MANILA, Philippines — Following her stint in ABS-CBN’s longest-running drama series FPJ’s Ang Probinsyano, Lorna Tolentino had to take care of her health by addressing issues such as hormonal imbalance, knee injury and gastric ulcer.
She was initially tapped for the FPJ’s Ang Probinsyano for 10 days only but the viewers got fond of her character as First Lady Lily Ann Cortez-Hidalgo, wife of Pres. Oscar Hidalgo, played by Rowell Santiago. We saw her playing the role for three years and five months.
“After Ang Probinsyano, I underwent executive checkup kasi ilang years din yun nawala. I looked after my health because health is wealth,” she told the press during the media conference of FPJ’s Batang Quiapo.
She explained that her weight gain had something to do with her hormonal imbalance. “I had to attend to that also, as well as my knee problem which I acquired while taping. Every time we had our rest period, I would roam around and walk. (The area) was hilly, so my knee got strained and had a tear, nawala yung gel na nagdidikit.” So, she consulted a doctor and had her platelet-rich plasma (PRP) session.
Besides her knee injury, the veteran actress also suffered from gastric ulcer and had treatments for three months.
“When you reached a certain age, you should do (medical) checkup every year because of course, we experienced (physical) changes,” she advised. She also mentioned the stages of menopause — perimenopause and postmenopause as examples. “I treated my hormonal imbalance (right away) because papunta na sa hypothyroidism.”
All is well now for Lorna and she is feeling better, she shared. She went on to film FPJ’s Batang Quiapo, where she portrayed Amanda Salonga, partner of Julio Diaz’s Augustus.
She felt “grateful” for being part of ABS-CBN’s action-drama series, FPJ’s Ang Probinsyano and FPJ’s Batang Quiapo, both directed and topbilled by Coco.
“I am grateful and it’s a blessing to me,” she declared. “I’m so blessed because he (Coco) didn’t let go of me. Hindi niya ako binibitawan at iniiwan. He would come up with characters that would make you feel alive as an actor again.”
When asked if she is ready to find a new love again, she said, “You know what hindi naman pinaplano yan. But I pray that someday, someone will take care of me when I get older. You can’t really avoid it but it’s up to Him (if He will give me that).”
The widow of the late action star Rudy Fernandez has no suitor as of the moment but she, nevertheless, is open to marriage when love comes knocking again.
Rudy passed away in 2008 due to periampullary cancer. Rudy and Lorna have two sons, Raphael Fernandez and Renz Fernandez.