"The biggest headache that superstardom has brought is the war of the fans over her supposed love life."
So wrote Nick Joaquin, aka Quijano de Manila, about Nora Aunor in the Philippines Free Press issue of July 1970.
Because, though busy with her entrepreneurial concerns, the Superstar found time for romance.
But Cupid’s arrows turned out to be as painful as the daggers in the Mater Dolorosa’s heart. Once again, she suffered from the boon-and-bane syndrome.
"True to form, her fairy godmother has seen to it that superstardom is a mixed blessing," wrote Nick Joaquin, who was named National Artist for Literature in 1976.
NORA AUNOR AND TIRSO CRUZ III
Her first public relationship was with Tirso Cruz III, or "Pip," as the fans called him. Nora tells YES!, for this 2011 cover story, that she was a fan of Pip’s long before she met him.
"Nasa Bicol pa ako, di pa ako nag-aartista o nakikilala, nag-aaral pa lang ako noon, pag nakikita ko si Pip excited na excited ako. Kaya nag-aabang ako doon sa kapitbahay namin. 'Hoy, panonoorin ko doon, baka si Pip ang guest.' 'Yong ganoong klaseng fan."
Kuya Mar, the reporter-editor who covered Nora extensively for Kislap, says there was real love between the two youngsters. "Matagal din sila. In fact, sila ang pinakamatagal naging magkarelasyon, e."
Show business being an industry populated by attractive people, the two stars would often be at odds over the other actors paired with them for different projects. But it was always Nora who was more emotional.
"Si Pip, nagseselos kunyari sa mga ibang nila-love-team kay Guy, kasi madaming iba pa, e," Kuya Mar recalls.
"E, alam mo naman ang lalaki, kunyari nagseselos. Pero hindi ano ’yon… Kumbaga, hindi ganoon kaseryoso. E, si Guy, serious. Talagang selosa iyon, e. Basta’t ang natatandaan ko, pag magkaaway sila, either si Guy ang pupunta sa bahay ni Pip, o si Pip naman kay Nora. Nagsusuyuan… Maya-maya, sweet na naman sila."
In the end, the Guy & Pip love team did not work out in real life.
"Siguro na-realize nila na ang kanilang relasyon, talagang pang-ano lang… pang-showbiz lang…"
NORA AUNOR AND CHRISTOPHER DE LEON
Her next public excursion into love came with Christopher de Leon, or "Boyet," as the actor is known in showbiz circles.
The two fell in love while shooting NV Productions’ Banaue, and got married in secret in 1975, three months before the film was shown in cinemas. Their union would produce Nora’s only biological child, actor Ian de Leon.
“Ang bilis ng ligawan nila,” Kuya Mar remembers. “Ang bilis din naman nilang naghiwalay.”
Almost immediately, the marriage was buffeted by problems. In 1978, Boyet told YES! editor-in-chief Jo-Ann Maglipon (who was then writing for Rod Reyes’s Celebrity magazine), that he had no idea that marrying Nora would mean marrying her entire fandom.
Once, he told Maglipon, he opened the master bathroom in their La Vista home to see a total stranger wretching inside.
"Kasalanan ko din naman kasi, e," Nora admits to Maglipon today.
"Hindi ko naman mapaalis ang mga fans. E, hindi rin naman sanay si Boyet sa ganoon. Kaya minsan hindi niya maintindihan 'yong ganoon, 'yong bakit maraming tao sa bahay. Hindi mo puwedeng mapauwi 'yong mga fans…"
Add to this the pressure of having a wife whose stature within the industry was way higher than her husband’s.
At the time, Boyet had yet to become the country’s premier matinee idol and had yet to build up his own impressive filmography.
At the time, he was simply Nora Aunor’s husband. But Nora says she offered to quit showbiz: "Sabi ko naman, ‘Gusto mo, hinto ako?’ Sabi niya, ‘Hindi.’ Pag sinabi niyang hinto ako, talagang hinto ako no’n, e."
