NEWSFLASH 

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JESSA TALKS! - RICKY LO'S INTERVIEW WITH JESSA
(From the Philippine Star)

Manila, March 25, 2000 - And finally, after keeping her cool and her quiet, rolling with the punches, so to speak, Phenomenal Diva (o, di ba?) Jessa Zaragoza has agreed to speak out in an exclusive interview with Funfare, confronting the issues raised against her head-on, point by point without blinking.

Over a bottle of calamansi juice (hers) and mineral water (mine), a visibly thinner (fresh from the hospital, you see) Jessa began to tell the whole truth and nothing but, "Not to get back at anybody," she said, "but to clarify many things."

No, she stressed, her recent confinement at St. Luke's Medical Center wasn't a gimmick but due to hyper-ventilation and a weak heart. "I could hardly breath when I was brought to St.. Luke's where I stayed for two days," said Jessa. "My doctor wanted me to stay longer but I asked him to let me check out."

Did she deliberately appear on TV Patrol fully-made-up, sleeping like a baby, while rumored boyfriend, Quezon City Councilor Dingdong Avanzado, gently caressed her face?

Laughed Jessa, "The truth is that wala akong make-up noon. Is it my fault if my face looks made-up even without the aid of cosmetics?"

What landed Jessa in the hospital was not a single incident but a series of issues including the tirade against her from Rufa Mae Quinto who claimed that Jessa "stole" (as in sinulot) Dingdong from her and the Code Name: Verano "walkout" which led to the packing-up of the taping of the Phillip Salvador GMA 7 starrer (Jessa was replaced by Rachel Alejandro, one of Dingdong's "exes").

Told that Jessa was in the hospital dahil naninikip ang dibdib, an irate Rufa Mae smarted, "E, di luwagan niya ang kanyang bra."

Asked for comment, Jessa calmly said, "I have no control over what other people want to say, I leave it to the public to judge for themselves who's telling the truth and who's not."

Saying that her guiding principle in life is "less talk, less trouble," Jessa clarified that, contrary to Rufa Mae's claim that they're (well, used to be) friends and that Rufa Mae even acted as her "protector/defender," Jessa, still with a low voice, said, "We were together in the Viva movie Kool Ka Lang a few years back but after the shooting, we hardly got in touch with each other. We're not really 'the best of friends;' ano lang kami talaga, acquaintance lang. Friends go out together and confide in each other. We don't; we didn't."

In that case, no betrayal happened.

"I don't remember having stepped on anybody's toes," said Jessa, cool but in a fighting mood now.

In fact, when Dingdong became very friendly with her, he told her that he didn't have any girlfriend, that Rufa Mae was (take note: past tense) a part of his life. "I didn't ask him about his past or about anybody," Jessa added. "He volunteered the information."

At the moment, Jessa said that she and Dingong are not yet going steady although they are into the "MU" (Mutual Understanding) stage, enjoying each other's company, dining out or watching a movie once a week and burning the phone lines all the time (whispering sweet nothings to each other probably).

If and when, Dingdong will be Jessa's fourth boyfriend from showbiz, coming after Keempe de Leon (with whom Jessa went steady for only several weeks), Robin da Roza (three months) and Giancarlo Sotto (son of Sen. Tito and Helen Gamboa, one year).

They've known each other from way back, though only on the "Hi!/Hello!" basis, and got to know each other well only last January when they starred together in a concert in Pampanga.

"We were doing a duet so we kept on calling each other," Jessa recalled. "Before long, we discovered that we shared a lot of things in common, until we became friends and he began asking if he could visit me at home. He said he was not committed to anybody, free to do anything, and I believed him. He's sincere in his intentions."

On national television, Dingdong (father of a love child by another, non-showbiz, girl) said Jessa is the type of girl he wanted to marry and Jessa was flattered no end, saying "Thank you!" to that.

"What do I like about Dingdong? Well, he's witty, masarap kausap, baby-faced as in cute and, most important of all, understanding and soft-spoken. Pag mainit ang ulo ko, quiet siya."

Maybe the age-gap (he's 31, she's 21) has something to do with his being understanding.

"It works favorably for us," said Jessa.

Jessa was touched when Dingdong defended her on The Buzz last Sunday. She could still recite verbatim what Dingdong said on the show: "Siguro naman, kahit papano napatunayan ko na sa'yo kung gaano ka kahalaga sa akin."

Her eyes twinkling, Jessa said, "I'm glad and thankful that he cleared my name, that he came to my defense."

Life is a matter of choice, Jessa quoted another favorite line of hers, adding, "Nothing will happen if you don't want it to happen."

Tomorrow on ABS-CBN's A.S.A.P., Jessa and Dingdong will sing The Glory of Love together, whose lyrics are very meaningful to them, you know: I am the man who will fight for your honor...

Now you understand why the Phenomenal Diva is floating on Cloud 9. (Eat your heart out, Rufa Mae!)

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