Laurice’s story of faith - STAR BYTES By Butch Francisco

The other day, I told you about the strange experience felt by Laurice Guillen and Johnny Delgado while hearing Sunday Mass at the Christ the King church along E. Rodriguez Ave. on Feb. 28,1993.

It was the couple’s first time to hear mass again in a long, long time Johnny felt like being doused with cold water during the consecration, while Laurice saw in her mind an image of the Blessed Mother crying tears of blood.

After going through this experience, they decided to visit the supposed apparition site in Agoo, La Union where the Blessed Mother was said to have appeared several times to visionary Judiel Nieva, who is now a cross-dresser and owner of several businesses, including a beauty salon. "But we didn’t go there for Judiel ," clarifies Laurice. "We weren’t even curious about him."

Their visit to Agoo happened during the last day of the supposed apparition – "but we didn’t know that was going to be the last day."

They left Manila in the evening to avoid traffic. But to their horror, cars were lined bumper-to-bumper when they reached the North Diversion Road. Obviously, all roads led to Agoo that time and they didn’t need a map to get there. And what a sight it was to behold- with hundreds, maybe even thousands of taillights lit up all the way to Agoo.

When they reached the apparition sight the place was teeming with an estimated crowd of around two million people. But they found their spot at the hillside. And then it happened. Everyone pointed at the sun and looked over its direction. At first, Laurice didn’t want to look directly at the sun because she feared that she might go blind. "At kapag nangyari ‘yon, my career is finished," She cries out.

But she looked at the sun just the same – without anything protecting her eyes. "When I did that I knew it defied the natural law. But I was able to look at the sun with my naked eyes – and I didn’t go blind! I knew from that moment that God was real," Laurice reveals. "And at that point, I felt so insignificant. All of a sudden, my fame and achievements meant nothing to me."

Back in Manila, Laurice and Johnny decided to withdraw from show business to be able to devote all their time to spreading the message of our Blessed Mother. Laurice’s last film was Sana Dalawa ang Puso Ko, released by Viva in June 1993. She didn’t accept anymore projects after that.

One film she gave up was Loretta, the movie loosely based on the real life story of Lorena Bobbit. The movie was supposed to star Kris Aquino, but eventually ended up on the lap of Ruffa Gutierrez. Well, good for Laurice and Kris. Loretta was one of the films that figured in the scandal that rocked the 1994 Manila Film Festival.

Away from show business, Laurice and Johnny had all the time in the world to talk about the message of the Blessed Virgin Mary in various parishes all over the country – from Aparri up north to Mati in Davao Oriental down south. It was also around this time that they decided to finally get married in church.

Since they didn’t expect any income from the movies, they sold some of their worldly possessions that they didn’t need for their day-to-day expenses. But God obviously saw to it that they were well provided for. "In fact, tumaba nga kami because anywhere we went, people were serving us food," volunteers Laurice.

Her journey back to making films started with a guest appearance in Today With Kris. During the interview, Kris Aquino asked her what kind of movie would make her return to filmmaking. Laurice’s response was quick: a family movie. Malou Santos of Star Cinema happened to be watching that time and immediately got in touch with Laurice. Within hours, Malou and Laurice were already discussing the concept of a family drama for Star Cinema. The result is Tanging Yaman, a possible entry to the forthcoming Metro Manila Film Festival.