Francine Diaz, Orange & Lemons’ Clem Castro on good terms after Mindoro gig

Francine Diaz (left) and Clem Castro of Orange & Lemons. Images: Instagram/@clemcastro, @francinesdiaz

The camps of Francine Diaz and Orange & Lemons have patched up their differences following the band’s alleged walkout at an event in San Jose, Occidental Mindoro, citing the incident as a “miscommunication” between both parties and the organizer.

Speaking to entertainment journalist MJ Felipe in an interview on ABS-CBN News’ YouTube channel, Diaz, Orange & Lemons’ vocalist Clem Castro, and the event’s organizer Kylee Dioneda shared their sides of the story to address what went wrong in the Mindoro event.

“Unang-una po sa lahat, humihingi po ako ng pasensya sa mga nangyari. Ito talaga ay miscommunication. Sobrang daming nangyari sa event and hindi namin maiwasan ang ganitong scenarios na nangyari,” Dioneda said.

(First of all, I would like to apologize for what happened. It was just a miscommunication. So many things happened in the event and it’s hard to avoid such scenarios.)

Orange & Lemons and Francine Diaz (right) | Image: Screengrab from Facebook livestream/LGU San Jose, Occidental Mindoro, Municipal Information Office

Per report, Orange & Lemons was supposed to perform before Diaz, whose appearance was scheduled between 9 p.m. and 10 p.m. But the actress’ camp asked the organizer if she could go ahead since she had to go back to Manila.

The request was granted, but the organizer wasn’t able to inform the band which eventually led to the now-viral incident.

Castro, on the other hand, said he requested a meeting with Dioneda, the local government and Occidental Mindoro’s vice governor to clear the air on what happened behind the scenes. At the time, Diaz had already gone back to Manila.

“The night after the show, when we woke up, everything exploded. I wanted to do a damage control because it’s getting out of hand. It’s so fast,” he said. “It’s a little frustrating and at the same time, stressful. I understand the gravity of the matter so I asked for an audience but Francine wasn’t there anymore. She went back to Manila.”

“I asked for an audience with the Vice Governor, with the local government, with Kylee to clear the air. We can understand totally what happened,” added Castro.

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On good terms

Castro said no formal statement was issued by the band after the event, as he stressed that the allegations swirling on social media had no “clear representation” of what truly happened.

“We discussed it internally… we never released any official statement because we didn’t want to treat ill of the fire. We didn’t want more assumptions, more judgments from the masses, music supporters, or fans. We do not want to cause further confusion,” he said.

Orange & Lemons. Image: Facebook/Everywhere We Shoot via Orange & Lemons

The musician then shared that he initiated a dinner meeting between the band, Diaz, their respective managers, and the team that organized the Mindoro event.

“There was tension. But when we started the meeting. Of course, I apologized for my actions,” he said. “There was a lapse of judgment on my part because of the miscommunication that Francine’s camp was requesting. But everyone was tired, we were tired. There was pressure. The show was two hours delayed.”

As all involved parties explained their sides of the story, Castro said “miscommunication” was the cause of the viral incident while noting the event is a “lesson learned” for concert producers and event organizers.

“Things got out of hand and out of control. I apologized for my behavior. I explained my side. They explained their side… it was a miscommunication,” Castro said. “Francine was just doing what she thought she was supposed to do. No judgment on that but there was a misunderstanding. It’s a lesson learned for everyone.”

Francine Diaz. Image: Instagram/@niceprintphoto, @francinesdiaz

For her part, Diaz said she wasn’t briefed by the organizers ahead of time which ended up in an “unorganized” event.

“Clearly, it’s miscommunication and an unorganized event. But we’re okay with Sir Clem. We’re okay now. But I said sorry to Sir Clem because, at the time, I wasn’t thinking properly,” Diaz said. “I should’ve acknowledged them but because of intimidation, I didn’t know what to do.”

The actress also apologized to Castro’s camp because it wasn’t her intention to disrespect anyone, but her being intimidated caused her to seem “disrespectful” to the involved parties.

“I hope everyone will just shut up and move forward,” she added. “Sir Clem offered na kung meron akong gagawing songs in the future, pwede siyang magsulat for me. At kung meron akong sinusulat, pwede niyang mas ayusin pa ‘yun.”

(I hope everyone will just shut up and move forward. Sir Clem offered that if I’m planning to release new music in the future, he can write for me. And if I would write my songs, he can help in polishing them.)

Diaz also offered Castro to attend the premiere night of her upcoming film “My Future You.”

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