“I heard about it, too, but I don’t think it’s true,” she says. “Sabi, Kring Kring has a boyfriend and I will never believe that kasi napakabait niyang tao. She won’t do such a thing. I think gawa-gawa lang yan ng mga kalaban nila sa politics kasi it’s going to be election time again and Alfred is running anew for mayor. I think kumalat din yan kasi si Alfred, nawala for a while. I know he got sick after Yolanda and he went to the States para magpagamot, but that’s all. Ginawaan na ng istorya.”
Her second son, Michael, married Cara Manglapus in 2015 and she now has a 2-year old granddaughter, Mia. How is it to be a grandma? “I realize the upside of getting old pala is having an apo. Sobrang nakakatuwa si Mia. Ang ganda-ganda niya. She’s so like my mom. Recently, she had this fully beaded gold dress at kahit makati, she wore it at tiniis niya. Kaaliw talaga.”
How is she as a mother in law? “Cara, my daughter in law is great. Magaling siyang mag-make over so tinuturuan niya ko, kaya we get along fine.”
How’s her eldest son, Borgy Manotoc? Has he no regrets that he didn’t join showbiz then? “Hindi naman ako nakikialam sa kung anong gusto nilang gawin. He’s now into retail. Ayaw na niya to manage bars. My second son is a lawyer and the youngest one naman is a sports manager sa PBA. Iba-iba sila ng careers.”
Isn’t Borgy somehow envious that his younger brother now has a child of his own? “Ewan ko sa kanya. Sabi ko nga, matanda na siya. Sa bagay, uso naman sa family namin ang matatandang binata. My brother Bongbong, matanda na rin nang magpakasal. But I told Borgy, kung magkaka-baby siya, kailangan, kasing ganda ni Mia.”
Doesn’t she mind being tagged as a gay icon? “Not at all. I think it’s great, it’s flattering. Ever since naman, beki na ako. Ha ha ha! You know, we have a gay pageant in Ilocos called Ilocoslavakla at yung contestants, ginagaya ako, kinukuha pati mga damit ko. Nakakatawa. E, ang dami talagang beki ngayon. I noticed, sa SK na lang, 30 percent ng youth leaders now, mga beki, and the LGBT community is getting bigger and bigger.”
She’s running for the senate and she wants to help local showbiz by pushing for what she calls a creative industry. “It has to be a concerted effort for the whole showbiz industry, with the help of the government, gaya ng ginagawa nila sa Korea, Thailand and even Britain na full support talaga. Sa Korea nga, they even have a K-pop school to train their stars. That’s the only way we can compete globally.”
