No bombshell from Claudine

Contrary to what many people expected, Claudine Barretto didn’t explode any "bomb" when she appeared on ABS-CBN’s The Buzz yesterday to break her long silence on her case with her late former boyfriend Rico Yan who died in his sleep last Good Friday (March 29) in Dos Palmas, Puerto Princesa, Palawan.

Instead, Claudine tearfully recounted their four years together, saying that the good times outweighed the bad times. "Ninety percent of our life together was good," she said, "only 10 percent was not so good."

In the extended interview with host Boy Abunda, Claudine also denied that she had had an abortion a few years ago, a rumor Rico himself denied in an interview with The STAR when it cropped up in 1999.

Claudine said that before Rico and company went to Dos Palmas, they had a long phone conversation, in which Rico asked for forgiveness.

"I told him that I forgive him for whatever hurt he had caused me."

At the same time, she admitted that she was, indeed, in Subic during the Holy Week, although she wasn’t, contrary to reports, with Raymart Santiago who, she admitted, is courting her ("But I havent’t answered him yet," she added).

Claudine explained that she was vacationing with her family in Subic. Raymart and his friends were also there to play golf.

"We did bump into each other," said Claudine, Subic being such a small place.

She said she was pained by reports that her break-up with Rico drove him into depression which eventually led to the bangungot which, doctors claimed, caused his death.

Asked about the rumors that Rico must have taken Ecstacy before he died, Claudine vehemently said that, as far as she knew, Rico never took drugs. "He hated drugs and I’d never seen him or known him to have taken drugs," Claudine said.

Claudine also revealed that as early as November last year, her romance with Rico was turning sour. They were sweet the following months, especially during the four-week promo for their last movie together, Got 2 Believe, which became a smash hit.

Claudine and Rico celebrated their foruth anniversay on March 4; they fought on March 5 and finally broke up on March 6.

Asked by Boy Abunda if their fight was violent, as per the reports, Claudine could only answer with a weak smile, tears welling in her eyes.

Toward the end of the show, a video was shown but it wasn’t the "controversial video" everybody was waiting for. Instead, the video showed Rico and Claudine professing their love for each other, taken by Rico himself in December last year.

The "bomb" was a dud and it was just as well, in deference to Rico who is now resting in peace.