Still, Nora is magnanimous in taking the blame for the disintegration of her marriage— and she points the finger at her own jealousy.
"Actually, nagseselos na rin ako. Ako ang may kasalanan. Lahat ng magandang kapareha ni Papa Boyet, pinagselosan ko lahat! Basta lahat! Maski na nga pinsan na lang niya, kausap lang niya, pagseselosan ko pa, e."
The couple continued to work together after their separation in such ’80s fare as Beloved and I Love You Mama, I Love You Papa.
She even bankrolled his directorial debut in the “Komiks” segment of the two-story horror film Halimaw, released in December of 1986 under her NV Productions banner.
But hopes for a reconciliation were permanently dashed when their marriage was annulled in 1996, and the multi-awarded actor eventually married his Kakabakaba Ka Ba? co-star Sandy Andolong in January 2007.
Today, Christopher is in the cast of the miniserye that TV5 is producing for Nora, Sa Ngalan ng Ina, and the former couple met again at the pictorial for the show.
Initially, Nora says, Christopher was formal with her, and she was formal with him: "Hi, hi lang kami. Ako naman, kung kausapin mo ako, siyempre madaldal ako, e. Pag hindi mo naman ako kinausap, napapahiya naman ako."
Their son Ian, who is also in the cast, was the lively one, laughing but unable to decide who to go to first, his mother or his father.
Recently, PEP.ph, the online affiliate of YES! Magazine, published reports that all was cozy and light for the three on the miniserye’s last taping day in Batangas.
NORA AUNOR AND RICHARD MERK
Interestingly, everyone linked to Nora after Christopher has just been speculation.
Jazz singer Richard Merk?
"Hindi po, hindi ko masasabing boyfriend si [Richard], kasi parang nagtutulungan."
Nora says she first saw Richard when he was 12 years old, working as a lagarista for NV Productions, before he dropped out of sight for a few years.
(However, Nora may have gotten the age of Richard wrong. There is only a two-year difference in their ages—if he was 12, then she was 14—but she could not have had NV Productions at 14. Her first big brush with fame was at 16, when she won in Tawag ng Tanghalan.)
In any case, she says that when she saw him again, on TV, doing an emotional interview about the hardships of his life, she was moved to call him up, to encourage him to get back on his feet.
In return, she says, Richard helped her with her singing, widening her repertoire and honing her technique.
But the mercurial son of singer Annie Brazil was too much for even Nora to handle, so she voluntarily distanced herself when it seemed as if her efforts were going nowhere.
Still, he would keep coming back for help, and she would find it hard to refuse him. Or, given the tone with which she defends Richard Merk, perhaps she saw in the plight of the jazz singer a mirror of her own battles with the media.
"Kalaban din niya lahat ng press, di ba? There was a time na ganoon, kaya ko siya kinuha—para matulungan ko, para maipakita doon sa mga tao na nang-api din sa kanya na bakit ’yong pagkatao no’ng tao ang tinitingnan ninyo, hindi ’yong panloob na kakayahan niya, di ba?"
NORA AUNOR AND JOHN RENDEZ
And John Rendez?
The mestizo rapper, John Robert Porter Jr. in real life, has been another constant presence in Nora’s life. He was tapped by Nora and director Elwood Perez as an onscreen love interest for Lotlot de Leon in 1991’s Ang Totoong Buhay ni Pacita M.
Even though John’s showbiz career eventually went nowhere, he has been a fixture in the Superstar’s life since then.
The first time that the Superstar met John was in Subway, a Malate club where he was the disc jockey and where Nora and buddies Ricky Lee, Mac Alejandre, and a couple of others had gone to unwind.
Nora noticed the disc jockey right away, and he was also clearly taken by her, because he very soon abandoned his management agency and attached his wagon to hers.
He was then also a rapper with a single ascending the charts, a tune titled "Everybody Sayaw," while Nora was on the verge of forming a production outfit.
"Kasi nagbalak akong magtayo ng panibagong production outfit, di ba, na ang pangalan ay Base Entertainment," she recalls.
