This is in reply to what my daughter Bea Rose Santiago had falsely and maliciously said during her interview last Sunday(January 5, 2014) in the Buzz ng Bayan. Also, this is an overdue reply to all the innuendos that had been levelled against me by Bea’s mother Ophelia Monterde who deceitfully uses her deceased mother’s name in her Facebook account. I would like to point out that I am issuing this statement not to ride on the “popularity” of my daughter, I have kept silent for a long time but I can no longer stand the lies and malicious imputations that are being hurled against me by my own flesh and blood.

To set the records straight, I never abandoned my children. After my former wife was forced to resign from her post in the Provincial Hospital of Masbate due to some anomalies. I, with the help of one of my siblings sent her to school to take up a caregiver course. After that my father contributed part of his retirement money in paying for my ex-wife’s plane fare to Canada in 2000. I was left with our children to stay with my parents in law while I was then waiting to be hired for job overseas. My ex-wife who had been often fired from her job due to poor work ethic, would seldom send money to help me feed our children and worse, she would course them through her parents, not to me. This is diametrically opposed to what I did when I was then working as a seafarer overseas wherein I would remit almost all my earnings to her just to let her and our children have a taste of the good life. I could no longer bear seeing my children suffer and be deprived of the good life they used to have and so I, with the permission of their mother, found a way to get to Japan and earned a living. During those times, I was the one supporting my children as my ex-wife who could barely have a stable job unfortunately met an accident that further confounded her work problems. I regularly send money for my children, for their board and lodging, as well as for their tuition fees. During their birthdays I would ask one of my siblings to bring them lechon.

As early as 2004, I already heard rumors that my ex wife was having an extra-marital affair but because of my blind love then for my ex wife this I refused to believe at the outset. The rumors, however, did not die down and I was moved to tears when my twin brother confronted me with the confirmation from our kababayans in Cataingan who reside in Canada. Later in that year, my ex wife called me and asked me that I accompany ourchildren to join her in Canada. Being so mad of her infidelity and irresponsibility, I told her point blank I could not allow our children to be with her much less could I join them to live in Canada and suffer the humiliation of seeing her with her paramour. Later, due however, to her assurance the she would take care of everything once the children landed in Canada, I finally agreed to allow them to leave for Canada and so I signed a DSWD document regarding said matter and I even paid for all their airfare. As a father, it was very painful for me to allow them to go to Canada but I took that pain thinking that it would be for their better future and for their best interest. Moreover, I made that decision to maintain my self-respect and honor as well as to avoid any untoward confrontation with my ex wife and her paramour. True enough, when my children got there in March 2006 they found out that their mother was living in with someone else and my heart bled to learn that my children were constrained to live in one roof with their mother’s common law partner.

I was deeply hurt and disappointed by the betrayal but I consoled myself with the thought that maybe my children will have a better future in Canada, better than what I can possibly provide. For more than ten(10) years I have already moved on enjoying a quiet and peaceful life. I avoided saying a word to my children as to how many times I’ve been hurt and betrayed by their mother in the past. I never had the chance to share my pain and sufferings with them as I do not want to run after their mother knowing that she already sought comfort in another man.

During those years that I could hardly communicate with my children she managed to brainwash my children into thinking that I left them for another woman when the truth is, that it is their mother who is living in with another man. How she managed to remain immaculate in the eyes of my children is something I cannot fathom. I could only surmise that her disorderly psychological make up brought about by the accident that befell on her, not to mention her frustrations for not being able to win me back to her life had affected badly her way in forming the minds of our children. Perhaps Bea and so too my ex wife must realize that in life “one cannot have her cake and eat it too.”

The character of my ex-wife is so manipulative and cunning that even I was deceived when she came to the Philippines sometime 2010. My father in law died and she came home with my youngest child, my only son. The thought of spending time with my son made me very excited and happy so I made myself readily available to them. I spent time with my son and ex-wife like there was no bitter past behind us. I took them to places, I was at their beck and call and I even asked my brother to take them in his house in Quezon City while they were vacationing in Manila after my father- in-law’s burial.

Everything was fine, I supported her whims and caprices. I didn’t mind selling my Rolex watch so that I can make sure that they are having a grand vacation. I was so glad spending time with my son then that I had been carried away to the point of letting him feel my being a father and being a husband again to my ex wife. We even resumed intimate relations ( I have pictures and witnesses to confirm this) and she promised me that she would help me get to Canada so that we could rebuild our family. After she left, I started working on getting a new passport but to my surprise I never heard from her.

