Mayor Vi speaks up: ‘Lord, I want my life bac

Because of her intriguing silence and sudden invisibility and scarcity, people have been wondering whatever happened to Lipa City Mayor Vilma Santos amidst spreading rumors that there are death threats against her and husband, Sen. Ralph Recto (who is as visible as ever).

Besides those "life-threatening" reports, there are additional tsismis that Vilma and Ralph have split up or are splitting up because Vilma discovered that, yes, Ralph indeed has "another woman" with whom he now has two children, with the rumor-mongers going farther by including the pretty girl in the PLDT commercial named Gracia as Ralph’s latest "kept" girlfriend. Poor girl, poor girl!

A "shabu laboratory" was raided by the police and according to yet another rumor, Ralph was the protector of that profitable "laboratory" and Vilma was "condoning" Ralph’s action.

Rumors, rumors, rumors!

Vilma’s decision to stay away from the glare of the media has only fanned those rumors even more. So what’s the real score? Is Vilma in town or has she slipped out of the country? How come she hasn’t been reporting to Lipa and she’s mysteriously quiet, so very unlike the "old Vilma" who’s the first to speak up even before a rumor could start to grow so as to nip it in the bud?

Yesterday, Funfare finally got hold of Vilma and pin her down long enough to answer all the questions you and I have been wanting to ask her but never had a chance to. I won’t tell you how or where I talked to Vilma – for security reasons, you know – and I won’t even say where she’s staying in these admittedly critical times. Suffice it to say that Vilma is "in seclusion," shying away from the media.

"I have been turning down requests for TV interviews because what usually happens is that they edit the interview and what comes out is incomplete, kaya umiiba ang sinasabi ko," said Vilma.

Her request was for Funfare to print our interview as is, verbatim, with not a word nor a comma nor a period nor a colon or semi-colon altered.

Here then is the full text of Funfare’s exclusive interview with Vilma, uncensored:

"This is not an ordinary issue. Things are getting out of hand already. Ang dami nang iba’t-ibang versions na lumalabas. I don’t understand kung bakit masyadong pinalalaki ng ibang tao. But it’s a serious issue, itong mga death threat."

Is this the first time you’re getting death threats?

"No, it’s not. Noong bago lang akong umuupo as Lipa Mayor, mayroon ding mga ganoon. Pero ito, talagang confirmed. The confirmation came from CIDG (Criminal Investigation and Detention Group) and it was the CIDG which advised me to lie low for a while habang ito’y under investigation. Pati si Ralph at si Gen. (Leandro) Mendoza nagka-usap na regarding this."

So ‘yung death threats hindi diretsong ipinarating sa ’yo.

"Through a letter na ipinadala kay Ralph."

Ano’ng sabi sa letter?

"Na mayroong inutusan sa loob, sa jail, to liquidate us."

You mean sa National Penitentiary (Muntinlupa)?

"Yeah. Sa Muntinlupa. Mayroong nag-squeal."

Are you referring to a suspect reported to have been arrested by the Lipa City police (false alarm, it turned out), na na-konsensya raw because he’s a Vilmanian?

"No, that’s not the one. Hindi nila na-confirm ’yon."

So Ralph also got death threats.

"Yeah. Both of us. Kaya hindi namin puedeng i-take for granted ito. Mabuti rin ’yung... ano... for security reasons... kasi hindi ito basta-basta. Hindi ba? I mean, hindi ko alam... Dinadasal-dasal ko nga sa Panginoong Diyos. Sabi ko , ‘Lord, bakit kami napasok sa ganito?’ Diyos ko!"

Do those death threats have any connection with the raided "shabu laboratory" in Lipa?

"Hindi nila alam, ’e. Yon ang kanilang iniimbestigahan ngayon. So, hindi alam kung doon o politics. Sa experience ngayon, kung nakikita mo ’yung mga news na lumalabas, tinitira talaga ’yung pamilya namin, e. You know what I mean? May hate campaign, e. May demoliton campaign na gustong gawin, dahil siguro sa slogan campaign namin na ’Una sa lahat, Pamilyang Filipino.’ Tinitira si Ralph sa pambababae niya..."

What’s your reaction to that? You know, na si Ralph mayroong ibang babae at may dalawang anak (sa labas) daw?

"Na hiwalay daw kami ngayon... Pero hindi naman kami naaapektuhan. Diyos ko, magkasama kami palagi ni Ralph; hindi naman kami nagkakagalit. Ako rin, tinitira. May lover daw ako..."

A, ’yung Vice Mayor ng Lipa, si Boy Manguera.

"Oo, si Vice. Diyos ko, lover ko daw siya. Ano ba ’yan? ’Yung tungkol kay Ralph... pati na rin ’yung tungkol kay Gracia, na-explain na namin ’yon during the victory party. Pero, sige pa rin nang sige ’yung tsismis. If you say na naapektuhan kami ni Ralph, it’s not true.

There was also a rumor that you were packing your things in your office, preparatory to resigning...