"Sa Base Entertainment, doon nakapirma si John as talent, kasi ’yon ’yong sinabi ko na tutulong ako sa mga baguhang direktor o ’yong mga fans na gustong mag-artista, maging singer."
But plans for Base Entertainment fell through, and with it, Nora’s ability to help John with his performing career.
"Hindi namin binitawan na rin si John, kasi naawa din naman kami dahil sa paniniwala ngang matutulungan nga namin siya."
Once again, Nora found herself attached to a wayward soul.
In March 1994, John was arrested in Angeles City, Pampanga, and charged with illegal possession of firearms and ammunition. In September 2001, he was arrested again, this time in a drug bust in Meycauayan, Bulacan.
Then, in August 2002, he was arrested yet again, for possession of an unlicensed firearm and shabu in Ermita, Manila. At the time, Nora was promoting her teleserye for ABS-CBN, Bituin, and she used that platform to defend John.
"Hindi kasi kilala ng tao kung sino talaga si John Rendez," she told columnist Salve Asis of Pilipino Star Ngayon (September 14, 2002).
"Ang nakikita lang nila, ’yong negative aspects ng pagkatao ni John. Hindi nila nakikita ’yong magandang ugali niya. No’ng time na down na down ako, sino bang kaibigan ang tumulong sa akin? Isang tao lang ang muntik makipagpatayan—si John. Andoon siya sa akin bilang kaibigan sa lahat ng oras."
While the press freely labeled the two as ex-lovers, it also drummed up a supposed conflict between the erstwhile rapper-actor and Nora’s children.
Through it all, the Superstar remained above the fray, opting to keep mum when reporters badgered her for details.
Now, though, Nora insists that things are well between her children and John.
She says that, the night before the photo shoot with YES!, John was conversing with her son Ian, as well as with Matet and her husband, in Nora’s Eastwood residence.
The Superstar denies any traces of bad blood: “Wala. Barkada nga, e.”
Despite the fact that John, now 40, married (but is estranged from) a woman named Frances and sired a son who now resides with John’s mother in Angeles City in Pampanga, Nora says he assisted her untiringly throughout her latest eight-year stay in the U.S.
He rushed to help her through the hardest times. He was also probably the only friend who could personally do so, because of his American citizenship.
"Biruin mo ’yong mga sakripisyo niya sa akin na ilang taon. Kung wala ’yon, pilay na pilay talaga ako. Wala talagang makakagawa no’n. Ke may makain kami, wala kaming makain, ando’n pa rin siya."
And that is why the Superstar says that she will never abandon the troubled ex-rapper, who still faces an outstanding court case in Angeles City.
"Sinasabi ko nga sa kanya: 'Huwag kang mag-alala. 'Yong tulong na ginagawa mo sa akin, hindi ko makakalimutan ’yan. Kahit ano pa, masira ako, basta hindi kita pababayaan.’ Kasi ganoon din naman ang ginawa niya sa akin, e. Hindi rin siya nagpabaya."
Ricky Lee, who wrote the screenplay of Ang Totoong Buhay ni Pacita M., and who was present when the two met, believes that their relationship has gone beyond the romantic.
"Sa mga kapatid niya, ang feeling niya: responsibility ko 'yan, emotionally, etcetera etcetera..." Ricky says about Nora.
"I think may gano'n din siyang relationship kay John. 'Yong bukod sa close sila at nag-stick sa kanya si Guy, maybe si John, may feelings siya na hindi niya puwedeng bitawan si Guy. At si Guy, hindi niya puwedeng bitawan si John. Hindi si Guy ’yong magbibitaw… Gano’n siyang klaseng kaibigan."
NORA AUNOR SPEAKS ON IDENTITY
The biggest question mark hanging over Nora’s personal life has to do with the persistent rumors linking her to women.
She is reticent about sharing information about some names, but is open and playful about relating certain episodes.
Maritess Gutierrez, celebrity chef and Gloria Romero’s daughter? “Mabait ’yon, mabait ’yon.”
