Monday, July 21, 2008 Actress defends self over annulment's result
A WEEK ago, the Court of Appeals (CA) upheld the marriage annulment of Kapamilya actor Vhong Navarro and actress Bianca Lapus.
In 1998, Vhong married Bianca, who was already pregnant at that time, in Floridablanca in Pampanga. After a seven-year relationship, Vhong filed an annulment case against Bianca.
Last July 9, the CA ruling showed that Bianca was "psychological incapacitated" during her relationship with Vhong, and Bianca purportedly dated some men while with Vhong.
Bianca broke her silence in the issue as she faced all the negative rumors beleaguering her.
"Actually, if these (annulment results) were not revealed in public, I will just ignore it," Bianca said.
"I've kept my silence for many years just to be peaceful. Even in the past, we were not like other couples who argue on TV, etc. We are just quiet. Maybe if it wasn't publicized and my name wasn't ruined, I will just downplay it because my life is really in peace now," she added.
Some reports that made Bianca upset were she was allegedly asking money from Vhong, the issue about her mental state, and rumors of being a irresponsible mother to 10-year-old son Isaiah Vhong.
In response to the child support issue, Bianca attested: "I didn't demand even a single centavo from Vhong. If he will give money for his son, it's his own will. But if he forgot, it's okay with me."
"You know, even if he gives me P500, like before, I will accept it, it's really okay with me," she added.
Bianca said she opted to air her side to clear some accusations that are currently affecting her family, adding that she carefully chooses words to use to protect Vhong's family, whom she said is very kind to her.
According to Bianca, Vhong filed the annulment while her mother was battling with cancer, that's why she failed to cooperate with the case.
She added that she did not attend any hearing and that she did not sign anything as the case progressed. "That's why it's hard for me," the actress said.
"I really don't want to talk about it, I would rather swallow my pride to forget all of it. But it's hurting me a lot. I am affected. Of course I don't want Vhong to look bad or anything like that. We are really okay in real life...I have to be careful with all my statements," she said.
Bianca said although she is happy that she is now annulled, she is still sad with the result because of its effect on her son.
"Mixed emotions, I'm happy that I'm finally free. Sad for my son because he got caught up in a fight. I mean, he's been prodded 'Kaya pala naghiwalay parents mo kasi bad ang mom mo'. My son is not like that, if I was an unfit mother, they shouldn't have left him in my custody."
Bianca meanwhile shrugged off the issue that she was seeing somebody else when she was still with Vhong. "What can I say it that the short-lived marriage we had was very okay...when we parted ways, we were still very young then."
She is currently in a relationship with her non-showbiz boyfriend for three years. When asked if she wanted to marry again, she said: "No, I will lessen my weight first. This will be my first time to be married in church if ever."
She added, "He (current beau) is a stepfather to my son for three years. At first we decided to keep quite but when he watched the news against me, he got hurt also."
According to Bianca, her family convinced her to defend her side and clear herself from all the bad speculations about her.
Asked if she regrets marrying Vhong, she replied: "Not really, I mean, what happened to us was okay. It's just that I think there were so many rumormongers. But the only thing I want to say is that I was never a bad wife and a mother. They know that." (JRDB/Sunnex)
