Grace Mendoza under pressure

CHARICE’S personal assistant, Courtney Blooding (left), now her “new point of contact”; at right, the singer with her original Philippine manager, Grace Mendoza, in 2010.

On July 31 we received a phone call from Grace Mendoza who, at that time, was still the Philippine manager of international pop singer Charice.

“This is not about Charice,” clarified Grace, who usually contacts the Inquirer whenever her ward was due to arrive from abroad for an engagement or an event in Manila. Grace—a public relations practitioner by profession—said she needed help for a product launch that was totally unrelated to her management duties for Charice.

Curt, cutting

Was Grace already aware by then that she and Charice would soon part ways?

A week later, on Aug. 7, Charice posted a curt announcement on Twitter: “Grace is no longer my manager. I thank her for the work and time she has spent with me.”

Since then, and up till press time, Grace has handled whatever pressure she is dealing with, by opting to remain silent. She has neither picked up the Inquirer’s repeated calls nor replied to our SMS about the issue, which is quite complicated because it was Charice’s mother, Raquel Pempengco, who hired Grace to manage the singer. Even Oprah Winfrey—Charice’s US benefactor—respected the arrangement by asking David Foster to find a separate manager for Charice’s international projects while Grace remained in charge of local shows and events.

CHARICE’S personal assistant, Courtney Blooding (left), now her “new point of contact”; at right, the singer with her original Philippine manager, Grace Mendoza, in 2010.

One thing is clear: Charice, 20, is determined to declare absolute independence by appointing her erstwhile personal assistant, Courtney Blooding, as “my new point of contact.” Pocholo Concepcion