Cathy Garciai-Molina (Photo by CLARIZEL ABANILLA / INQUIRER.net
Dubbed as the “blockbuster director” for her streak of top-grossing films, Cathy Garcia-Molina has given this generation some of the most heart-melting, kilig-overload, romantic comedies. But because nothing is ever permanent, directorial life for her is also about to see its end.
Molina’s contract with ABS-CBN will last until 2019, and as it expires, so will her movie-making career.
But fans of her movies need not to despair just yet. After her latest film “Unexpectedly Yours,” led by Sharon Cuneta and Robin Padilla, she is still slated to do one more before her contract ends.
“[I’m supposed to do another] KathNiel [movie] for as long as papasok siya dun sa contract ko na Feb 2019 so kung magkasya pa tatlong movies dun okay naman,” she said at a bloggers’ conference on her movie on Thursday. “Ang problema ko lang, meron akong obligasyon sa TV. I also have to make soap operas. May utang akong isa sa TV so I think I will do that the first quarter of next year and then the entire year, meron pa rin.”
The main reason for her retirement is her children. After over two decades of outstanding film and TV career, the blockbuster director this time is bent on turning away from the limelight to just be a plain housewife.
“Yes, final na siya [my retirement],” she said. “I have to take care of my children muna. I’m not closing my doors naman. Halimbawa napunta ko dun, narealize ko that this life is not for me or I miss making films I can always go back.”
“Gagamitin ko ang dialogue ni Basha: ‘I don’t want to live with my what ifs anymore, I want to know what is.’ Mula ng ikinasal ako pinangarap ko na maging housewife – 25 years ko na pangarap maging house wife. It has never come true. I’d like to be a housewife. Malay niyo ilang buwan lang andito na ulit ako,” she added.
Starting her career in 1992, she has given 25 years of her life to the industry. Now, she’s giving TV work and filmmaking two more years so when the time comes that all her professional obligations conclude, she can finally be just a mom to her growing children.
“My children are important that’s why I’m giving the rest of my years to them,” she added.
What’s more, she not only would sign off permanently from her job as a director, she and her kids are also set to migrate to a different country. Molina feels she can only devote all of her time to her children only if she’s assured that their future is secure even if she completely stops working.
“Ang tanging alam ko ay I cannot stay in the Philippines anymore,” she said. “I’m a single mom, if I don’t work to be able to give my children time, we will die. There is no free education here, no free hospitalization, no subsidy from the government, I cannot. But because I want to give them my time, then I a country that gives me free education, free hospitalization and subsidy pag wala kang trabaho. That’s why unang-una is lilipat kami, aalis talaga kami ng bansa to find that country who can support a single mom like me. Na hindi titigil sa pag-aaral mga anak ko, pangalawa, give them time.”
Further illustrating the weight of her situation is a recent problem she had with her daughter in school.
“[It’s] personal and it was sad for a mother to know that one of the reasons why my daughter was like that was because I don’t give her time,” she said.
“These are the things na hindi ko gusto sa trabahong meron ako. As much as I want to give you films, mga anak ko kawawa. I have to think of them,” she added.
However, her 25-year career isn’t complete yet as there’s still one actor she has yet to direct.
“May isa kong utang, si Piolo [Pascual],” she said. “Dati pa, bago ko mag-retire sabi niya sa kin: ‘Direk baka naman pwede bago ko mag-senior citizen gumawa naman tayo ng pelikula.’ Sabi ko: ‘Oo naman!’ ‘Yun ang problema ko: Kasi wala siya sa lineup ko next year. If ever babalik ako, for him.”
Among Molina’s most memorable films are “Seven Sundays,” “My Ex and Whys,” “Four Sisters and a Wedding,” “My Amnesia Girl,” “Unofficially Yours,” “You Are The One,” “My Only U,” “Close To You,” “Forever and a Day,” “Miss You Like Crazy,” and “Bcuz of U.”
She is mostly revered for her iconic sequels – such as the John Lloyd Cruz-Sarah Geronimo trilogy “A Very Special Love,” “You Changed My Life,” and “It Takes a Man and a Woman.”
But her most phenomenal films would have to be Cruz and Bea Alonzo’s millennial smash hit “One More Chance,” which had its sequel almost a decade after with “A Second Chance.”
Produced by Star Cinema, “Unexpected Yours” is currently showing in cinemas nationwide. /atm
RELATED