MORE THAN THE doubt, I would like to give actress-turned-politician Aiko Melendez the benefit lalo’t hindi birong eskandalo ang kanyang kinakaharap ngayon against her former boyfriend Bulacan, Bulacan Mayor Patrick Meneses.
Reportedly, blind items alluded to Patrick have been traced to Aiko—reinforced by her tweets—ranging from her ex-boyfriend’s alleged sexual preferences to the downright cheap issue tungkol sa pagkakaroon umano ng kulugo ni Patrick sa kanyang ari.
Nothing can be baser and tackier than this, lalo’t ang sangkot sa isang non-showbiz issue pa mandin happens to be a young, respected—and handsome at that!—political tyro na, who knows, will become the next Governor of Bulacan in the years to come!
Given Patrick’s credentials, hindi naman siguro ang tipo ni Aiko ang sisira sa naging karelasyon of three years regardless whatever the cause of their breakup was.
If showbiz knew Aiko well enough, not once has she badmouthed the previous men in her life. Kung nakipaghiwalay man si Aiko noon kay Jomari Yllana, it was all clear that there was a third party to the marriage. At si Ara Mina ‘yon.
Like any woman who has so much love to give, muling tumibok ang puso ni Aiko. Then came Martin Jickain whose past, I’m sure, Aiko did not care about.
Jomari and Martin—despite their imperfections as spouses—were never Aiko’s easy targets. Being the fathers of Andrei and Martheena, res-pectively, nanatiling mga kaibigan ito ni Aiko, and vice versa.
Oo nga’t puwedeng ikatwiran na may kakayahang sirain ni Aiko ang pagkatao ni Patrick dahil hindi naman nagbunga ng anak ang kanilang relasyon, but Aiko has managed to stay long in this business without staking her name.
Agad kong tinext si Aiko to get her side, asking if she read the Monday’s tabloid (hindi ang Pinoy Parazzi) kung saan nalathala ang umano’y exchange of tweets ng isang gay friend in an attempt to discredit Patrick.
Narito ang kabuuan ng text message ng aktres: “Hi, good morning, Rons. I have not been reading tabloids lately although I was told about Patrick’s interview yesterday. I am honestly still in shock and in pain. Masakit talaga ‘coz three years kami nagsama kaya (I’m) not ready to give any comment for now kahit sa Twitter issue, it will definitely clear my name on this in the coming days. Medyo ina-absorb ko lang what’s happening. Thanks, Rons.”
That same day, Monday, naging paksa ng aming episode sa Tweetbiz Insiders ang mga umano’y kasiraang ipinagkakalat ni Aiko laban sa dating nobyo. The general belief: imposibleng gawin ‘yon ni Aiko even if it was her ploy to get back at Patrick.
Sa text message ni Aiko sa amin, clearly, she was not pointing her accusing finger at Patrick nor anybody closely associated with the mayor as having engineered all this nasty talk to pin her down.
Sa muli naming pag-text kay Aiko, with the assurance that we’re behind her whatever it takes, ayaw banggitin ng aktres kung sino sa kanyang palagay ang may pasimuno ng isyung ito. May ideya siya, but Aiko would not make any disclosure.
Sapat na raw ang katotohanang sa loob ng tatlong taon nilang pagsasama ay kilalang-kilala ni Patrick ang kanyang hilatsa: that of a woman who may still be hurting from another failed relationship, but a woman who will forever cherish her happy memories with the men in her life.
Pepperoni
by Ronnie Carrasco III
