“Sabi ko, Ha? Kami ulit ni Dingdong? And they said, hindi naman kayo love interest dito like in ‘Pahiram ng Sandali’. E, ano bang role ko? Sabi, president ng Pilipinas. So, ako naman, yes agad. A, sige, go! Kailan ang taping ko? Bukas na po, sa Baguio. Ay, o sige. Siempre yes na agad, kasi kailan ba uli darating sa buhay ko ang chance na makaganap sa role ng president ng bansa natin, di ba? But it’s a difficult role kasi I’m made to memorize my speeches as president. E, ang hahaba. Hindi ka puedeng mag-adlib and deviate from the script so super memorize talaga ko rito dahil wala naman akong teleprompter.”
The story starts seven years ago. The president then was Jackielou Blanco, who’s corrupt and unpopular compared to her vice president, Robert Arevalo. When an asteroid hit Planet Earth, there’s an earthquake and because Jackielou didn’t help VP Robert survive so he died. Come next election, Robert’s daughter, Lorna as Sandra Sebastian, runs for president and defeats Jackielou. Lorna here is married to Ronnie Henares and they have two kids.
“Marami kaming kinuhang consultants dito to guide us like natutuhan ko kung paano ang right way ng pagsaludo,” she adds. “We had to be guided lalo na yung sa scenes na kunwari, kuha sa Malacanang. We shot the Malacanang scenes sa Kapitolyo ng Pangasinan kasi parang Malacanang daw yun. But it’s five hours away, so dusa talaga pag doon ang taping. Puro malayo ang locations namin dito, meron sa Pampanga, meron sa Subic for the disaster scenes kasi every week, may nangyayaring disaster dito.”
We ask LT what she thinks of her son’s Renz Fernandez’ performance in “Prinsesa ng Buhay Ko”. “Natutuwa ako sa kanya kasi okay naman siya, but there’s room for improvement. I tell him may tendency na maging singsong ang delivery niya ng lines niya, so binabago naman daw niya yun.”
It’ll be All Saints Day soon. What are her plans? “Siempre, we’ll visit Daboy, but we go there on October 31 para hindi masabay sa karamihan. Mami-miss ko doon yung neighbor namin.”
We ask who? “Si Mrs. Napoles. Yung libingan ng mother niya, katabi ng kay Daboy, e. Dati, laging maraming tao doon. I don’t know this year.”
Is she entertaining new suitors? “Ay, hindi na. Nagsasalita ko ng patapos. Hindi na ako iibig uli.”
LT has also finished a new movie, “Burgos”, where she plays Mrs. Edith Burgos. She says it’ll have a special screening at SM North Edsa on October 25, open to the general public.
