Manila Times/Manila


Just like many had predicted, ‘Queen of All Media’ Kris Aquino would not be able to follow through with her decision to quit show business.
In a statement sent by ABS-CBN Head of Corporate Communications Bong Osorio, the network and the ‘Queen of All Media’ has finally reached an agreement after several meetings. She has agreed to take a leave of absence instead.
According to the statement, the leave of absence “will allow her to spend quality time with Bimby in June, when he is on school break, and to bring Josh abroad to advance his developmental progress.”
While the duration of the leave was not specified, the statement continued, “After her leave, Kris will honour her responsibilities and will fulfill her contractual commitments to ABS-CBN without impairing her role as a mother.”
President Benigno Aquino’s youngest sister announced she would resign from all her shows on ABS-CBN’s TV Patrol on March 21 amid a highly publicised legal dispute with estranged husband, PBA player James Yap and the father of her son, Bimby. Josh is Kris’ elder son with actor Philip Salvador.
The rest of the statement read: “ABS-CBN and Kris Aquino have met several times to discuss her intention to resign. ABS-CBN fully understands Kris’ desire to be the best mother to Bimby and Josh. On the other hand, ABS-CBN values Kris as an iconic talent and a respected national media personality. Both parties recognise her responsibilities to the public, her co-workers and to the advertisers.”
The question now is, did she mean it or was it all for show?
This was after Manila Times clarified with Osorio in a telephone interview yesterday whether there was any legal impediment to Kris’ resignation from ABS-CBN, to which he said no. According to the labour law, a company can only refuse an employee’s resignation if it is clearly stipulated that he or she cannot do so.
With Kris being a prized talent of ABS-CBN, Osorio added that the network clearly did not want to lose her, which is why they called for a series of meetings with the actress. When asked who brought up the idea of a leave of absence, the top executive replied that it was a “mutual decision,” owing to the good relationship fostered between the network and the talent for many years.
To this, Kris’ critics now say that if she really wanted to resign, nothing and no one should stop her.
The 43-year-old celebrity currently has three shows for ABS-CBN—the daily morning show Kris TV; a foreign franchise Pilipinas Got Talent, and the primetime drama Kailangan ko’y Ikaw, which is in its final week.
While Kris’ resignation was never deemed irrevocable (she replied to news anchor Ted Failon that she cannot ‘speak about forever’ when he asked, if she was leaving show business for good), her very tearful announcement in the presence of her sisters Ballsy, Pinky and Viel on national TV showed that she was adamant.
Many industry observers maintained that no matter how serious Kris had been about leaving showbiz to pursue a quieter life, she cannot walk away from the industry that easily.
While she can resign from her contract with ABS-CBN, many of her endorsement deals are ironclad, according to her manager for television commercials, Boy Abunda.
Meanwhile, a source close to Kris said that the actress and host might have simply been overtaken by her emotions when she announced her resignation, pointing out that she had said on TV Patrol that she only made the decision to quit showbiz on her way to the interview, and without consulting anyone.
“Maybe it’s not as black and white. Let’s give Kris the benefit of the doubt; she probably just wasn’t able to think it through at the time,” added the source.