Sa launching ng image plug ng GMA Artist Center (GMAAC) kaninang tanghali, April 17, sa 17th floor ng GMA Network ay sinagot ni Ida Henares ang mga isyung kinasasangkutan ng talent arm na kanyang pinamamahalaan.
Una na rito ang sunud-sunod na balita tungkol sa hindi pagre-renew ng kontrata ng Artist Center talents na sina Katrina Halili, Nadine Samonte, at Cristine Reyes. Si Katrina ay nagdesisyong magpa-manage na mismo sa GMA Network, si Nadine naman ay hindi pa rin nakakapagdesisyon kung magre-renew o hindi, samantalang si Cristine ay lumipat na sa ABS-CBN.
Sa bagong image plug ng GMAAC ay hindi na kasama sina Katrina at Cristine bagama't nando'n pa rin si Nadine.
Paliwanag ni Ida, "Alam mo kasi, ang mga artista, di ba, when you build them from scratch, at a certain point, lalaki na sila. At a certain point also, specially if they have co-managers or other people that are interested in handling them, hindi talaga mawawala yun. At some point in time, somebody else would probably will want to take care of them or they probably will want to take care of themselves.
"Many artists, I think kind of come to that crossroad that they think they can already take care of themselves, na alam na nila ang gagawin nila. Hindi mo maaalis ‘yan sa kanila. So, ako, that's something I'm actually quite prepared for because that has happened naman na in the past.
"I've been in this business for almost 20 years. Even our artists who have been with us for 10 years, 15 years...at some point, they will probably want to take care of themselves, or yung mga kamag-anak o mga kaibigan ang gustong mag-alaga sa kanila. But what I'd like for Artist Center is sana magtagal sila. They should have a little faith that we really care for them," pahayag ng Artist Center head.
Paano ba hina-handle ng Artist Center ang mga talent nila na nagtatampo at nagbabantang lilipat ng network?
"Ano ba ‘to, totohanang lilipat o nagda-drama lang?" balik-tanong ni Ida. "Kasi it's like this, kung totohanang lilipat sila, then you just deal with it. Kasi sa dami ng artista, you cannot be very emotional with mga tampo-tampo. You just deal with it.
"If I know that somebody's making tampo, I'll ask my people to arrange a meeting with them and we'll thresh it out. If someone wants to talk to me, I'm there for them. It would be good to talk to me first bago sila magtampo. Kasi minsan ‘pag hindi mo nakausap, mas nami-misinterpret lang, kasi you never really get to talk. It's better if you talk.
"If there are situations na maha-handle mo, you just work on that situation. ‘Pag hindi talaga puwede, hindi talaga puwede, di ba? Everything, basta with the good intention to make things work better for everybody... That's all you have to keep in mind. Kasi kung hindi, masyadong mahirap itong trabaho na ‘to, masyadong maraming inaalagaan."
NO FAVORITISM. Binigyang-linaw rin ni Ida ang isyu na pinapaboran niya si Rhian Ramos dahil sa magkamag-anak sila. Si Rhian ay anak ng kapatid ni Ida na si Mrs. Clara Ramos Howell.
"Obviously, she's blood, right?" sabi ni Ida. "And blood is thicker than water, so they say. But specially because she's blood, I would rather spare her from intrigues sana of show business than have her with me.
"But I always tell that to my sister... As a matter of fact, every so often, I ask her, ‘Gusto mo na bang tanggalin?' I ask her that, honestly. Because, you know, my sister is a church person. She belongs to the church, that's her background. Show business is totally shocking sometimes for her, and it's upsetting sometimes. I tell her, ‘Gusto mo nang tanggalin?' Kasi kung gusto niya nang tanggalin, sige..." lahad niya.
Binanggit din ni Ida na for the first time ay sinamahan niya si Rhian sa shooting nito para sa pelikulang I.T.A.L.Y. na kinunan sa isang cruise ship sa Europe. Sinamahan lang daw niya ang pamangkin dahil pinilit siyang sumama.
"During that time, we had a one-on-one talk. She [Rhian] told me, ‘Tita, bagay ba talaga ako for this business?' Sabi ko, ‘Talent-wise yes; personality- wise, I'm not very sure.' Because the business itself can be very, very painful, can be very hurtful, and harmful sometimes. Kung ako lang, I'd rather not have my daughter, my niece in show business," lahad ni Ida.
Bagama't magkapitbahay lang sila, pinapapunta pa ni Ida si Rhian sa kanyang opisina kapag kailangan niya itong kausapin tungkol sa kanyang career.
"On Sundays, yeah, I'm tita, don't talk business. When it's business, you come to my office. Basta with me, there's no favoritism. I just really look for the talent. If the talent is there, then go for it. Pero kung talagang hindi, naku, hindi ko naman ipipilit na mapapahiya naman yata ako," natatawang sabi ni Ida.