KRIS  WALKS  OUT  ON  JAMES  /  JAMES: I'VE NEVER CHEATED ON KRIS


[PHOTO AT LEFT - Kris Aquino talks on TV. MANILA, Philippines]

MANILA, JANUARY 19, 2010 (STAR) By Rey Galupo - Amid the latest controversy on her shaky marriage to basketball star James Yap, Kris Aquino disclosed yesterday that she was “emotionally tired” of her relationship with her husband and that she had left the conjugal abode with her two children.

Interviewed in her own TV program The Buzz, which she co-hosts with Boy Abunda, the popular actress and emcee finally broke her silence and narrated the latest episode that made her decide to “temporarily” walk out of her marriage.

“I’m trying to make our marriage work, but James must also do his part. Marriage is a two-way traffic. Hindi lang ako ang dapat nagwo-work out nito (I shouldn’t only be the one working this out). He should show that he is a responsible, loving father,” Aquino said while trying to hold back tears.

Aquino also denied having made a scene outside the house of Mayen Austria, her husband’s rumored girlfriend, and shouting invectives at the mother outside the Austria residence in Valle Verde, Pasig City.

“In my 25 years of being in the public eye, nobody can ever say that it is my nature na magmura or gumawa ng eskandalo. I didn’t shout or create a commotion. I went to their house and just wanted to express my discomfort na merong tawag ng tawag at text ng text sa asawa ko (that someone is constantly calling and texting my husband,” she said.

“I wanted to tell her and show her that I am flesh and blood. Hello, ako ang misis ni James,” Aquino said, while admitting that a cousin had advised her not to go to Mayen’s house because she (Kris) is popular.

The problem started after Aquino reportedly confronted her husband about the girl who was crying while talking to him on the phone.

“A little discussion (not an argument) followed during which James told Kris that the girl was having a problem with her boyfriend (somebody else) and that the girl has been his long-time (Purefoods) fan. Like any puzzled wife, Kris asked James, ‘Why would she be crying on your shoulder, for that matter, on a man she knows very well who is very much married?’” The STAR entertainment editor and columnist Ricky Lo wrote in his column last Friday, quoting an unnamed source.

Apparently, the same source said that the girl had been sending James chocolates, cakes or other goodies addressed only to him, which made Aquino suspicious.

After receiving a “forwarded” text message purportedly from James who was telling the girl to just say sorry to Kris “at ng matapos na ang lahat,” the same source said Aquino decided to drop by the girl’s house.

“The girl’s mom very nicely met her. Kris turned down the mom’s invitation to ‘come in’ and simply, very politely, told the mom the whole incident. Kris never raised her voice. She was calm as she reminded the mom that she and James are working very hard at saving the marriage and calls or texts messages from ‘any girl’ to James are the last thing that they wanted especially at this stage when they have just patched things up,” Lo narrated in his column, quoting the same source.

The straw that broke the camel’s back

But things were not the same in the Austrias’ view.

Right after the incident, text messages presumably coming from Mayen started circulating.

“To everyone. Kris Aquino passed by the house to make me sugod. She spoke to my mom. Very mad, berating us saying I always text and call James. That my mom didn’t bring me up right. That we shouldn’t be talking to married men. She said she’s leaving James and to know that I’m the last straw and the reason for their break-up,” Mayen’s text message read.

Austria added that they have great respect for the Teopacos, who are their family friend. Mrs. Teopaco is former President Cory Aquino’s youngest sister.

An identified source said that Kris indeed went to the Austria house and confronted Mayen. When the mother allegedly went out after hearing the commotion, Aquino also shouted at her.

“Anong klaseng nanay ka? Anong klaseng palaki mo sa anak mo? (What kind of mother are you? What kind of upbringing did you give your child),” the source was quoted as hearing.

All about love and respect

However, Aquino said that there was no commotion and that she just did what every wife should do.

She narrated in detail what took place and defended her action. She also expressed pain in her decision to leave her home and temporarily stay at her sister Pinky’s house together with her children.

“James should make me feel naman that he loves me, respects me. Siguro kahit sino namang wife gusto yun,” she said. (Any wife would want some love and respect).

The controversial actress also justified why she broke her silence and her decision to defend her brother, Sen. Benigno Aquino III, who was being dragged into the picture for political reasons.

“You cannot blame me for wanting to defend Noy and you cannot blame me for wanting to defend my marriage,” she said.

Aquino and her husband just survived a “lover’s quarrel” during the holidays and had reportedly patched up their differences during a family trip to Bangkok.

In 2007, Kris and James also made headlines when Yap was rumored to be having a romantic liaison with Hope Centeno, one of the Belo Medical Clinic’s receptionists.

