Dimples Romana was surprised that her character in Bagani became controversial.
In this ABS-CBN series, she plays Babaylan Gloria, a seer in the land of Sansinukob who helps the Baganis in their mission.
The character is also known to supply comic relief through her chants ("mekeni mekeni dugdug doremi") and dance rituals that have gone viral on social media.
However, the character became controversial when GMA-7 headwriter Suzette Doctolero did not agree with the depiction of babaylans in the series.
Doctolero is known as the creator of the Kapuso epicserye Amaya, which was based on the way and life of pre-colonial Filipinos, including babaylans.
When asked for her reaction, Dimples said, "Ako, sa totoo lang, ang stand ko doon, nirerespeto namin lahat, e.
"Kasi siyempre, kahit naman hindi roles, kahit tayo bilang tao, we cannot really be on the good side of everybody.
"Siyempre, meron at merong mag-o-oppose, magkakaroon sila ng opinyon, e, okay lang naman yun.
"Ako naman ay artista, handa ako sa mga ganong bagay."
However, she admitted that she was shocked by Suzette's opinion which she expressed through social media.
Dimples said, "Na-shock ako kasi sa totoo lang, when that came out, she praised my acting ability, e.
"So basically, when I was looking at it, hindi ako nag-take offense kasi may respeto ako.
"Just the same as when kunyari, hindi kasi ako nakakapanuod noong sa kanila, pero kung napanuod ko yun, I would also have things to say, may it good, may it be bad, pero yun ay normal kasi ito ay trabaho, e.
"Even for writers, di ba? I'm sure not everything you write will be amicable to everyone. But you have to be ready for that because this is a creative world. We have to be ready for that.
"Ako, nirerespeto ko yung sinabi ni Ma'am, okay lang yun, walang problema sa akin.
"Ako talaga, lumaki na ako sa industriyang ito and what I learned from all the veteran actors I've worked with is to always respect.
"And my respect goes not only to my co-actors but also to our writers, may it be from our station or the other, I always have respect for everybody.
"Sabi ko nga sa 'yo, noong binasa ko, nagulat ako kasi hindi ako sanay na pinag-uusapan, in that way, hindi ako sanay.
"Pero kasi noong binasa ko, because there was a phrase there which she said my acting is good, parang doon pa lang, ano na ako, okay po. Wala namang ano sa akin."
PEP.ph (Philippine Entertainment Portal) and Push interviewed Dimples during Asia's Lashes Incorporators' contract signing last July 28 at Seven Corners Restaurant, Crowne Plaza, Ortigas City.
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Dimples recalled the times when her character Amanda in the 2016 teleserye The Greatest Love was roasted on social media.
"Sa totoo lang, ako, nine-nerbiyos nga ako pag tinatawag na controversial, maski yung kay Amanda noon.
"This is also basically the same feeling I had with Amanda because back then, Amanda was being bashed because of how dark the character has become but it's the reality.
"With Bagani, because it's fiction, there's more room for that, I guess."
The 33-year-old actress also admitted that she was not privy to the development of her character.
She said, "Kasi every time that I accept a role, I'm more to go with the flow.
"And even with Amanda, I knew parts of it were going to be dark but I didn't know it was going to be that dark.
"So I guess parang ako rin, respeto ko yun sa writer, e, kung saan nila gustong dalhin.
"Ang konti lang naman ng parameters na iniiwasan ko, e—no bold scenes, no kissing, no drug scenes, no smoking, hindi rin ako marunong noon, e.
"Yun lang naman, so other than that they can basically explore as much."
With regards to her chants and dance steps in Bagani, Dimples said that she did not do any ad lib in her scenes for the show.
"Actually, alam mo, when we were doing the Babaylan scenes that were controversial, I was just really going with the flow and I listen to my directors.
"I read the script, it's all in the script, even the mekeni mekeni.
"Kasi a lot of people are asking, 'Did you make that up?'
"You know, in a fiction like this, we're basically tied to just saying what's in the script kasi it's hard dahil masyado kaming maraming characters na gumagalaw.
"Baka mamaya pag may ginalaw ka na linya, tapos mababago yung intention ng ibang roles, hindi yun maganda."
Bagani, which is top-billed by Liza Soberano and Enrique Gil, has already announced its nearing conclusion in the following weeks.