Nora is more forthright—even giggly—about the crush she harbored on, of all people, her celluloid rival, Vilma Santos.
“Nabalita, na-headline ’yon. Na-headline no’ng araw ’yon. May dala akong roses, nando’n ako sa lobby ng hotel kung saan siya nakatira. Naghihintay lang ako. No’ng dumating si Vilma, Diyos ko… no’ng dumating pinaakyat naman ako."
And then, Nora recalls giddily, when she came face to face with Vilma, she couldn’t utter a word.
"Hindi naman ako nagsalita! ’Binigay ko lang ’yong roses, pero after ten minutes, alis na ako."
Nora shakes her head and laughs when we ask what her screen rival made of her strange visit.
Though Nora did not specify timelines, she did say that the episode came at a time she was already "Nora Aunor," but years before her lesbian-themed movie with Vilma, 1982’s T-Bird at Ako, and also years before either of them would be saddled with realities like husbands and children.
And the two have remained friends.
"Natatawa na lang kami ngayon ni Vi," she says. "Wala kaming problema ng kumare ko. Ninang nga 'yan ni Kiko." Kiko is Nora’s fourth child.
More explosive was an item that PEP.ph broke in May 2007, when the website scoured the Marriage Inquiry System of Clark County in Las Vegas, Nevada, and accidentally discovered that the database had a record of Nora marrying her then-manager, musical arranger and avowed lesbian Norie Sayo, on May 22, 2000.
Even though the Superstar had been absent from the country for close to three years by then, the news dropped like a bomb in the local entertainment media.
When reporters confronted Lotlot about it during a press conference for her movie Tiyanaks, her shock was apparent to the media people present. She reportedly broke into tears in the lavatory. The ensuing controversy reportedly drove a wedge between Nora and her eldest child.
In February 2008, Norie returned to the Philippines and announced to the media that Nora had just filed for her green card the previous December, thus facilitating her being able to leave the U.S. for vacation or work purposes.
While here, Norie took the time to deny that her supposed marriage to Nora in Las Vegas ever took place. Norie pointed out that same-sex marriages were illegal in Nevada, stressed that Nora lived in Los Angeles while she lived in San Francisco, and surmised that someone else had applied for the permit.
Still, that didn’t stop Lotlot from confronting Norie in May 2008 at the birthday party of Sylvia Sanchez’s husband, Art Atayde. Lotlot, however, refused to divulge the details of their confrontation to the media.
Asked about this matter now, all Nora will say is: “Wala ’yon, wala ’yon.” She adds only that ever since Norie returned to the country in 2008, they have lost touch.
Nora points to her hard-knocks childhood as a reason why she got the rugged demeanor that makes her a magnet for rumors of lesbianism.
She says that she had to hang off trains in Bicol when she worked as a water seller at the train station in Iriga. She would fearlessly get into fistfights with guys. She didn’t play with dolls, but instead tinkered with toy guns and tops. Her chums were boys.
“Darling, hindi natin dapat ikahiya kung ano tayo,” she tells YES! associate editor Anna Pingol with a smile and a quick, friendly tap on the thigh. “Kung ano tayo, why not, di ba? ’Yong iba kasi, napaka-plastic, di ba, alam na alam naman nila na gano’n.”
So is she a lesbian?
“Iniisip ko pa. Pakiramdam ko paminsan-minsan, parang gano’n na rin ako.” Then she lets out a hearty guffaw.
Is she bisexual?
“Baka nga gano’n ako. Kung gano’n ako, masaya pa rin, di ba? At least, puwede ka kahit ano, ’yong gano’n.” And then she lets out another hearty laugh.
NORA AUNOR: NAVIGATING STORMS
Ricky Lee believes that the hardships of her childhood forged Nora’s personality even before she became a star, basically turning her into a whole person before the spotlight ever came to rest on her. Those hardships are what give her performances such heft and depth.
