‘Temporary break’ a way for John Lloyd to learn life lessons, says director

John Lloyd Cruz

He is a good man. He will eventually come around,” said film and TV director Cathy Garcia-Molina of controversial actor John Lloyd Cruz, whom she worked with in 11 of the actor’s 30 movies.

The Inquirer sought Molina’s reaction in relation to Cruz’s recent decision to take a temporary break from show business shortly after his photos and videos with “Home Sweetie Home” costar Ellen Adarna went viral. Those that were first posted on Instagram featured a seemingly drunk Cruz singing and dancing wildly during a trip to Bantayan Island in Cebu, with Adarna and her friends.

“Everybody goes through something in life at some point. If this is the way for him to learn life lessons, so be it. I think this is merely a phase,” said Molina during the press conference of her latest Star Cinema movie, “Seven Sundays.”

Molina said she last spoke with Cruz “way before these things came out. He is like that—he will not make his presence felt when he is depressed or going through something difficult. You’ll see him when he’s happy.”

The two last worked together in the 2016 rom-com “Just the 3 of Us,” which also starred Jennylyn Mercado.

The director said she sent Cruz a message that said “I love you, and you know that,” but did not get a reply. “He still has my love, respect and friendship. He knows that I’ll be here whenever he needs me,” Molina pointed out. “He may be a popular actor, but he’s also a human being. Just like the rest of us, he makes mistakes, falls but eventually gets up. As to why he decided to leave, I’m sure he has valid reasons.”

Molina, meanwhile, said she was seriously considering retiring when her contract with ABS-CBN expires in February 2019.

“I want to spend more time with my kids,” explained the director, who hoped to relocate to New Zealand. “They’re 11 and 12. I have not been with them in their formative years. I’m a single parent, and getting old here in the Philippines is tough. I don’t want to just rely on my partner to take care of all of us.”

The director refused to reveal the identity of her boyfriend, “because he is a very private person.” Molina’s husband, Philip, died in a car crash in 2009 in Baguio City.