She has since worked with the country’s best directors, including Lino Brocka in “Inay” and “Mananayaw”, Ishmael Bernal in “Asawa Ko Silang Lahat” and “Working Girls”, Laurice Guillen in “Kasal?”, Eddie Romero in “Aguila” and “Banta ng Kahapon”, Marilou Diaz Abaya in “Baby Tsina”, Gil Portes in “Sa Piling ng mga Sugapa”, Chito Rono in “Olongapo”, Maryo de los Reyes in “Bagets”. She won acting awards, the URIAN for “Boy Pana” by Romy Suzara and the FAMAS for “Karma” by Danny Zialcita with whom she did many memorable films like “Ikaw at ang Gabi”, “Ang Biyuda ay Misteryosa”, “Kapag Tumabang ang Asin”, “Lalakwe” and “Bakit Manipis ang Ulap”.
And we’re glad that a competent actress like her continues to be active as a working actor up to now, doing teleseryes mainly for GMA-7. She was just last seen as the evil matriarch in the afternoon soap, “Contessa”, and now she’s back on primetime in the big-budgeted GMA drama series, “Cain at Abel”. “I play the wife of Eddie Gutierrez and the mother of Dingdong Dantes and Dennis Trillo,” she says. “When we were younger, inagaw sa’kin si Eddie ni Dina Bonnevie at naghiwalay kami. Napunta sa kanya si Dingdong at sa akin si Dennis. Dingdong grew up rich with his dad at si Dennis grew up in a fishing village and became a petty thief because of poverty. Ako naman, nabaliw, malalayo ako kay Dennis at mawawala ako nang matagal. But later on, I will come back, magkakaroon ako ng big transformation.”
Chanda came to the presscon with her husband, Jose Alejandrino. How did they meet? “We met through Maricel Soriano. She called me up saying she’s shooting a movie in a house in Mandaluyong at magugustuhan ko raw yung owner. Pareho raw kami ng type ng music and he’s a very good conversationalist. At first, di ko pinansin. Sa second week ng pagtawag niya, she said, ipapasundo kita sa driver ko dahil magaling mag-mix ng cocktails itong ipapakilala ko, so I went. We hit it off well right away at ‘yun, we’ve been married for 12 years now.”