"As an actress, malalim ’yong kanyang inner life. I think it’s part of the reason why mesmerized ang tao sa kanya, e. Napapa-work niya ’yong kanyang contradictions, e. Punong-puno siya ng contradictions mula pa pagkabata. Takot siya, pero matapang. Para siyang di gaanong matalino and yet sobrang matalino. You don’t see that, e, ’yong lalim ng pagkatao."
And yet in the same breath, what Ricky credits for Nora’s brilliant portrayals is also the same thing he blames for her erratic behavior.
"I think ’yong lalim ng pagkatao ang dahilan din kung bakit meron siyang kabaliwan… ’yong may forces inside."
Ricky says that Nora grew up palling around with people who drank, and so this may explain why the Superstar developed a drinking habit of her own.
For a while, there were horror stories circulating around the press that if you wanted to interview Nora, you had to be able to hold down your brandy.
It’s a story that Nora doesn’t deny during the YES! interview.
"Meron nga rin noon, press pinainom ko, kasi tomador ako no'ng araw, 'O, ito lang maihahanda ko sa 'yo. Uminom ka!' Lahat ng pumunta, ke babae o lalaki, 'O, inom ka.'"
Having drinking buddies over added more strain on her marriage to Christopher.
"May mga bibisita, mga taga-Channel 9, pupunta do’n [the home she shared with Christopher]. E, ako, mapapalapit ka sa akin sa isang bote ng brandy. Pag naubos na 'yon, o, magkaibigan na talaga kami. Kaya bago umalis ang mga ’yon, nasa banyo na!"
Those drinking buddies, Nora says, were the strangers that Christopher would stumble into in their private bathroom, vomiting from too much alcohol.
Nora says Christopher would shout: "Ano na naman ang ginawa mo?"
When she replied, "Hindi, nagkatuwaan lang kami," he would shout again: "Ba’t may mga ganyan?"
Nora recalls: "Naku, ’yon na ang simula ng away!"
Another time, Nora polished off a whole bottle of brandy by herself while talking to Christopher on the phone.
"Nakatulog ako. Pagkagising ko, nando’n pa rin ako sa phone. Si Papa Boyet pala 'yong kausap ko. Salita siya nang salita, wala na ako. Tulog sa kalasingan."
Nora says that she preferred brandy—any brand would do, cheap or pricey, as long as it was brandy—because beer just didn’t give her the same buzz. Even after 10 bottles, beer had no effect on her. She also believed that brandy provided benefits for her singing voice: it helped calm her nerves and upped her energy level before going onstage.
There was a time long ago, Nora reveals, when she went to Cavite on a light beer buzz to shop for guns. “Mga katuwaan lang. Wala lang. Kunwari lang.”
But now, she says, she has made a promise to her deceased parents that she will stay sober. She made this vow after the daily rounds of nearly nonstop drinking landed her in the hospital on a weekly basis.
Longtime fan Albert Sunga swears that Nora has been clean for a long time—at least, clean in the sense of moderate.
"Hindi ko siya nakitang nalasing. One time, 'yong mga fans, nagkaroon ng kaunting katuwaan. Inum-inuman 'yong mga fans. 'Yong mga fans, nalasing. Siya, hindi."
Albert outlines a pre-show ritual Nora used to have: "Pag may show siya, umiinom ng dalawa o ng tatlong shot, kasi pampaalis ng kaba. Kasi smoker siya, baka siya atakihin. Nagte-take siya ng brandy, 'tsaka 'yong pula ng itlog na pinahamugan namin 'tsaka nilalagyan ng kalamansi. Pero 'yong sinasabi na matindi uminom, hindi. Hindi ko nakita, I swear, and that was since 1995 na naging close kami, ha."
ONE ISSUE TO ANOTHER
Another charge that has been leveled against Nora is that she is addicted to gambling.
The tabloids have accused her of failing to make it to scheduled concerts abroad because she spent hours and hours in a casino.
In fact, a blind item was recently published in a local paper, saying that a dramatic actress was seen reverting to her old ways, right on the heels of her comeback. The blind item was widely believed to be alluding to Nora.
