Kris and James
March 4, 2007 | 12:00am
"Sorry kung naging madamot kami but it felt good and it was goodfor both of us kasi naging matatag iyong foundation naming dalawa in the past nine months that we’ve been married..." - Kris Aquino on The Buzz about keeping their marriage from the public
The last I heard of my friend Kris Aquino’s lovelife was that she had broken up with Pampanga’s Mark Lapid. All the wile I thought she was playing cool and buried in work. I was trying to fix her up with someone. On our former show, Morning Girls with Kris and Korina, she would tell me off about "not being in touch" and "not watching enough tv". Serves me right for being too busy to catch up on her. The next thing I knew  I couldn’t believe it  she got hitched. Who is this guy?
The love story that is Kris and James began not without controversy and nationwide surprise. The announcement of the couple’s engagement and, not much later, the admission that they were indeed already civilly married left even family and close friends with their mouths open.
Nothing less is expected of Kris Aquino whose career was initially built on the goodwill of her parents’ legacy to the nation  Ninoy Aquino as Philippine hero and Cory Aquino as president of the Republic. It is also this goodwill that had kept Kris the bescpectacled 15-year old with bangs and no make-up on EDSA to most of us  whether we admit it or not. Yes, that should explain why we keep track of her. We keep meddling and opining about her life choices. We get scandalized and later forgive her again and again. We continue to make her shows top raters and we continue to buy the products she endorses. She is our daughter, our kid sister, our elder sister, the life of our party.
Researching on some early footage of Kris as a kid we came across her when she was no more than seven years old blowing on a New Year torotot to the camera. She told me the story once that, from school, she would sing and dance on the counter of a bank they would go to for the regular family transactions at the slightest request by the tellers. From a mere willingness to be under the spotlight, Kris Aquino had, some 30 years later, matured into one of the country’s most formidable talents. Many around her think that, despite having proven herself as Best Actress and box office material, she continues to believe either of two things: that she is half her value without her being talked about "in Biblical proportions" (a high-profile business forum reportedly halted the conference to watch one historical interview I had with her years back) or that she was born into the public as her family and that, therefore, we are all part of her life, whether we realize this or not.
Of course, the love relationships make for much of Kris’ very public diaries. And after witnessing her heartbreaks too many times, like a sister or a daughter, we scold her while watching her on The Buzz but we wish her a happy ending  someday.
Her marriage to basketball star James Yap 11 years her junior, and after a very short engagement, had the pubic swooning and wanting more and more information about the couple. While concerned family and friends provide support to what they must have believed to be a fragile and potentially volatile union.
But everyone saw it in her. "Kris is different" or "Hey, ibang-iba na si Kris ngayon..." or "James really changed her". We would bump into each other during taping sessions along the station corridors and all I could say was that she was always beaming. She wasn’t as inquisitive about too much of the small stuff. She was settled. While I can’t claim to know Kris inside-out I could only tell she was settled because I was certain of how she is when she isn’t settled. And she knows this. Those were our days in Morning Girls. The news of Kris’ plans to get pregnant, marry in church by the end of this year and build a house told me more than I needed to see for myself. I had to stop somewhere along Quirino Ave one day while we spoke for over an hour by cellphone, "Korina you have to help me with my landscaping, I love your garden." In a separate text I was telling her about a bag I saw and she said, "Oh, I’m not a shopaholic anymore, I have to save for the house." Maybe, I thought, this is it for her, finally.
With Kris and James expecting their first child, the sudden and unexpected scandal about alleged infidelities by James Yap was a hurricane that raged through the nation and left a trail of casualties. The campaign plans of her brother Noynoy Aquino, for instance, had to do without what would have otherwise clinched both the fan base of Kris and James in every sortie. Former President Cory Aquino, needless to say, now has to pray even more times for things to get better before it turns irreversibly worse. Dr. Vicki Belo’s beauty empire takes a big hit as text jokes about "extra service" to go with a male customer’s scrub or facial was passed on to millions by now it seems. Network sensitivities have been on a tightrope with GMA Channel 7 promoting the side of the woman in question, Hope Centeno, while Channel 2 takes the cudgels for Kris.
