Will love bloom One A-more Time?

MANILA, Philippines - If you believe friends can be lovers but lovers can’t be friends, then take a closer look at Martin Nievera and Pops Fernandez. They’ve been through a lot of heartaches that eventually led them to live separate lives after their marriage had been annulled. But it seems no traces of their sad past remain in their hearts.

Does time really heal all wounds? Or do they remain in good terms because of their children, Robin and Ram? Whatever the reason, Martin and Pops are okay now. The constant giggling and teasing confirm how they enjoy each other’s presence during Martin’s birthday and presscon for their Valentine concert One A-more Time at SMX Convention Center.

“It took us forever to get here,” tells Pops about their friendship. “Of course there were a lot of dramatic moments before we reached this stage.

“Actually, when it was still so fresh and every word was so painful, I would pray to God that it (heartache) will surpass and everything will be back to normal. Thank God, it happened,” she goes on.

Pops even took time and effort to make a book, Three Men and A Baby, as birthday present for Martin. She so touched his emotional side, Martin can’t help but reminisce upon seeing the pictures of his children in the book. There were also writings of Pops which gladdened Martin no end. 

“Mahirap regaluhan si Martin. What do you give somebody who has almost everything? This one is hard to forget,” Pops shares.

It’s always nice, Pops adds, to at least have their friendship back and to be in a good stage especially because of Robin and Ram.

Thus, Martin could tease Pops about their accidental first kiss without her flaring up. Neither is there awkwardness whenever stage director Rowell Santiago asks them to do kissing scenes in their video shoot for the concert. “It’s not hard to kiss. Even to hold hands, it’s almost automatic with Pops and me,” Martin claims.

That’s why direk Rowell didn’t have a hard time coming up with more interesting ideas with Homer Flores taking care of the musical aspect. Special guest is Jon Santos.

 So how does the show differ from their Valentine concert last year?

“It is more teleserye friendly. All (TV) networks have their own teleseryes, we thought we can contribute our love story. Since Pops and I were walking, talking, singing, dancing a true-life teleserye why not do it in a song,” Martin shares. “It is a great way to see a teleserye, this time with live music.”

The audience will also be treated to more kilig moments once they hear some of the most remarkable lines in movies like Notting Hill, Jerry Maguire and others.

When asked what the two miss doing when they were still together, Martin says, “Eating out with the kids in a restaurant.”

Would there be another chance at love?

“We’ve been through so many challenges. Everything that happened to me was good for me. I’m not saying it should’ve been that way but I matured a lot, became more responsible and stronger. I think it’s a different emotion now,” Pops replies.

(One A-more Time is produced by Mauve Management and Entertainment. For tickets, call 0918-8859335 or 0922-2630183.)