Nora admits going to casinos, but denies being a gambling junkie.
"Naglalaro din ako pero hindi 'yong uutang para maglaro. Lambing lang. Maglalaro ako, gusto kong maglaro… so nagbibigay naman ang mga fans. 'Yong gano'n. Alam nila kung saan ako masaya. E, wala naman akong ibang dibersiyon sa States. Nawawala ang problema ko pag gano’n. Pa-slot-slot-machine lang naman.”
She elaborates: "Hindi dapat gawing issue ang casino, kasi ano’ng masama sa pagka-casino kung mayroon ka namang pera. Ako naman kasi, madalas mga kaibigan ko, nagyayaya. Pag nagyayaya sila, sila nagbibigay sa akin ng panlaro, ’yong gano’n. So naglalaro talaga ako."
Albert, for his part, says he can’t wrap his mind around the contradictory rumors: "Paano 'yong logic no’n? Hirap na hirap, nangungutang nang nangungutang, pero nagsusugal sa casino. Paano makakapagsugal ang isang taong hirap na hirap?
"Although, admittedly, naglalaro ng casino sa U.S. pag may show kami. May mga fans naman kasi na yayayain siya talaga, na siguro for the sake na makasama siya for a while. Ang natsitsismis dito, hindi na raw umuuwi. That’s not true. Not true, not true talaga."
But perhaps the most perplexing habit that Nora has is her proclivity for changing houses every so often.
She has owned properties—"Opo, talagang binili ko ang mga ’yon!"—in Better Living subdivision, Parañaque; in Valencia and Greenhills, San Juan; in Ortigas, Pasig; in Cinco Hermanos, Marikina; and in La Vista, Corinthian Gardens, and Tierra Pura, all in Quezon City.
This is not counting the apartment she rented in Cubao when she was asserting her independence from her Mamay Belen, the house in White Plains that director Artemio Marquez gave her as an advance during her time at Tower Productions, or the house in Balete Drive that Nora says was a form of payment Erap gave her for campaigning for him in 1998.
Why did she move so many times?
"Minsan, pag may nararamdaman ako do’n sa bahay na hindi maganda, naghahanap ako ng bahay. O kaya, may nangyayari—like, doon namatay ’yong papa ko. Ayaw kong maalala ’yong pagkamatay ng papa ko. Do’n namatay ang mama ko, ayaw kong maalala si mama. Kaya do’n ako naghahanap ng iba. Do’n ako lumilipat.
"Minsan naman, gusto ko lang maghanap," she giggles. "Maghanap lang ako no’ng bahay na ’yong gusto ko talagang tirhan talaga na hindi ko pa nakikita."
But leave it to Nora to spin this perplexing, costly proclivity into something down-home and accessible: "Ako… bahay at kotse lang naman ang gusto kong magkaroon, wala nang iba... Kahit sa U.S., lagi ako sa bahay, ayos ako nang ayos. Kahit nirerentahan ko lang. Ako talaga namimili ng gamit. Hilig ko talaga. Tapos nililipat-lipat ko ang upuan, mesa...ganoon."
NORA AUNOR: MOTHERHOOD
Inevitably, the people who often pay the price for Nora’s weaknesses and eccentrities—real or reputed—are her five kids: Lotlot, Ian, Matet, Kiko, and Kenneth.
Nora does not deny that she has had many shortcomings as a mother—lack of supervision, lack of presence, lack of communication.
"Ewan ko, ugali ko rin yata. Hindi talaga ako maano sa mga anak ko talaga."
Over the years, Nora’s friends and fans have gotten intimate access to her home, and they all bear witness to another Nora contradiction.
As one friend puts it: "Sasabihin niya, 'Hindi talaga ako marunong maging nanay.' The next time naman, she’ll overdo it. She’ll be sobrang nanay."
Such as the time, the friend adds, when Nora gathered all her children to go on the traditional Holy Week custom of visita iglesia, just so they could all be together.
She even made an effort to investigate which churches would be empty of parishioners and made certain there was a van big enough for all of them.
