Ruffa Gutierrez wants nothing but the best for her friends Gretchen Barretto and Dawn Zulueta.
"Wish ko sana magkabati na sila kasi tapos naman na yung ad namin. Magpo-promo na kami sa TV. Mas masaya kung lahat nagkakasundo," says Ruffa in a PEP (Philippine Entertainment Portal) interview on January 5 in White Cross, a children's home in San Juan.
The former Miss World Second Princess finds herself caught in the middle of her feuding friends. The rift happened in November 2006 when Ruffa, Gretchen, and Dawn, with Angel Aquino, had to shoot for a shampoo commercial and a fashion magazine.
The feud was sparked by blind items saying clearly pointed to Gretchen as the "prima donna" among the four. Gretchen blamed Dawn for the leaks to the press.
Several reporters turned to Ruffa for the real story behind the controversy, but she kept silent and never took sides.
"Kawawa naman ako, everybody is putting me in the middle," says Ruffa. "Ako, I did the Pantene commercial dahil trabaho ko yun bilang isang artista, tapos biglang yung mga kasamahan ko nag-away na. Close ko pa naman silang kaibigan...Mahirap pumagitna, so it's better na tumahimik ka lang. Ayaw mo namang mag-take ng sides kasi in showbiz, it's different—kaaway mo, bukas bati na naman kayo, sino maiiwan sa laban?"
ON DESPERADAS. In any event, the Gretchen-Dawn feud halted work in the movie, Desperadas, which Mother Lily Monteverde of Regal Entertainment had lined up for Ruffa, Gretchen, Dawn, and Pops Fernandez.
Ruffa says, "As a matter of fact, hindi na nga matutuloy yung movie namin, yung Desperadas. Ayaw na rin gawin ni Mother Lily because of all the gulo..."
Asked if she will consider doing the project even without Gretchen and Dawn, the bubbly Ruffa replies, "If the script is good, if the director is good, and if kung pumayag naman yung asawa ko, why not? If it's not gonna take too much of my time away from home...Wala namang problema sa aming dalawa ni Mother Lily, okay lang sa akin."
The quality of the project is also a consideration, adds Ruffa. The film should be good enough to make her family here and in Turkey proud of her.
She explains, "Siyempre ita-translate ko yun, ilalagay ko pa sa DVD yun. Siyempre, dapat proud sila sa akin na maganda yung movie ko at hindi tsugi-tsugi lang."