(Note: This interview with Jinkee Pacquiao was published in the January 2010 issue of YES! magazine.)
Parang nanginginig ako...hindi ko ma-explain 'yong feeling. Noong nakita ko siya, sabi ko, parang, 'Sana hindi ko na lang siya nakita.' Pangit pala 'yong napi-feel mo pag ganoon... First time ko 'yong gano'n, e—'yong may natsitsismis sa asawa ko, 'tapos nakita ko? Noong tiningnan ko siya, parang sandali lang. Ayoko siyang tingnan nang matagal."
That's how Jinkee Pacquiao, whose marriage to billionaire world boxing champ Manny "Pacman" Pacquiao is going into its 10th year, describes how she felt when she saw Krista by happenstance inside the Chanel store at the Wynn Hotel in Las Vegas in November last year [2008].
Krista, of course, is the young actress Krista Ranillo, whose name has been attached to Manny's for several months now.
KRISTA. Born Cristalle Lauren Tupaz Ranillo, Krista, [then] 25, comes from a long line of showbiz luminaries.
Her father, 1970s matinee idol Mat Ranillo III, nicknamed Archie, who often played Christ in sinakulos, is an award-winning actor (1979 FAMAS best actor for Isang Ama, Dalawang Ina; 1978 FAMAS best supporting actor for Masarap, Masakit ang Umibig; 1978 Gawad Urian nomination as best supporting actor for Dalawang Pugad, Isang Ibon).
Her father's sister, Suzette Ranillo, is also an award-winning actress (1974 FAMAS best supporting actress for Gimingaw Ako).
Her grandparents, the late Mat Ranillo Jr. and FAMAS Lifetime Achievement Awardee Gloria Sevilla, were known in their prime as the King and Queen of Visayan Movies.
Like many sons and daughters of showbiz parentage, Krista also pursued acting, starting out on GMA-7's drama show Lira at the age of 12, and appearing in films and telenovelas until her young adult years. Despite her innate acting talent, hers was a lackluster career.
She then went on leave from showbiz for four years (2002-2007) to get a college degree—from the Ateneo de Manila University, where she took up Interdisciplinary Studies, with concentrations in communication arts and psychology.
When she made a showbiz comeback in 2008, she was a different Krista. She had become sexier, more confident, more self-assured. Those traits proved useful in the reinvention that she sought to achieve: as a sexy star who knows how to act.
This time around, she began accepting bold roles. In her comeback film, the indie Paupahan (2008), she played a foul-mouthed prostitute. In Marino (2009), she is a competitive mistress. Her father made a big show of what he said was his disappointment—in contrast to the huge silence of her then fiancé, Dominic Zapata, the director of such hit teleseryes as Mulawin, Darna, and Zorro—over Krista baring a lot of skin and having daring sex scenes in both films.
Almost simultaneously, her angelic face and almost naked body began gracing the covers of men's magazines.
Then, sometime in 2009, Krista Ranillo met Manny Pacquiao.
They were introduced to each other, says a GMA-7 insider, by Manny's fashion stylist, Cathy "Kat" Binag, who grooms Manny for his sitcom Show Me Da Manny. Manny got Kat to work for him in his Metro Manila Film Festival entry, Wapakman, where Krista plays a villain role.
