With all due respect and apologies to our numero uno Entertainment editor Ricky Lo, if this column reads like a showbiz article, it is precisely because it is really a showbiz article! Last week, I got a call from a very unexpected source, former actress Amalia Fuentes, who apparently read my column last July about that alleged affair that her estranged hubby, Joey Stevens, was having with a Cebuana who purportedly belonged to a political family in Cebu. We talked for an hour and I learned that this affair has apparently gone from bad to worse and that she would be coming to Cebu for a hearing at the Mandaue City Regional Trial Court because her hubby apparently filed annulment proceedings there.
I grew up in a family business that operated moviehouses in Cebu and therefore, I’m not really a stranger to showbiz personalities, but I have never met the great Amalia Fuentes and her on-and-off screen partner, Romeo Vasquez, because back then, Tagalog movies were shown in Tagalog moviehouses like the Vitina Theater, while our theaters only showed American movies, until the 70s when Dolphy and FPJ broke into theaters that showed American films. But I will never forget how beautiful she was in the movies… she was our Filipino version of Elizabeth Taylor.
Now this idol of Philippine movies was coming to Cebu for a nasty annulment hearing? I knew that this would become a media spectacle in Cebu; after all, this sordid affair was already in the news and discussed openly on showbiz TV. Thus last Tuesday Amalia came with her daughter Anna Liza (Liezl) and son Gerard Stevens escorted by her lawyer, Atty. Redemberto Villanueva. She was met by the owner of Cinema Theater, Vic Alvarez, who was the head of the Amalia Fuentes Fans Club. I followed them to the residence of jewelers David and Miriam Cua where they were having lunch so I could interview her on this case.
There she was, a 50s and 60s screen idol, now a movie icon! If there’s anything going for Amalia Fuentes these days, she still looks great at 66! We talked like old friends where she answered my queries pointblank. By 2 p.m., we were in the sala of Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 56 Judge Teresita Abarquez Galanida and the Cebu media was in full force.
As Amalia met face to face with Joey Stevens in court, she pounced on him with a subpoena on her fist from an Evangeline Ignacio on an estafa charge. The Cebu media practically had a ringside seat on a 28-year marriage that was having a meltdown. Amalia did most of the talking, accusing Joey of infidelity for having this alleged affair with a Ms. Angie Sierra with whom he supposedly sired a son named Justin. Amalia cried out, “It was the shock of my life when I heard about the affair. I have put a roof on top of your head, Joey, and this is the reward I get?” Indeed, many Cebuanos have heard about this affair from the rumor mills and in fact, it was already out in the national news and gossip columns.
She particularly protested vehemently that the annulment complaint sent to her addressed her as Amalia Amador Muhlach. She confronted Joey who merely stooped on the bench, and shouted at him, while addressing the judge, “I got hurt when Joey called me Amalia Amador Muhlach in his complaint when I have always carried the family name Mrs. Stevens with honor and dignity. I am still Mrs. Joey Stevens whether you like it or not, Joey, even if you already have another Mrs. Stevens!”
Sensing the possibility of a long-drawn court battle, Judge Galanida asked if the two could reconcile or whether she could forgive Joey. Amalia responded, “But your honor, how will he resolve the problem of his mistress and son?” But Judge Galanida insisted that the estranged couple should talk to each other to find a common ground. Thus everyone inside the courtroom was requested to go out and only Amalia, with her daughter Liezl and son Gerard, and Joey Stevens remained.
After an hour-long, closed-door session, Judge Galanida (she was the prosecutor who caused the conviction of the accused in the celebrated murder of the Chiong sisters, and a devout Catholic) immediately ruled that the couple had agreed to file a legal separation case in a Quezon City court, after which a letter of transmittal would be sent to the Mandaue court, which would allow the judge to drop the annulment case filed in Mandaue.
The annulment case was filed in Mandaue because Joey claimed that he has been living in Cebu for the past six months, which was contested by Amalia. Thus ended Cebu media’s chance to get juicy details from a showbiz marital spat. Alas, the continuation of this case will be in a Quezon City court.
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For e-mail responses to this article, write to vsbobita@mozcom.com. Bobit Avila’s columns can also be accessed through www.philstar.com. He also hosts a weekly talkshow, “Straight from the Sky,” shown every Monday, 8 p.m., only in Metro Cebu on Channel 15 of SkyCable.