Bea Alonzo. Image: Screengrab from YouTube/1521 Movie Official
The manager of Bea Alonzo is not done with her tirades against the producer of her film “1521: The Quest for Love and Freedom,” as her camp further belied allegations that she had “unreasonable demands” during filming such as bringing in extra people at the expense of the filmmaker.
On the second part of the interview by Philippine Entertainment Portal, Alonzo’s manager Shirley Kuan admitted that the actress indeed brought in more staff to assist her during filming, but denied that she had the producers foot the bill for their lodging, food and other expenses.
“It’s up to the artist, in this instance si Bea, kung gusto nya magdala ng dagdag nyang tao, alam nya na dapat sagot nya. So bakit namin ide-demand? Kaya nagulat ako sinabi na nagdemand kami na dapat bayaran yon. Bat namin idedemand kung wala na sa usapan yon? Wala na sa responsibility nila yon,” she said.
(It’s up to the artist, for this instance Bea, if they want to add more people while filming. She is aware that she should foot the bill, so why would we demand that of the producers? This is why I was shocked when they claimed that we demanded reimbursement. Why would we demand when it wasn’t part of the deal? Thats not their responsibility.)
Kuan said it was Alonzo’s prerogative to bring in her own people on the set in Palawan “for her comfort and safety,” being far away from her comfort zone, and the producers had no objections to that and even extended help in facilitating the booking of her team at their chosen lodging.
“She needed these people and she knows na dapat sagot nya — from airfare, to their hotel, to their food —everything sagot nya. And, wala kaming hiningi sa producer kahit ano. There’s only one favor we asked: tulungan nyo kami mag book sa hotel. Tinulungan naman tayo, so pano naging ‘unreasonable’ yun?” she said.
(It’s Bea’s decision to bring extra people… She’s in Palawan so she needed these people. She knows she needs to shoulder everything, from airfare, hotel, to their food. She paid for everything. We didn’t ask for anything from the producer, except to help us book a hotel for her team. They helped us with that, so how was that unreasonable?)
Bea Alonzo with Hector Davod Jr. and other co-stars in “1521”. Image from Instagram / @hecdavidjr
Kuan said Alonzo even ordered food for everyone in her team as a reward for working hard. She had asked the hotel kitchen to prepare lunch, dinner and even snacks for herself and her team for the whole duration of the filming.
“Bea paid for the food for herself and her team… Pero kelangan ko pa bang ibalita yan sa lahat? We’ve been quiet. So bakit nila binabaliktad, para lang may publicity? Ganun ba, babaligtarin nyo (producer)? Mangiimbento kayo ng kwento?” she said in answer to claims that her talent had asked for “VIP” (very important person) treatment on the set.
(Bea paid for the food for herself and her team, but do I really need to drumbeat that to all? We’ve been quiet. So why are they turning things around, for publicity? Is that it, you will invest issues?)
Kuan, however, said thatAlonzo and her team had “been quiet” when the film was in production, although she hinted that they sought legal help in dealing with their concerns behind the scenes.
“Anong VIP treatment, eh basic nga ‘yung hinihingi sa shoot. Is that supposed to be a demand? Costume nga, ‘di magawa… Gusto lang talaga nila siraan si Bea kasi nagi-imbento na,” she concluded.
(What kind of VIP treatment, when those were basic needs during the shoot. Is that supposed to be a demand? They can’t even make their costumes well. They just want to ruin Bea’s reputation so they resorted to making up claims.)
Bea Alonzo. Image: screengrab from Facebook/1521 The Movie
The talent manager also responded to film producer Francis Ho’s claim that Alonzo’s co-star Danny Trejo allegedly had no complaints regarding the film production, and was even promoting the movie in all his social media pages.
“Good for you because I don’t know the deal. I don’t know his (Ho) deal with Danny [Trejo],” Kuan said. “What can I say? Lalaki pati ‘yan. Iba ang needs ng babae. Hindi ko alam ang usapan nila, hindi kami kasama sa deal na ‘yan. Eh kami nga, finul-fill namin ang needs ng contract. Over-fulfilled nga kami eh.”
(Good for you because I don’t know the deal. I don’t know his deal with Danny Trejo… What can I say? He’s a man. A woman has different needs. I don’t know what they discussed, we’re not part of that deal. But we fulfilled our end of the deal. We even over-fulfilled it.)
Ho’s camp has yet to respond to Kuan’s clarifications, as of this writing, though his camp told INQUIRER.net that they are no longer inclined to respond to Alonzo’s camp for now. EDV