Poor James. The provincial lad who grew up in Escalante is now hurled into his personal perfect storm. He called Vicki Belo one day after it all came out in public, "Pwede ba ako pumunta diyan sandali? Wala na akong kaibigan eh...". Bertrand Russell said, "the most savage controversies are about matters as to which there is no good evidence either way." After the interview with Kris and James last Saturday evening, I must say this is exactly where the issue is  no good evidence to prove guilt or innocence either way.
I got to Oakwood past 8 p.m. and wanted to discuss with Kris’ manager first. I had spoken earlier to Kris’ friend and confidante Boy Abunda and we figured Kris, in the middle of all this, could either do the way of Princess Diana Spencer and self-destruct  or be a Hillary Clinton and win in the next elections. But out from her room came Kris and I was going to meet James for the first time. Before then, since I don’t watch much TV, I hadn’t an idea how James’ voice sounded. James seems naturally soft spoken and shy. In this case, yes, opposite poles did attract.
Kris was, naturally but unusually, sullen that night. Their three-bedroom Oakwood apartment was filled with stuff from their former place and they were getting ready to move into their new Wack-Wack home anytime soon. The place was jam packed with Kris’ collection of large Buddha figures, supposed to bring luck. I was flattered to see the green jade laughing Buddha I gave her, a few Christmases back, on top of the dining’s buffet console. About 25 large flower and fruit arrangements filled the room. "From the hospital?" I asked. "Ya...but I can’t have any of the fruits because I have a bad case of gestational diabetes. Sad, diba? My fingers have to be pricked for blood samples six times a week, Korina...ang sakit sakit na." Placing it all in context  I mean, considering my main reason for being there to begin with  left me without much to respond with.
Could it have been that long since the Kris I knew from our days in the daily morning show? My Mom used to tell me that a woman is at her most beautiful in her thirties. I think Kris is really at her physical appearance’s peak. Seven months pregnant and obviously beset with too much emotional baggage, she was still glowing throughout our almost two hours of interview material. More than the physical, though, is the evident resolve of an adult  the adult in Kris which most of her spectators long to see but probably never will no mater how loud they holler at the TV set to get it done, get it over with and get going towards wherever this takes her and her children was quite compelling as it was credible. I didn’t see any gimmicks. I didn’t see any stunts. I didn’t feel the showbiz anywhere and at anytime. I heard more than I should, ("Pinalayas ko na siya at nag-impake na siya...pagbalik ko galing simbahan bakit nandito pa siya diba?" or "Do you know that my Mom was willing to stay for the interview, Korina? I told her, Mom, he doesn’t deserve that"), and, even with 40 minutes edited out to fit in the longer cut of the broadcast material, the public might have heard too much, too.
It was a Kris hurt, tired, reacting to intense pain that I saw. She had premature contractions and is now in hospital again. The baby is only a little over two pounds at seven months. She can’t work, she can’t play and God only knows what now happens to the plans of a December wedding and moving into the new home. Does Kris believe James? Only they know what they know and the public doesn’t. From what I have it is possible Kris believes James should not have gone back over and over to the clinic full knowing there was someone "obsessing" about him. For now, beyond the survival of her marriage, Kris is struggling to survive for herself and for the life of her child. She abandoned Oakwood and she last texted me, "I’ve left home...hopefully, things will be clear to me later."
At certain points behind the scene during the interview we would break into fatigued laughter (we ended past 1 in the morning). We halted taping for a break when we all couldn’t keep the chuckles in as she talked about sending James away and he wouldn’t leave. In that spontaneous moment of lightheartedness I did see hope for both of them.
Even as the public is known to build personalities up to demi-god levels only to try to bring them down when people figure the celebrities shouldn’t have too much of a good thing, this bullet that went through the Yap couple’s hearts could prove fatal. And most people are seeing themselves with sympathy mirrored once again in the life of Kris Aquino. Where this leads to with a seven-month-old baby waiting and yet to be born is material each spectator in this real life telenovela would like to author for the next episode. Unfortunately, the main players, both Kris and James, themselves, do not know how exactly this scene ends.
