AFTER DOING ‘
Sabel’ with ABS-CBN, Raymond Bagatsing now moves to GMA-7 in “
Amaya” as Datu Bugna, married to Gina Alajar with whom he has two daughters,
Glaiza de Castro and Rochelle Pangilinan, but also sires another child with a slave, Lani Mercado. The slave’s daughter becomes Amaya, played by
Marian Rivera, who he chooses to be the heir to his throne. “The show starts na babies pa lang yung mga anak ko,” he says. “When they grew up, nilagyan ako ng puting buhok to make me look old. Although si Gina ang wife ko, ours is an arranged marriage kaya di ko siya ganoon kamahal. Mas mahal ko si Lani na slave. It’s nice to be a part of this series that shows we already have our own culture even before the Spaniards came.”
About his lovelife, Raymond says he’s still on with his girlfriend, Vanessa Rodriguez, a Latina singer-composer. “We have our own yoga studio at home and I’m one of the instructors. We also plan to put up an authentic Mexican restaurant as she cooks very well. She likes living here in our country. But she hasn’t neglected her music career. She’s now recording an album of original songs. We’ll try to market it in the U.S. later. Ako naman, when my agents tell me there’s an audition na puede kong i-try, I go back there to do it then balik ako uli rito for my own career here. It’s easier to do that now na may green card na ko.”
