While most of showbiz are still on vacation or still caught by the MMFF (Metro Manila Film Festival) fever, Angel Locsin shocks everyone with the announcement that Oyo Boy Sotto and she have broken up.
Days before the New Year's celebration, the teary-eyed young actress confirms the separation in an interview with Butch Francisco of Startalk last December 28. "Ang hirap sagutin," answers Angel when asked if the decision is final.
Speculation is rife about the cause of what appears to be 2006's last big showbiz story. According to S-Files, there are two possible reasons for the break-up. First, Oyo is allegedly having a relationship with Enteng Kabisote 3 co-star Bing Loyzaga. The two also worked in Txt, which also starred Angel. Second, Angel's alleged ties with Asian Treasures co-star Robin Padilla.
But according to a GMA-7 insider, those are way off the mark. The real reason for their break-up is "lack of time." The two, says the insider, barely manage a "hello" and a "good night" over the phone at the beginning and end of the day.
Angel, in particular, has been extremely busy. She has regular offers for female lead roles from GMA Films and Regal Entertainment, among others. And she has been a favorite at GMA-7 in recent years. She has never been out of at least one big GMA-7 series—fantaserye, action, or romance—since the network went big-time with its entertainment programming. With the much-anticipated GMA-7 series, the romance-action-adventure Asian Treasures, Angel's schedule has become worse. Add to that, TV talk shows want to book her all the time. And then she has her commitments for product endorsements, both in print and television.
Angel has practically no day off, the insider says. So what time has she got for Oyo?
These are, showbiz veterans will tell you, the trade-offs. Showbiz is a very lucrative job for the stars, especially when, like Angel, they are the continuing flavor of the season. But there is a big price to pay: the lack of time for personal needs, the lack of privacy, the lack of rest. Angel is suffering the brunt of all these, even as she manages to buy up a nice home and buy the creature comforts that make her family feel lucky and blessed.
The insider also denies that Angel was hospitalized for "depression." The Mano Po 5 star was confined at the St. Luke's Hospital, not for emotional troubles, but for stomach troubles. Angel, who loves seafood, is said to have eaten shrimp that did not agree with her stomach.
Incidentally, Angel's former manager, Becky Aguila—with whom she had a falling out months back—was said to have visited and reconciled with the young actress. (PEP has yet to verify this with Angel.)
With only two weeks left before the Asian Treasures television premiere, showbiz insiders are saying Angel's break-up with Oyo may spell trouble.
The show's male lead, Robin, is known for being a ladies man—a real charmer who is genuinely solicitious toward his leading ladies, nearly all of whom fall for him. The insiders feel that Angel, who is just coming in from a broken romance, might be vulnerable to her co-actor's considerable charms.
Any television or film outfit will tell you, says the insider, that having two leads in a relationship off-screen is not a good thing. It may spell viewer interest and, therefore, ratings and box-office take. But what happens, asks the insider, when the two have a Lovers' Quarrel? Then it's production problems one after the other.
All this is, of course, jumping the gun. Robin has not made any move in this direction, and Angel looks like she's still very much in love with Oyo.
Besides, as many young romances go, Angel and Oyo may just be taking some time off from each other. Too bad they had to do it around Christmas and the New Year.