She also stocked up the refrigerator because establishments were known to close during the Holy Week.
In other words, she can be that vigorous about her mothering duties. But there can also be days and days when the refrigerator would remain empty, and friends would have to take the kids out for meals.
Another friend says that Nora summoned him to her house late one night, just before she was due to leave for abroad. She then handed him an attaché case bursting with money.
The friend asked in alarm: "Ano’ng gagawin ko rito?"
Nora instructed him: "Habang wala ako, sa 'yo na lang tatawag, hihingi ng allowance si Ian, saka pag may kailangan siya."
The friend remembers blanching, "Matatakot ka sa laki ng responsibilidad! Pero iniisip mo ’yong logic niya, sa buhay niya at sa klase ng pamumuhay nila, so you will accept it."
And yet, the contradictions of Nora as a mother don’t end there.
These same friends are all quick to point out that you can never doubt that Nora loves her kids—even if she doesn’t exhibit traditional maternal behavior.
As for the children: despite having gone through highs and lows as the kids of the country’s only Superstar, despite having gone through neglect and drama and other experiences that would make kids loathe their parents, they still love her.
This does not seem obvious, especially to the crush of media people who covered her homecoming on August 2.
None of her children were at the Centennial Terminal to meet her, but Albert Sunga says it was Nora’s express instruction that the kids not go to the airport precisely because the media would surely be present.
Albert says that, the day after Nora’s return and press conference, the children went to her room at the EDSA Shangri-La Hotel in Mandaluyong.
All the children were there, along with Matet’s husband, Ian’s girlfriend, and all of her children’s children. (Nora insists on calling them "mga anak ng anak ko" and not the shorter "mga apo ko" because she still does not want to be called a grandmother.)
Lotlot was a little late because she had to wait for her daughter Janine Gutierrez, who is also making her entrance into showbiz, to finish her rehearsals for the GMA-7 Sunday noontime show Party Pilipinas.
When the Superstar moved to Crowne Plaza at the Ortigas Center, Albert visited her, and he came upon Matet giving Nora a massage while Kenneth was fixing Nora’s newly bought cellphone.
Albert adds that all the kids found time to visit Nora during her protracted stay in the U.S. Ian even accompanied his mother on a trip to Japan in 2010.
“So ’yon ang hindi alam ng tao, na nagkakausap etong pamilya na ito, na hindi naman kailangang i-broadcast sa media na kailangang laging may nakatutok na camera at laging nababalitaang nagkakausap-usap.”
Nora acknowledges how lucky she is to have her kids: “Alam mo ’yon… marami na nga akong kasalanan sa kanila, mahal pa rin nila ako.”
Ricky Lee sums it all up: “’Yon ’yong sinasabi ko, nami-mystique ni Guy ang lahat, mula sa mga anak hanggang sa mga kaibigan, katrabaho, hanggang sa mga fans. We all know lahat ng kanyang negligence, failures, mistakes, kapalpakan at kaloka-lokahan. But we all love her.”
This article was originally published in YES! Magazine's October 2011 issue and has been republished by Jo-Ann Q. Maglipon for PEP.ph in April 2025. The content reflects the information and context available at the time of original publication.
PRODUCTION CREDITS:
Photographer: Mark Nicdao
Photo Shoot Creative Direction: Vince Uy
Additional Photo Shoot Art Direction: Gabriel Villegas
Shoot Producers: Anna Pingol & Candice Lim-Venturanza
Writer: Andrew Paredes
Additional Text: Jo-Ann Q. Maglipon
Interviews: Jo-Ann Q. Maglipon & Anna Pingol
YES! Editor In Chief: Jo-Ann Q. Maglipon
YES! Executive Editor: Jose F. Lacaba
Makeup: Juan Sarte
Hair: Raymond Santiago
Fashion Stylist: Liz Uy
Assistant Fashion Stylist: Reese Rubin & Pete Rich
Production Designer: Angelo Dindo Panganlangan
Shoot Assistant: Arvee Javier
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