Ogie Diaz defends his former talent Liza Soberano over controversial statements
Ogie Diaz cleared the air after his former talent Liza Soberano's recent statements landed her in hot water with the Filipino public.
In a March 7 video posted on his YouTube channel, the manager responded to his then talent's statement about love teams on Bea Alonzo's now-viral vlog. The latter opened up in her Lie Detector interview about feeling limited career-wise by her love team with on-and-offscreen partner Enrique Gil. She even recalled losing Hello, Love, Goodbye—a project she really wanted—to Kathryn Bernardo because something else was slated for LizQuen.
Asked by co-host Loi Villarama (also known as Mama Loi) if Liza and Enrique were indeed the first choices for the film, Ogie confirmed that this is the truth.
"Dahil merong gagawing proyekto si Liza, parang ito yata 'yung panahon ng Darna na pelikula muna bago naging teleserye. Sa totoo lang, nakapag-shoot na si Liza ng Darna with Erik Matti. May Bagani sila tapos na-ano pa nga 'yung daliri ni Liza. So obviously hindi na siya natuloy," he explained.
Ogie continued that the project probably just wasn't meant to be for Liza: "Kaya nga lang, 'di ba, ako nga, Loi, naniniwala ako na kapag hindi ukol, hindi bubukol. Lagi akong naniniwala sa ganyan, na merong ibang project pa na nakalaan para sa'yo."
Mama Loi also mentioned Liza's seemingly conflicting statements regarding screen tandems when she responded to Bea's question if she felt limited by her own love team.
"Ang sagot niya doon, oo. Pero ang sumunod niyang kwento, ito: na habang ginagawa nila 'yung Bagani, narinig niya na pinitch 'yung pelikulang Hello, Love, Goodbye kay Enrique Gil at kay Kathryn Bernardo. Hindi daw siya pumayag. Hindi siya pumayag dahil ayaw niyang mabuwag 'yung love team. Pero ngayon feeling niya nakahon siya dahil siya ay na sa love team. Ano ba talaga, girl?" Mama Loi said.
The co-host then read the complete quote card to Ogie and said he got confused by it all. "Nalito ako. Parang sabi niya nega para sa kaniya ang mga love team, pero nung panahon na 'yon, ayaw niyang maghihiwalay sila ni Enrique Gil. Ano ba talaga?"
Ogie then took his former talent's side.
"In fairness to Liza, magkaiba 'yon, Loi. Ito sinabi niya ngayon. 'Yung dati sinabi niya noon, na kumbaga, umiinit pa lang ang love team nila or mainit na 'yung love team nila at gusto lang nilang strike while the iron is hot. Sasamantalahin nila 'yung lakas ng kanilang love team. 'Yun 'yon," Ogie clarified.
He said he can't simply counter Liza as her talent manager, otherwise, they would just be butting heads. "Iba kasi ang interpretasyon ko diyan sa interpretasyon ni Liza kasi, 'di ba, 'yun ang sinasabi ni Liza. Ako bilang dating manager, kailangan ko siyang unawain, na 'yun ang pinupunto ng bata kahit isiksik natin sa utak niya na ito naman dapat maintindihan mo 'to Liza na ganito sa showbiz, na hindi pwedeng 'yung gusto mo ay kailangan laging iiral," the talent manager summed up.
As for love teams, Ogie said the concept has its place in Philippine showbiz.
"Since matagal na rin po ako dito sa industriya, ako, masasabi ko lang nakakahiya naman kung may love team tapos hindi naman nag-grow. Hindi naman sumikat. Hindi naman tinangkilik. So mas maganda na ipagpasalamat natin 'yung love team na nangyari ito," he concluded.
The LizQuen tandem debuted in the teleserye Forevermore in 2014. Though Liza and Enrique will celebrate their ninth anniversary this year, they only revealed their relatively private relationship in February 2019. Liza first admitted publicly on Vice Ganda's TV show Gandang Gabi Vice that they have been together since 2014.