MANILA, Philippines - “I am not a mistress.”
Thus declared Grace Ibuna in an interview over ABS-CBN last Sunday as she turned the tables on Aleli Arroyo, estranged wife of the late congressman Ignacio “Iggy” Arroyo.
Interviewed by Boy Abunda, Ibuna said a “kabit” (mistress) is a kept woman of a married man, who still lives in one house and sharing a common bed with his wife.
But in her case, she said she could not be called a mistress because Iggy and Aleli no longer lived as husband and wife.
“Everyone knows that Aleli and Iggy were already separated many years ago, it was even Aleli who announced it and she was the one who called it quits,” Ibuna said in Filipino.
A mistress is defined as “a woman (other than the man’s wife) having sexual relationship with a married man.”
Aleli, in earlier interviews, maintained that she remains the legal wife since her marriage to Iggy was not yet annulled when he died.
Ibuna said she chose to be quiet because she wanted Iggy to have a dignified burial. But she had promised the media that she would speak after Iggy was laid to rest to set the record straight.
“I lived a quiet life, basically, until she came out… I swallowed everything for Iggy’s love,” she said, alluding to Aleli.
Ibuna said she pities Aleli because “she must have had a very bad childhood, she seems to be bitter about her life.”
On accusations that she was only after Iggy’s fortune, Ibuna said that while they are not rich, they were living a comfortable life.
She said that it was Iggy himself who placed her name as the “next of kin” in the hospital record in London, contrary to allegations that she misrepresented herself as Mrs. Arroyo.
“There’s no need to pretend I’m Mrs. Arroyo, unlike some people who do but cannot live up to the name,” she said.