MANILA, Philippines - US-based columnist Cora Pastrana was utterly surprised to learn that her former husband, Raymond Bagatsing, already has a girlfriend whom he publicly introduced in 2010 via “Showbiz Central.”
“That’s the shocker because I didn’t know that girlfriend," Pastrana said on the same show Oct. 23. "I have never heard of her or never met her. Siyempre, you’re sort of taken aback coz’ I don’t know that was going on if that was going on."
The columnist wishes Bagatsing had introduced his GF, Mexican-American Vanessa Ilka Cortez, later on.
“We are not divorced yet,” she explained, which ran counter to Bagatsing’s 2010 statement, thus: "Actually, ano lang ‘yon, mga four months lang ‘yon. Alam mo na, nagpakasal, nag-divorce. We move on.”
Pastrana said: "What I’m saying is, wait for it to happen, ‘di ba? There’s a process and you just respect that and you have to inform the other party who’s part of that marriage. Hindi puwede ‘yong you just go ahead and do what you want and say something that you want to say. Hind puwede ‘yong gnao’n. You have to respect the other party. ‘Yon lang naman ang sa akin because I’ve always been protective of him and I’ve always cared for him.”
Pastrana and Bagatsing got wed Nov. 21, 2008 at Gateway Sheraton Hotel in Los Angeles, California.
The US columnist said she agreed to be interviewed by Pia Guanio for “Showbiz Central” because “there are a lot of things I want to clarify, kasi ever since we got married there were so many speculations not only here but also in LA.
“I kept quiet because I’m very private as far as my private life is. But then there’s so many write-ups that came out here and [on the] Internet [that] were very offensive and speculative and very unfair, actually. And that really affected us,” she said.
The US-based writer for three publications shared that “noong dumating si Raymond doon noong 2006, he went there for several plays and engagements.
“Nag-apply siya[ng visa], on his own. There is such a thing as a visa for permanent residency for artists like him. They are aliens with exceptional talents and abilities. Tinulungan ko in the sense that ido-document ko siyempre iyan to prove he is worthy of that visa.”
In 2008, Raymond Bagatsing married a US based entertainment writer who is much older than he is, Cora Pastrana. In 2001, Bagatsing said that the marriage did not last four months and they got divorced. Pastrana was saying they are not divorced yet. Who is telling the truth?
Contrary to speculations, Pastrana said Bagatsing did not use her to be able to secure a green card while in the US.
“Hindi nga, eh, kaya nga it’s so unfair to him; of course, to me because para bang it’s all exploitation, ‘yon ang lumalabas. He’s used to being respected and admired as an exceptional artist and suddenly people are looking at him strangely like, ‘What’s wrong with this guy looking for mother?’”
Asked to describe what kind of relationship they had, Pastrana quipped, “It was something very beautiful I’d say.”
She elaborated: “Whatever we had, whether you call it friendship that turned into love – and it’s not something that people understand – we really bonded all [those] years.”