No connection to politics

Meanwhile, Senator Aquino has appealed to media and the public to give his youngest sister time to sort out her personal problems.

He maintained that his sister’s problem is not connected in any way to his candidacy and capacity to lead the country. He also apologized for not being too “showbiz” about it.

But Yap and his family seemed unfazed by the controversy. The basketball star was seen spending quality time with his son after a commercial shoot.

His parents also refused to be affected by the negative reports about their son and daughter-in-law.

Yap’s mother Annie made a similar appeal to put a stop to rumors about her son and daughter-in-law.

Mrs. Yap belied reports that her son has another woman, adding that politics could be behind the spread of negative reports about her family particularly since James’ father is running for a political post in Negros.

James: I've never cheated on Kris FUNFARE By Ricardo F. Lo (The Philippine Star) Updated January 19, 2010 12:00 AM

[PHOTO AT LEFT - JAMES AND KRIS]

The aggrieved wife really dropped by the house of a girl texting and calling her husband and then, because she’s concerned for the safety of their two children, she packed her things, kids included, and moved over to her older sister’s house – for the time being, hopefully – leaving the confused husband home alone at their house in Valle Verde II they have sold and scheduled to turn over to the new owner on Jan. 25 before they move to a new one.

No, the whole drama involving Kris Aquino and husband James Yap, along with James’ fan Mayen Austria, is for real and not, as some people might be suspecting, a gimmick for Kris’ new ABS-CBN soap Kung Tayo’y Magkakalayo. In short, it’s all coincidence. Nagkataon lang.

Feels like deja vu?

In December last year, James left home after one of his and Kris’ LQ’s (Lovers’ Quarrels) and returned a week later in time for the family noche buena shared with Kris’ sisters Viel, Pinky and Ballsy, and brother Sen./Presidentiable Noynoy Aquino.

The family (including their two kids Joshua and James Jr.) went on a post-Christmas vacation in Bangkok where Kris and James patched things up. And just when they were starting all over again...

In a brief chat with Funfare yesterday, James swore to high heavens, crossing his heart, that Mayen Austria is just a friend (and a fan) from whom he and Kris have been ordering cookies and cakes, and that the call last Wednesday afternoon (Jan. 13) that, so to speak, broke the camel’s back, was an innocent one in which Mayen was crying on James’ shoulder over a problem she was having with her boyfriend.

“I’ve never cheated on Kris,” insisted James. “I have never been unfaithful. Ang ganda na ng wife ko, bakit hahanap pa ako ng iba?”

Pressed about the long-buried issue involving one Hope Centeno, James said that what was reported in the media never happened. It was a “campaign of hate” initiated by some people who wanted to hit Dr. Vicki Belo using Kris, then heavy with James Jr. (whom she almost lost), as “weapon.”

I guess the problem with James, still unused to and uncomfortable in the (showbiz) limelight that his marriage to Kris has thrust him into perhaps against his will, is that he’s a man of few words that he oftentimes can’t defend himself even when he’s, well, “not” guilty.

Those who knew James told Funfare that it’s “not fair” for Kris to say on national television that she’s the only one making great effort to save their marriage.

“James is also doing his part,” said James’ Purefoods team-mate, “baka hindi lang na-a-appreciate ni Kris or napapansin because she’s too busy with work. As Kris said, she has put Noynoy’s campaign as her No. l priority, her kids as No. 2 and James only as No. 3. What I and James’ other team-mates know is that James loves Kris so much. We also believe that Kris is too well-mannered to make sugod a girl. May breeding naman siya.”

In last Sunday’s edition of The Buzz, Kris apologized to Mayen Austria’s mother, whom she talked to at the gate of the Austria house during that Wednesday incident, for having been dragged into the mess. “I’m sorry na nadamay kayo maski hindi po kayo ang kagalit ko.”

What irked Kris is how some people have dragged her brother Noynoy into the brouhaha when Noynoy has absolutely nothing to do with it. An uncle of Mayen’s insinuated that he wasn’t going to vote for Noynoy, which was uncalled for. It was the same uncle who texted everybody only a few minutes after the incident happened that Wednesday, thereby perhaps blowing it out of proportion and starting the whole controversy.

On Jan. 25, Kris and James will have to leave their Valle Verde II house. If, by then, Kris and their kids are still staying at her sister Pinky’s house, what will happen to James...where will he go?

Asked if it’s true that he’s looking for a condo unit, James said, “It’s not true,” adding, “bahala na.”

Like Noynoy, those close to Kris have the same piece of advice for her: Save your marriage, save your family, by all means, at all costs!

I second the motion.