Image: Instagram/@jakezyrusmusic
Ogie Diaz recounted his experience with Jake Zyrus’ mom, Raquel Pempengco, after Jake’s life story was portrayed on TV in “Maalaala Mo Kaya” on Aug. 26.
The comedian and talent manager wrote in a Facebook post, “Bigla ko tuloy naalala yung Mommy ni Charice kung paano nitong pinagalit pa ang mga fans noon ng anak niya para i-bash ako nang i-bash sa twitter na muntik ko pang desisyunang i-deactivate ang account ko, dahil sobra na ang mga panlalait sa akin ng ilang fans (I remembered how Charice’s mom had her fans bash me on Twitter so much that I almost deactivated my account because of all the insults).”
He shared that they even used the hashtag #PokpokAngInaNiOgieDiaz (Ogie Diaz’s mother is a whore).
The reason?
“Sabi ko noon, feeling ko, tomboy si Charice na kung tutuusin, wala namang masama (I said back then that I felt that Charice was a tomboy, and there was nothing bad about it),” he revealed, saying that he expressed this on radio and in a newspaper. “Pero ayaw pumayag ng madir (Her mom would not hear of it)!”
“Tunay na babae daw ang anak niya. Hanggang sa ayan na nga, si Charice pa mismo ang umamin at pinalaya ang sarili (She said that her child was a straight girl. Until eventually, Charice admitted her own sexuality and liberated herself),” he said.
The entertainment writer couldn’t help injecting humor into his account: “Ako nga pag inaakusahang bakla, dinededma ko na lang, eh (In my case, just ignore it when I’m accused of being gay).”
Diaz, who is openly gay, manages actress Liza Soberano.
The “MMK” episode featured Jake’s struggles with his sexuality, and included experiences of abuse from his mother regarding his gender expression and providing financial support to his family.
Raquel has since said there was no truth to the story. /ra
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