ROBIN  AND  LIEZL  BREAK  UP!

[PHOTO AT LEFT - Robin Padilla in Iran: Like ‘poetry in repose’ Yes, there’s an exclamation point(!) in today’s headline.]

MANILA, NOVEMBER 6, 2009 (STAR) FUNFARE UPDATE By Ricardo F. Lo - You read it right: Robin Padilla and Liezl Sicangco have separated — for good this time. They have been divorced for two years now. Liezl has happily remarried and continues to live in Australia with her and Robin’s children; while Robin is now, ehem, “the most eligible bachelor” around.

I should be writing this story with the same heavy heart that I felt years ago when I wrote about the irreparable cracks in the marriage of Martin Nievera and Pops Fernandez, tsk-tsking that a “stable marriage” that has weathered many storms would go very wrong. The Funfare DPA told me that I shouldn’t feel that way at all.

“They parted amicably,” he said, “as friends. In fact, their relationship is better now than it ever was. They can breathe easier now in the space they have given each other.”

In the almost two decades that they’ve been together, Robin and Liezl stuck to each other through thick and thin, fighting all sorts of battles together, but then... Have they outgrown each other? The DPA said that the un-couple still love each other not “for the sake of the children” (standard reason given by showbiz couples breaking up) but honestly and sincerely.

No, there’s no third party involved, neither on her side nor his side. Liezl married another man (Funfare didn’t verify if he’s a Filipino or an Australian) after their divorce was granted.

The Funfare DPA said that the children “understand the situation” and are getting adjusted beautifully. Even now that they are divorced, Robin and Liezl communicate with each other “like old times.” They parted decently, with no rancor on either side.

By coincidence, I bumped into Robin at a resto on Tomas Morato (Quezon City) yesterday. I told him about what I know and I asked him pointblank: True or not?

“It’s true!”

No further comment.

* * *

Now that Robin is travelling abroad, Funfare hopes that, with Liezl happily remarried, he, too, will find a new love. It won’t be hard, right?

He has just returned from Iran. Here’s his account (kept in his computer):

Poetry of Culture

By Robin Padilla

I don’t have the right words to describe Iran which was built in poetry. In every corner of every city, Iranians seem to communicate with poetry, never mind if they know one another or not. They express poetry in its purest form...in singing or in merely talking. Every word is digested in silence which leads to deep thought then to realization then to relief, and ends with a nurturing smile.

As I said, it’s hard to describe my experience in Iran with words. Suffice it to say that it was poetry in reality and experience. Their feelings may not be articulated but they are communicated quite eloquently in action, like poetry which may be interpreted in many different ways by many different people.

I believed that Iran has taught me that the culture of every country is like poetry; it’s something to be treasured and respected, not to be judged by a foreigner or a visitor...it’s something to be learned and appreciated. Cultures are created by respect and with respect, it becomes an immortal art that will outlive the corrupted mortals. Like with poetry, the author perishes but never the words; people will come and go but not its culture. Cultures are like different rivers, continuously flowing along and over different terrains of shallow, deep and rocky falls; it heads towards its destination, sometimes peacefully and sometimes violently, until it reaches the sea and flows in serenity.

We are like a river, flowing and flowing until we reach our final goal, our final purpose — God.