work gets judged. If you watch all your shows or your projects and you are always proud about what you did, there is probably not a chance to still improve.

“For every project I do, the nervousness is still there. Every time you see or watch your scene, you can’t help but correct yourself. There’s no one perfect in the world of showbiz stars.

“Even if others were saying, ‘You are so good in this film’ or ‘Award-winning ka dito,’ as an actor, there’s always one step. You will never get fulfilled with what you did. That’s okay. It also teaches us to let go and just trust yourself. You’re not too laid-back or relaxed with your performance, so you always look for things to improve.”