I get kinda senti whenever I see Pops Fernandez and Martin Nievera together.
Pops and I have been friends since she started in the biz so I’m privy to her love story with Mart. I fondly remember the fun times we had at their Alabang home when they were still a couple.
Even if their marriage ended, it does not mean that it failed. That’s because Mart and Pipay have become better persons after they parted ways. Their foundation as a tandem is rock solid. So their staying power is not diminished at all by not staying together.
They may no longer relive their past but the iconic duo can still recapture the joys of love through their music. The Concert King and Queen’s magic remains. They will usher in the “Love Month” via their concert, “Always & Forever,” on Feb. 7 at the Mall of Asia Arena with tickets available on smtickets.com. It’s also a celebration of the 40th anniversary of their well-loved tandem.
Pops and Martin are proof that you can still be happy even without an “ever after” if you let love feel like friendship.
The author (center) with the former couple during their younger days.
Here’s my chat with Martin:
What makes this V-Day concert different from all the previous Martin-Pops concerts?
“Pops and I have been through so much in our separate lives as well as our lives being, ‘un-together,’ together. Living life un-together with Pops has always been a learning experience filled with stormy weather mixed together with the joy of watching our boys grow up. We experience the growing pains of life un-together and this, ‘Pops and Martin concert,’ will be a concert with the more seasoned love team.”
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What’s the biggest love lesson that you learned from Pops?
“Oh wow, there are too many to mention. Love lessons are not taught and are not learned with roses and a box of chocolates. Of the many, the one that stands out is this: You can not really love unless you have forgiveness in your heart. I am not saying I am forgiven. All I am saying is that there is forgiveness in heart to still produce shows with me yes, but most especially forgiveness enough to accept and love my Santino unconditionally. This is the most important and most precious love lesson.”
How has Anj redefined love for you?
“No one person redefines love. It’s places and situations that re-decorate and re-landscape love and we all can’t help but fall…
“Anj calms my soul and actually likes what I do. She supports me in all I do and knows the weight she has to help me carry with my very public past and excess baggage.
“And all (these) under the judgmental eyes of strangers on social media. She does all this while loving every day we spend together, making memories even while doing nothing at all. Her crazy matches my crazy.”
What’s your advice to estranged couples on how to remain friends like Pops and you are?
“Remember God put you together for a reason. If you can’t honor the rules and expectations of a marriage at least honor God’s original plan for you as a couple.
“It takes the bigger person of the two to make this. And he or she has to take the lead and make things work no matter how much that hurts. In our case, that is Pops. She is a gem.”
Are you open to the idea of getting married again or once is enough?
“This should not be a plan. It should be something that happens organically and that is when the time is right. If you plan on it, it will never happen.”
What’s one love advice that you live by?
“Forgive and never forget. Love until it hurts. Be the giver not the taker. Love unconditionally.”
It’s amazing that Anj supports your on stage tandem with Pops and that she and Pops are friends. How did that all fall into place?
“This is not an easy task. It wasn’t then when Pops had someone special in her life and it’s not easy now for Anj. I think Anj loves me more than the love team and knows it’s part of my career.
“I made it very clear to Anj a long time ago that of the many things that come with me, it’s my family that came first and all the elements that were part of my career before we fell in love. I know it’s not easy for her, but she does it for me. How can you not love her.
“And as far as their friendship? If you know Pops, she is friends with all her exes’ partners. That shows you what kind of person Pops is.”
If ever Pops will remarry, what’s your message to her hubby-to-be?
“Dude! She is the new and improved. Make sure you hang on to this woman. Let her breathe, let her dream and let her do what she was doing before you married her.
“Be her support and never dictate or demand. She has risen from the ashes and is a victorious woman! Let her fly and you will fly with her I promise.”
‘Her Locket’ a must-watch for Tsinoys
As Chinese New Year beckons, a Tsinoy-themed movie, “Her Locket (HL)” will open in cinemas on Jan 22.
A joint venture of Rebecca Chuaunsu Film Production and Rebelde FilmsHL, it’s a family drama inspired by a true story. It garnered eight awards — Best Film, Best Director and Best Screenplay, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress, Best Production Design, Best Cinematography, and Best Ensemble Acting — at Sinag Maynila Film Festival last Sept.
Lead actress Rebecca Chuaunsu also won two international Best Actress awards — from Festival International du Film Transsaharien de Zagora in Morocco and Wu Wei Taipei International Filipino Film Festival in Taiwan
Also in the cast are Elora Españo, Boo Gabunada, Sophie Ng and Benedict Cua.
The story centers on a Chinese woman suffering from dementia. She is able to gradually recall memories from her past with the aid of a locket necklace. It reminds us that even when the mind forgets, the heart remembers.
I chanced upon National Artist for Film and Broadcast Arts, Ricky Lee, at HL’s premiere so I asked him to share his thoughts about the film.
Here goes: “Being a Tsinoy, I could easily relate to ‘Her Locket.’ But it can also speak to any nationality, since it speaks of the importance of family, and of the redemption that love and forgiveness offer us.
“I was especially touched when Jewel gives her locket to her caregiver. It is proof that the human heart is capable of goodness that we can not even imagine or expect. Everyone should watch this film.”
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