Nakausap ng PEP (Philippine Entertainment Portal) si Bianca Lapus over the telephone this morning, July 15. Talagang pinili raw niyang manahimik muna bagamat hindi niya itinanggi na napaiyak at nasaktan siya sa mga naglalabasang balita pagkatapos lumabas ang desisyon ng Court of Appeals sa annulment case na isinampa ni Vhong Navarro laban sa kanya.
Ikinasal sina Bianca at Vhong noong January 20, 1998 sa munisipyo ng Floridablanca, Pampanga. Buntis na noon si Bianca sa anak nila ni Vhong na si Isaiah.
Nag-file ng petisyon sa korte si Vhong noong May 5, 2005 para mapawalang bisa ang kasal nila ni Bianca. Pagkatapos ng tatlong taon, noong July 9 ay dinesisyunan na ng Court of Appeals ang unang desisyon ng Quezon City Regional Trial Court upang mapawalang-bisa ang kasal nina Bianca at Vhong.
Aminado si Bianca na nang mag-file ng annulment si Vhong, those were the times na very busy siya attending to her mother na nakikipaglaban noon sa cancer. Ito ang dahilan kung bakit hindi raw siya gaanong nag-participate sa pag-usad ng kaso. Kamakailan lang din niya nalaman kung anu-ano ang mga ginawang grounds ni Vhong sa annulment case.
Ayon sa desisyon ng korte, napatunayang si Bianca ay "psychologically incapacitated" at nakikipag-date daw siya sa ibang lalaki kahit na may relasyon pa sila ni Vhong.
Nagbigay ng pahayag si Bianca at nilinaw ang lumabas na interview ng kanyang lawyer na si Atty. Donn Bacay sa The Buzz noong Linggo, July 13, tungkol sa sinasabing hiling ni Bianca na dagdag na sustento para sa anak nila ni Vhong. (Click here to read related article.)
Ani Bianca, "Hindi ko alam kung bakit ganoon ang lumabas, pero alam ni Vhong yun na never akong nanghingi sa kanya pagdating sa pera. Kahit piso, hindi ako nanghingi sa kanya. Ang tanging hinihiling ko lang ay huwag naman siyang mag-‘no comment' sa lahat ng mga lumalabas."
Ayon kay Bianca, umiyak din daw si Vhong tulad niya nang magkausap sila, lalo na nang malaman nito na ang anak nilang si Isaiah, na never daw naging palaaway, ay nasangkot sa away sa eskuwelahang pinapasukan nito. Ipinagtanggol ni Isaiah si Bianca laban sa nagsabing "bad" ang kanyang mommy.
Pumayag si Bianca na ilabas ng PEP ang kanyang official statement hinggil sa mga naglalabasang isyu tungkol sa kanya, katulad ng diumano'y pagiging "psychologically incapacitated" niya, "unfit mother," at maging ang diumano'y pakikipag-date niya sa ibang lalaki noong sila pa ni Vhong.
BIANCA'S OFFICIAL STATEMENT. "I have not read the decision of the Court of Appeals regarding the annulment of my marriage with Vhong. But to put things in perspective, I never participated in that case ever since its inception in the lower court and so, naturally, it was decided based on the evidence presented by Vhong.
"I am not saying that I am not glad that my marriage was annulled but considering my non-participation, I don't think it's fair to speculate on my shortcomings, especially with matters that relate to my being unfit as a mother. The public will hear my side of the story soon.
"I will definitely be careful of every statement I will make as soon as I grant my first and last interview. I don't want to cause any harm to the father of my son as I know how it is to be misjudged by others. We are okay. We are friends and I'm happy we gave each other the best gift we can give and that is our freedom. I am torn between my family, who are so much in pain now. I have kept my silence for so many years. I begged off to talk the past week to the many calls I received from the press.
"It is unfortunate that people won't stop being unfair. I just need to break my silence in some of the negative stuff in the news because my family is very much affected by this. I know we are supposed to be celebrating, but Vhong being a public figure can sometimes affect other people linked to him like me. I know this must be hard for him as well. I told him my dilemma and my feelings about this and we understand each other and we both wish each other well.
"We are both affected and worried about our son Isaiah. So, I hope people would stop speculating as we all know the process of going thru annulment. We both know the TRUTH. GOD, our families and close friends know I was never a bad wife and a mother.
"Yce grew up with me and I never deprived him or Vhong to see each other. In fact, when Vhong is busy, I bring our son to him while at work for a short visit. And I never demanded 1 single centavo for support even when we were still together until this day.
"We are both happy with our respective partners and we will continue to help each other in raising our son to be a good person and understand the truth why we had to part ways but still remain friends."