Boy Abunda on EJ Obiena, Carlos Yulo and ties that bind sons and moms

Olympic pole vaulter EJ Obiena has opened up about his mother, Jeanette, and how they healed from that sports controversy that “strained” their relationship.

This is one of the topics that the King of Talk discussed with the world-class Pinoy athlete in his monthly TV special, “My Mother, My Story,” which airs today at 2 p.m. on GMA.

“Napakaganda kausap, he’s a wonderful human being,” shared Boy.

“We talked about his relationship with his mother and he’s so fascinatingly honest,” he further said of how EJ would shed light on how the Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association (PATAFA) issue in 2021 was resolved, and what it took for him and Jeanette — also a former track and field athlete — to reach a point of “wonderful love” between son and mom.

“It was very complicated because huge organizations were involved, government money was involved, parents were involved but what I heard from him was, in the end, magulang ko pa rin, in the end, nanay ko pa rin ito,” recalled Boy. “It was a huge sports problem… Pero naayos rin.”

Boy mentioned that EJ also talked about the immediate aftermath of him losing his chance at a podium finish in the 2024 Olympics. “He was very hurt. One of the worst places in the Olympics is No. 4… Being that close… ang sakit nuon,” the host remarked, sharing Jeanette’s simple but empowering advice to her son: “Pick up the pieces, anak, learn from them and then move on.”

Boy also probed EJ’s future plans “because there’s this collective feeling of a lot of Filipinos here and abroad na sumubok ka sa 2028 Olympics, kaya mo pa… He’s not definitive about it, maybe he’s just managing his expectations.”

EJ is the fifth personality that Boy featured in “My Mother, My Story,” wherein interviewees get to reflect on the question, “Sino ka nang dahil sa iyong ina?” It was particularly conceptualized by the “Fast Talk” host as a love letter to his late mother, Nanay Lesing.

Meanwhile, Boy was asked if two-time Olympic gold medalist Carlos Yulo, whose currently fraught relationship with his mom has been showbiz fodder, is going to be featured on the show.

Boy appeared not keen on interviewing Carlos — at this time.

Boy (center) with ‘My Mother, My Story’ creative head Ardee Delola (left), and executive producer Reylie Manalo..

He explained, “Like everyone else, I wanna know the truth. It’s so hard to judge because the (information) is limited. The details that I know are not enough to issue a judgment.

“People would say Boy is not interested because maka-Nanay, that’s not fair. Maka-Nanay naman ako, but napaka-personal yun and I will say it now, walang pwedeng gawin ang Nanay ko na ‘di ko mapapatawad. But that’s me and I will not impose that on anyone.

“I can only pray… I mean, totoo talaga na sana ngayon na maganda-ganda ang buhay, mag-usap. I don’t know, maybe, kailangan tumahimik muna and that’s one of the reasons (I told my staff) na hangga’t maari ‘wag muna tayong dumagdag sa ingay.”

He, nevertheless, weighed in on why Filipinos are personally interested and invested in Carlos’ family issue.

“Emotional tayo, especially because this is a Golden Boy, this is a winner of two Gold medals, and this is (stuff) we see in teleseryes. This is the story of our life… our relationship with our mothers, the meaning of mother and child to us, the value of family, so the ingredients are all present in the story of Carlos and his mom. It’s not just their story, it’s the story of this country. That story is not copyrighted by Carlos and his mom,” Boy said.

He doesn’t also believe that the public is to be blamed that the family issue got “magnified.” “Because you offered it to the public. I always take the side of the public in discussions like this because kung hindi mo in-offer, paano naman natin malalaman?” he said, referring to how it started with public social media posts.

“I’d love to be able to interview with all of them, maybe when tempers are down. I would be pretentious to say I’m not interested in doing an interview with them. I would love to do it separately with Carlos, the mother and even Chloe (Carlos’ girlfriend).”

Besides sports personalities and showbiz celebrities, Boy was also queried about the possibility of having Bimby, the second son of his dear friend Kris Aquino, guest in “My Mother, My Story.”

“I am in touch, as we are as usual. I have not asked Bimb. I was with Bimb when he came home (last time)... Mag-uusap kami ni Kris one of these days in person. Pero maganda siguro,” he said.

“But I don’t want to impose my relationship with Bimb, there’s a thin line that separates between doing a show and having this relationship with the boy because I am literally his guardian.”

The interview they’re working on next is with Kapuso star Alden Richards. “It’s a different story because he lost his mother when he was 14 or 15. That’s interesting! How that impacted his attitude towards parents and the relationship with his father and what he has become. With EJ, it’s not the question what you have become because of your mother. We rephrase the question to, ‘How much of you is your mother?’”

Of course, for Boy, “Bimb would be lovely, but I’m very respectful of Kris’ situation. To me, priority is health.”

The former presidential daughter and sister announced in a recent Instagram post that she was returning to the Philippines for a second round of treatment for her autoimmune conditions.

When asked about his thoughts on speculations that Kris might enter the political ring now that she’s back in the country, Boy said, “Assuming that Kris is healthy… Kris is an Aquino, kung malusog lang yan, she may. If she’s healthy, I wouldn’t discount the possibility. She’s familiar with that world, she’s conversant, she’s a bright girl, my only prayer is gumaling.”