The last I heard of my friend Kris Aquino’s lovelife was that she had broken up with Pampanga’s Mark Lapid. All the wile I thought she was playing cool and buried in work. I was trying to fix her up with someone. On our former show, Morning Girls with Kris and Korina, she would tell me off about "not being in touch" and "not watching enough tv". Serves me right for being too busy to catch up on her. The next thing I knew  I couldn’t believe it  she got hitched. Who is this guy?
The love story that is Kris and James began not without controversy and nationwide surprise. The announcement of the couple’s engagement and, not much later, the admission that they were indeed already civilly married left even family and close friends with their mouths open.
Nothing less is expected of Kris Aquino whose career was initially built on the goodwill of her parents’ legacy to the nation  Ninoy Aquino as Philippine hero and Cory Aquino as president of the Republic. It is also this goodwill that had kept Kris the bescpectacled 15-year old with bangs and no make-up on EDSA to most of us  whether we admit it or not. Yes, that should explain why we keep track of her. We keep meddling and opining about her life choices. We get scandalized and later forgive her again and again. We continue to make her shows top raters and we continue to buy the products she endorses. She is our daughter, our kid sister, our elder sister, the life of our party.
Researching on some early footage of Kris as a kid we came across her when she was no more than seven years old blowing on a New Year torotot to the camera. She told me the story once that, from school, she would sing and dance on the counter of a bank they would go to for the regular family transactions at the slightest request by the tellers. From a mere willingness to be under the spotlight, Kris Aquino had, some 30 years later, matured into one of the country’s most formidable talents. Many around her think that, despite having proven herself as Best Actress and box office material, she continues to believe either of two things: that she is half her value without her being talked about "in Biblical proportions" (a high-profile business forum reportedly halted the conference to watch one historical interview I had with her years back) or that she was born into the public as her family and that, therefore, we are all part of her life, whether we realize this or not.
Of course, the love relationships make for much of Kris’ very public diaries. And after witnessing her heartbreaks too many times, like a sister or a daughter, we scold her while watching her on The Buzz but we wish her a happy ending  someday.
Her marriage to basketball star James Yap 11 years her junior, and after a very short engagement, had the pubic swooning and wanting more and more information about the couple. While concerned family and friends provide support to what they must have believed to be a fragile and potentially volatile union.
But everyone saw it in her. "Kris is different" or "Hey, ibang-iba na si Kris ngayon..." or "James really changed her". We would bump into each other during taping sessions along the station corridors and all I could say was that she was always beaming. She wasn’t as inquisitive about too much of the small stuff. She was settled. While I can’t claim to know Kris inside-out I could only tell she was settled because I was certain of how she is when she isn’t settled. And she knows this. Those were our days in Morning Girls. The news of Kris’ plans to get pregnant, marry in church by the end of this year and build a house told me more than I needed to see for myself. I had to stop somewhere along Quirino Ave one day while we spoke for over an hour by cellphone, "Korina you have to help me with my landscaping, I love your garden." In a separate text I was telling her about a bag I saw and she said, "Oh, I’m not a shopaholic anymore, I have to save for the house." Maybe, I thought, this is it for her, finally.
With Kris and James expecting their first child, the sudden and unexpected scandal about alleged infidelities by James Yap was a hurricane that raged through the nation and left a trail of casualties. The campaign plans of her brother Noynoy Aquino, for instance, had to do without what would have otherwise clinched both the fan base of Kris and James in every sortie. Former President Cory Aquino, needless to say, now has to pray even more times for things to get better before it turns irreversibly worse. Dr. Vicki Belo’s beauty empire takes a big hit as text jokes about "extra service" to go with a male customer’s scrub or facial was passed on to millions by now it seems. Network sensitivities have been on a tightrope with GMA Channel 7 promoting the side of the woman in question, Hope Centeno, while Channel 2 takes the cudgels for Kris.