"No, no, no, no! It’s not true! I went on leave for two weeks. As I told you, I was advised by the CIDG to lie low habang iniimbestiga nila ’yung death threats. Pero tuluy-tuloy ang trabaho ko sa office; there wasn’t any interruption. Walang nabitin na papers. ‘Yung visibility ko lang ang medyo... well, hindi ako physically present sa opisina pero tina-trabaho ko ’yung dapat trabahuhin."

There was a rumor that you went abroad...

"... That’s another tsismis. Somebody must be behind this round of rumors; talagang there’s a hate campaign against Ralph and me."

Who do you and Ralph think are behind it? Sino ang mga suspects?

"I don’t know; we don’t know. Hindi namin alam kung politically-motivated ito o ano. The worst part of it is that, ‘yung intriga sa showbiz kayang-kaya ko. Pero ang nararamdaman ko ngayon, matindi. First time kong nararamdaman ito. May intriga kay Ralph, may intriga sa akin, may intriga sa politics, may intriga sa showbiz. Diyos ko, para akong naiipit sa naguumpugang bato. I am badly affected. Nagiging complicated na ang lahat. This is too much! All I can do is pray. Sabi ko, ‘Lord, bakit ako napunta dito?’ You know, when I became Mayor, pagsilbi sa tao lang talaga ang gusto ko; wala akong tinatapakang tao, wala akong iniisahan o inaapi. Hindi bale sana kung nanloko na ako. Even my whole family is affected."

Including your children (Luis/Lucky and Ryan Christian)...

"...Including them. The truth is that I’m not scared for myself but for my family, for my children. Everybody knows that my priority is my family. Lahat tinatapon ko for my family."

You’re caught in a really difficult situation. Mahirap ang kalagayan mo.

"Ang nagiging problema ko ngayon, ‘yung trust na ibinigay sa akin ng constituents ko sa Lipa, hindi ko naman basta-basta puedeng talikuran. I want to make it clear: Kaya kong talikuran ang lahat for the sake of my family but not the trust na binigay sa akin ng mga taga-Lipa. "Yan ang dilemma ko ngayon. My family is put in danger and at the same time nalalagay sa alanganin ang pagiging Lipa Mayor ko. When I pray, I beg the Lord, ‘I want my life back!’ Ganoon ako kaapektado."

Don’t you have any regrets about going into politics?

"When I joined politics, I was convinced that God had a purpose for me. There was a clamor from the Lipeños for me to run so I prayed for a sign. God gave me the sign, so I ran. I never imagined na ang pagpasok ko sa politics ay aabot sa ganito. Grabe na talaga ang mga tira sa pamilya ko. Kaya nga ang palaging dasal ko, ‘Lord, I want my life back!’"

Even the shooting of your movie (Star Cinema’s Dekada 70) is being affected.

"Before I ran for Mayor in 1998, natapos kong ginawa ‘yung Bata, Bata, Paano Ka Ginawa? When I did Anak last year, it wasn’t campaign time. In the case of Dekada, nakasabay ang kampanya, ‘yung pag-run ni Ralph for Senator at ‘yung pag-kampanya ko rin. So nagka-delay-delay ang shooting. I want to apologize to my co-stars (among them Christopher de Leon) for this. We were about to resume shooting, until I was advised to lie low for a while."

There’s another rumor that Ralph was the protector of the "‘shabu laboratory."

"I read about it in the column of Emil Jurado (Manila Standard). Diyos ko naman, I am not that stupid to tolerate it; everybody knows that I am not the martyr type. Hindi ako basta na lang hindi kikibo if I see something wrong. It is not true! This issue about drugs was used against us during the (recent) campaign at nasagot na namin ‘yon. There was a text-message campaign against us na kami raw ang may hawak ng drugs na na-confiscate doon sa Lipa."

Are these things (issues) affecting your relationship with Ralph? You know, nabawasan ba ang trust, love and respect n’yo sa isa’t-isa?

"No, no. Walang magkakampi kundi kami ni Ralph at ang pamilya namin. The Lipeños know this. When Ralph and I have a misunderstanding, alam na alam ng mga taga-Lipa. I tell them straight. I’m not the type na magtatago ng issue na ‘yan. I am very transparent."

You do sound very harassed.

"I tell you, I’m physically drained already. I don’t know what I have gotten into. You know, during my first term as Lipa Mayor, Ryan was very small, bata pa siya. He was only two years old, so ‘yung demand niya sa time ko hindi kasing-tindi ng demand niya ngayong lumalaki na siya. No matter how busy I am, I find time to play with him. Sinusundo ko pa ‘yan sa school kasi sinasabi niyan sa akin, ‘Mommy, pick me up in school.’ Ryan is turning six at si Lucky naman ay 20 na, so mas malaki ang demand nila sa time ko. By the time tapos na ang term ko, Ryan will be 8 already; hindi ko na siya maibabalik sa pagiging five-years old."

But whatever happens, you will finish your term as Lipa Mayor.

"Ganoon na nga. Tatapusin ko. Hindi madali ang tumalikod sa tungkulin. I have a responsibility to the Lipeños."

Any message to the people out there?

"I want to assure everybody that my family is intact. All the rumors are not true. Ralph and I are happy together. I also want to thank those who are praying for me, the Lipeños for understanding the situation and Star Cinema for being considerate.""

Anything more?

"Please pray for me."