| Unofficial Website of Ms. Janice de Belen |
| Aga and Janice |
| AFTER Aga Muhlach and Janice de Belen had gotten over their initial awkwardness on "S-Files" last June 24, they settled into their one-on-one interview with the discipline and focus of the professional stars they were. They had to do the interview night because they had a lot riding on it. Aga had his new movie to plug, while Janice needed an attention-calling first interview to highlight her having joined the show as Paolo Bediones� co-host on a permanent basis. Her interview with her ex-lover Aga was "it," but it still had to be handled with finesse, or else it could explode in both their faces and make them the laughingstock of the nation. Another complication was provided by the fact that Aga had just gotten married to Charlene Gonzales, while Janice had just been separated from her husband, John Estrada. What a strange, see-saw state of affairs! Would Aga patronize Janice for the failure of her marriage? Would Janice cynically disparage Aga�s own chances of being happy on the long term with Janice? The voyeuristic viewer watched on. Happily, while there was a little sumbatan every now and then, Aga and Janice pretty much kept things above board and in check. But we also got a twinge of regret over what might have been, if they had gotten married a decade ago instead of eventually ending up with other "lifetime" partners. They still looked so right for each other, even if things between them had gone so wrong. Finally, as the long interview drew to a close, they chose to focus on their son, Luigi. They really need to cooperate more with each other despite their long and sometimes acrimonious estrangement from each other, to make sure that he feels loved by both his parents. Especially now that he too has decided to become an actor, with all of the stresses and distractions that being a young scion of celebrities entails. After Janice�s on-camera conversation with Aga, we assessed what we had just seen and concluded that it deserved to join our growing list of "Only in the Philippines" pop phenomena. Where else would you see two ex-lovers and parents of a love child baring (almost) all on national television, just to boost the ratings of a TV show and improve a new movie�s chances at the tills? |
| Aga and Janice are good people, but they saw the need to barter a part of themselves and their privacy to boost their respective careers. There are no culprits and villains in this instance, just the fact that, in these parts, controversy counts more with film fans than a good performance. WHEN Janice de Belen pinch-hit for Lyn Ching on �S-Files� some weeks ago, she did so well that we urged the GMA-7 bosses to think up a show for her. Little did we know that they would simply ease Lyn out and give her other shows to do, so that Janice could become Paolo Bediones� co-host on a permanent basis. That was a pretty rough trade, but perhaps the show�s high ratings when Janice temporarily co-hosted it gave Channel 7 the immensely pleasurable notion that, with Janice on hand, it could finally achieve its perfervid dream of vanquishing Channel 2�s own Sunday afternoon show, �The Buzz,� in the all-important ratings game. In any case, after Lyn�s tearful goodbye two weeks ago, a definitely beaming Janice was all present and accounted for on the show last Sunday. To make her �official� debut as co-host truly special and eminently viewable, the show whipped up a double-whammy that must have pulverized the competition: Janice in a one-on-one encounter with the newly-married Aga Muhlach. What was so special about that? Well, for the benefit of deafmute quadriplegics who have been trapped in a cave at the base top of Mt. Mayon for the past 20 years, sometime in the late 1980s, Janice and Aga were teen lovers. Their affair produced a son, Luigi, but Janice chose not to marry Aga, so they remained cold and even combative for years � in fact, right up to their interview on �S-Files� last Sunday. So, the interview was a must-see �event� for many viewers. How would the estranged former sweethearts relate to each other? Would there be tension on the set? Would old resentments flare up? Would there be recriminations, tears � even the still shouldering embers of a once and perhaps future love? That last speculation was far-out, considering that Aga had just gotten hitched to Charlene Gonzales, and they were already expecting their twin firstborns. But you know how local movie fans are � they don�t call them �die-hard� for nothing. In any case, when Aga finally sat down to be interviewed by Janice last Sunday afternoon, everybody and his grandmother was watching � with bated breath and unblinking eyes. First impression: Aga and Janice were trying hard to look casual and relaxed, but they felt awkward with each other. Well, who could blame them? As Aga honestly but also rather cattily pointed out, this was practically the first time in years that they had really talked, as opposed to barking or hissing at each other. This was unfortunate, considering that their son Luigi was growing up and needed the harmonious care and loving of both his parents � but that�s reality for you. |
| Anyway, Aga and Janice did their best to lighten the trying moment for each other. In fact, Janice tried rather too hard to look friendly and cool: instead of sitting down, she perched on top of her seat with her legs prettily tucked under her. It was a rather flirty pose that suited the strange set-up for the scene involving the two ex-lovers. It was strange because, despite the fact that they had called it quits a decade ago, there was occasionally a �ligawan� quality to their on-camera conversation last Sunday. But there was also a contradictory quality of often hidden but sometimes not so subtle recrimination. It was as if the mess of 10 years ago had not been completely worked out. This prompted the viewer to wonder what was the real reason why Janice and Aga didn�t marry each other when she had gotten pregnant. Different �versions� abound, of course � they were too young, her folks didn�t approve of him, she was a bigger star then than he was, they didn�t want to make up for a mistake with another mistake, etc. � but what was the real reason? Alas, Janice and Aga were generally quite forthright on �S-Files,� but this was one key area that they saw fit to keep in the realm of rumor and speculation. To be concluded Inquirer News Service |
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