Poor James. The provincial lad who grew up in Escalante is now hurled into his personal perfect storm. He called Vicki Belo one day after it all came out in public, "Pwede ba ako pumunta diyan sandali? Wala na akong kaibigan eh...". Bertrand Russell said, "the most savage controversies are about matters as to which there is no good evidence either way." After the interview with Kris and James last Saturday evening, I must say this is exactly where the issue is  no good evidence to prove guilt or innocence either way.
I got to Oakwood past 8 p.m. and wanted to discuss with Kris’ manager first. I had spoken earlier to Kris’ friend and confidante Boy Abunda and we figured Kris, in the middle of all this, could either do the way of Princess Diana Spencer and self-destruct  or be a Hillary Clinton and win in the next elections. But out from her room came Kris and I was going to meet James for the first time. Before then, since I don’t watch much TV, I hadn’t an idea how James’ voice sounded. James seems naturally soft spoken and shy. In this case, yes, opposite poles did attract.
Kris was, naturally but unusually, sullen that night. Their three-bedroom Oakwood apartment was filled with stuff from their former place and they were getting ready to move into their new Wack-Wack home anytime soon. The place was jam packed with Kris’ collection of large Buddha figures, supposed to bring luck. I was flattered to see the green jade laughing Buddha I gave her, a few Christmases back, on top of the dining’s buffet console. About 25 large flower and fruit arrangements filled the room. "From the hospital?" I asked. "Ya...but I can’t have any of the fruits because I have a bad case of gestational diabetes. Sad, diba? My fingers have to be pricked for blood samples six times a week, Korina...ang sakit sakit na." Placing it all in context  I mean, considering my main reason for being there to begin with  left me without much to respond with.
Could it have been that long since the Kris I knew from our days in the daily morning show? My Mom used to tell me that a woman is at her most beautiful in her thirties. I think Kris is really at her physical appearance’s peak. Seven months pregnant and obviously beset with too much emotional baggage, she was still glowing throughout our almost two hours of interview material. More than the physical, though, is the evident resolve of an adult  the adult in Kris which most of her spectators long to see but probably never will no mater how loud they holler at the TV set to get it done, get it over with and get going towards wherever this takes her and her children was quite compelling as it was credible. I didn’t see any gimmicks. I didn’t see any stunts. I didn’t feel the showbiz anywhere and at anytime. I heard more than I should, ("Pinalayas ko na siya at nag-impake na siya...pagbalik ko galing simbahan bakit nandito pa siya diba?" or "Do you know that my Mom was willing to stay for the interview, Korina? I told her, Mom, he doesn’t deserve that"), and, even with 40 minutes edited out to fit in the longer cut of the broadcast material, the public might have heard too much, too.
It was a Kris hurt, tired, reacting to intense pain that I saw. She had premature contractions and is now in hospital again. The baby is only a little over two pounds at seven months. She can’t work, she can’t play and God only knows what now happens to the plans of a December wedding and moving into the new home. Does Kris believe James? Only they know what they know and the public doesn’t. From what I have it is possible Kris believes James should not have gone back over and over to the clinic full knowing there was someone "obsessing" about him. For now, beyond the survival of her marriage, Kris is struggling to survive for herself and for the life of her child. She abandoned Oakwood and she last texted me, "I’ve left home...hopefully, things will be clear to me later."
At certain points behind the scene during the interview we would break into fatigued laughter (we ended past 1 in the morning). We halted taping for a break when we all couldn’t keep the chuckles in as she talked about sending James away and he wouldn’t leave. In that spontaneous moment of lightheartedness I did see hope for both of them.
Even as the public is known to build personalities up to demi-god levels only to try to bring them down when people figure the celebrities shouldn’t have too much of a good thing, this bullet that went through the Yap couple’s hearts could prove fatal. And most people are seeing themselves with sympathy mirrored once again in the life of Kris Aquino. Where this leads to with a seven-month-old baby waiting and yet to be born is material each spectator in this real life telenovela would like to author for the next episode. Unfortunately, the main players, both Kris and James, themselves, do not know how exactly this scene ends.
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