‘I’ve recovered gracefully after the storm’

Just as she is doing well in showbiz – she was proclaimed last year’s Box Office Queen, she is a mainstay of the TV shows Buttercup and ASAP and is set to fly to Milan for a film co-starring Piolo Pascual, her fellow Timex endorser – Claudine Barretto is experiencing a reinvigorated private life.

It’s a renaissance of sorts for Claudine, whose tumultuous relationship and then break-up with first boyfriend Mark Anthony Fernandez and controversial relationship with the late matinee idol Rico Yan resulted in a media feeding frenzy last year.

Her career is just as rosy. Claudine will turn a still very young 24 this July but she has worked hard enough and saved well enough to have bought two condominium units, a house in Vancouver and an apartment. She has also invested in jewelry and watches. That she has done so has to do with being realistic about the fickleness of showbiz – and plain hard work, too.

So how is Claudine post-Mark and post-Rico? Claudine spills the beans in her very own words.

Her first love

"Mark Anthony and I haven’t talked (simply because) we never even bump into each other. Our separation was medyo magulo because he was into drugs at that time. I saw him after maybe two years after he got out of rehab and did not see him again.

"What’s sayang is that when people get into drugs, parang other people don‘t want to give them a chance. Mark is really a good person but when you take drugs you become another person. We were together three years – he was my first boyfriend and first love. It’s really heartbreaking, di ba? Sana people will give him another chance. In the relationships I get into and get out of I always wish them (former boyfriends) well.

Weathering the storm

"After Rico’s death I can say I’m doing ‘better’ but I can’t say ‘good’. I am not 100 percent totally healed; I’m still on the road to recovery – but I’ve recovered gracefully. I’m very honest about it... I do cry. Even more so last Christmas ’til early this year. Because last year I wasn’t into crying kasi... I think matagal talaga yung (healing) process. You just wake up one day and then you won’t see somebody forever.

"What really hurt me was when people were questioning my being lonely and grieving about Rico. I felt it was very rude of people to think that you cannot get hurt when you lose someone. I was trying to explain that kung yun ngang people who hardly even knew Rico – who saw him only on TV – naiiyak na, what more of me who was his girlfriend for four or almost five years?

"I’m really grateful for all those people who stopped – who really stopped – those nasty e-mails and text messages about me during that time (Rico’s death). I gave everybody the chance to judge me already. I told them, ‘Bahala kayo, you say, you do, you write what you want. After that, tama na naman.’ I’m glad that a lot of people na kumalaban sa akin before, bumaligtad na rin. So I’m thankful because I knew it wasn’t really gonna last.

Back to school?

"I really want to go back to school. I finished high school (DECS home study), but never started college. I’m the kind of person kasi na I don’t want to focus on a lot of things at the same time. I want to take up Child Psychology. I want to study in Vancouver where my sister lives but of course I cannot. So I was thinking of a home study program for college. It’s hard to go to school on a regular basis.

Her sisters, her friends

"I don’t mind being compared to my sisters Gretchen and Marjorie. Sarap nga ng feeling pag kinukumpara kasi ang ganda-ganda nila! We grew up na wala kaming competition in the family. We never had a problem with all of us being in show business. We are a fan of one another.

"Oh yeah, I do fight for my sisters. Marjorie will really fight for the both of us. Not only with my sisters but with my friends– pag may kumalaban sa mga kaibigan ko, ako ang humaharang. I fight to the end, maingay ako. Pa-involve ako. I’m very vocal, I won’t stop, tsaka pinapaalam kong kalaban ako!

Beauty secrets

"I really moisturize. Siguro when I’m at home sobra ang oily ng skin ko because I wash my face and moisturize talaga. I have a complete set of all the treatments for the hair. Instead of going to the parlor, I get the big ones (beauty products) na pang- parlor rin, para rin for the hands and feet.

Saving for a rainy day

"My motto in life? If you want something, you have to work hard for it!

"I want to invest and save so that I’ll be prepared anytime I feel that I’m not wanted already or showbiz is not doing well. It’s not everyday that you’re gonna be famous. Imbes na magwaldas, I choose to save and only splurge when there’s extra. But before I splurge I think not only twice but a hundred times before I buy something!

Her one luxury

"More than jewelry, my weakness is watches. I have a collection of watches. I don’t even know how many I have. No matter what you’re wearing, as long as your bag and your watch are okay, then you’re okay even if you’re just wearing jeans or T-shirt. Everyday I make it a point to change watches. I’m very kuripot but when it comes to watches hindi ako nagdadalawang isip. The most expensive I’ve spent on a watch? I could say that I spent (my fee for) a whole movie for a watch (laughs)!

"Even before they got me to be a Timex image model, I already had a couple of Timex watches. They are different from other brands because they are very classy and their styles are really nice.

If she’ll be remembered...

"I think the most fulfilling thing I could hear now, more than my achievements, is when people say that I’ve survived. When people say, ‘Kung kaya ni Claudine, kaya namin.’ I feel really good about it.

"Ako lang talaga, I want to reach what Ate Vilma (Santos) and Tita Gloria (Romero) have reached. I think every actor wants to win Best Actor. I haven’t won but I’ve been nominated a couple of times. But it’s fulfilling to know that a lot of people watch my movies.

The real Claudine

"I’m a very simple person. I just love being at home; I hardly go out. I live with Marjorie and Dennis (Padilla) in their home. They have four kids. We do the groceries together.

"I love to take pictures, too. Every Christmas and birthday, ang hinihingi ko talaga, photo albums. I have all kinds of cameras, pang-professional na talaga. I let my pamangkins wear whatever they want to wear, my clothes, makeup and accessories and I just take pictures of them the whole day. I want to become a professional photographer someday. Classes? A lot of people want to teach me (including) Raymund Isaac and Tito Jun de Leon but wala talaga akong free time.

"I play badminton with my sisters. I love reading, usually self-help and inspirational books. I really love to sing pero hilig lang yon.

"I have no day off except when I’m really tired. Pag sinabi ng katawan ko, I really stop. How do I rejuvenate? I go to the spa but I’d rather have a massage in the house. May mini-parlor, home spa, home theater sa bahay ng kapatid ko. I do Pilates and taebo also at home."

In love once more

"Raymart (Santiago) is really supportive. When I feel bad I can tell him what I feel. He knows how it is to lose someone when he lost his dad. He was saying, ‘It (coping with Rico’s death) is really a long process.’ We’ve been on since November or December last year. I’ve never seen anyone aside from my family and my manager who really is so proud of me when something new or good happens in my life; he’s my number one fan. Even when I am going through so much, I can talk to him and he listens. He’s very understanding. He’s very quiet in real life. We have the same ugali and we have the same birthday.

"Do I have any plan to settle down with Raymart? That’s up to him! I don’t even have an engagement ring (laughs)!"

(E-mail the author at annmondo@yahoo.com)

Claudine Barretto’s watches on this spread by TIMEX