Then came the time when Bea signified her intention of joining the Mutya ng Pilipinas. This was in December 2011. I was happy to be reunited with my first born, she lived in the house of my brother and I would visit her and drive her daily to events that she needed to attend. I provided transportation for her townmates who came to Manila just to watch the coronation night. My siblings and their spouses were present during the coronation night together with the relatives of my ex-wife. Not only me but even my siblings provided her monetary support like plane fare, her tools in talent portion for the Mutya pageant, not to mention beauty products she needs for her beauty regimen. Thus, it is quite astounding that she would claim that she never received support from me or my family when we have pictures to show for it.

Then came the Binibining Pilipinas, she had to comply with the six month residency requirement so she lived in my brother’s house in Quezon City. All the while I was the one providing everything that she needs until she told me that she wanted to transfer to a condominium in Cubao as she was complaining that the house of her uncle is quite far from Cubao. I heeded her request, I paid for the downpayment to the condo and monthly fees. Whenever she needs money she just asks her cousin who works for me to inform me about it and I immediately send her what she needs.
There was a time when she came back from Palawan and was hospitalized for alleged dengue or skin allergy, I had to travel immediately to Manila to check on her and I was the one who paid for all the hospital bills. Again if that is not support then I do not know what is?

The tides changed when she asked for 300 thousand pesos in the early part of 2013 purposely to spend for her facial enhancements. I told her I could not produce such a big amount as I was then running for Councilor and I needed to have funds to support my campaign which had been depleted as a result of the huge expenses I shouldered for her pageant preparation. From then on, she turned cold and even colder when her mother arrived and she won the title. I and some siblings who came home from abroad just to support her attended the coronation night but we all felt her and her mother’s indifference.

I sent her a text message a few days after the pageant but never received a reply. I again sent her a message and I told her I am not after anything that she has nor am I looking to ride on her popularity. I won the elections without her support and without any text message showing concern or that she is happy for my success. From then on, we never had any communication. So her statement that she has forgiven me is utterly false. Moreover, I never asked for her forgiveness as I have not sinned against her or her siblings. Clearly, Bea is out to bent her rancor not only upon a politician who declined her demanding request but even to her very own father who has fed and unconditionally loved her. It pains me that while under the custody of her mother she had metamorphosed into a Frankenstein who does not take qualm in killing any person, not even the person whom she has known as his father. I regret to say that in falsely depicting about her family history through live TV coverage, Bea remains insatiable with Ms. International Crown as she is trying hard to sell this cheap gimmick. In doing so, she is no better than Salome who rendered an obscene dance before Herod in exchange for the head of John the Baptist.

Worst, Bea’s mother would shamelessly claim that she has sacrificed a lot to secure a better future for our children but how come Bea had to obtain a student loan just to support her studies. And if all of you are living comfortably and affluently in Canada how come you have to run to me and ask for support in all your pageant activities, that is, despite your accusations that I have abandoned you and that you were affected psychologically by it.

The people of Mandaon, Masbate can attest to the fact that they often see you here in our town spending time with our relatives. In fact, after winning the Mutya title in 2011, you spent the new year here with us in Mandaon. Again, if you claim that you had a hard time finding forgiveness in your heart for me how come you can bear staying with me on this special occasion. Is it not contradictory?

All said, I never wanted to wash our family’s dirty linens in public but you, Bea pushed me to the wall. I am a public official in our town and it affects my credibility that you paint a picture of an irresponsible father on me when I have not done anything to take advantage of you or your perceived popularity. Also I am concerned about how the web of lies you spread on the media will affect my family members. My father is already in his twilight years and he finished serving the public with his name untainted. My siblings are professionals. It pains them to hear Bea concocting a tale in which I am being put in bad light to suit her thirst for fame and perhaps to sell a story to “Maalaala Mo Kaya”. We never wanted to thread this water but she is dragging us here with her irresponsible and scurrilous statements. For this, I reserve my right to avail of judicial remedies.

Before resorting thereto, I want Bea to retract her malicious statements and make a public apology for she is a loose canon that is firing in all directions. I do not dismiss the fact that the termination of my relationship with her mother may have had psychological effect on her especially the years she was exposed to her mother’s bitterness but it cannot justify her immature behaviour.

I do not wish to be acknowledged, I just want myself and family to be left alone. We are living modest lives and we do not wish to be used in her publicity stunts. I just want to set out what is true since Bea’s false public statement casts doubt on my honor and integrity as a person, as public official and as a law abiding citizen. If you Bea want to deny the veracity of all the points I raised in my statements despite the replete evidence I have in my possession, I challenge you to do so UNDER OATH. If not, you owe me, the public, as well as the Binibining Pilinas Charities, Inc. a sincere apology. Your propensity to lie just like your mother may cost you your Ms. International Crown!