Heart Evangelista would rather walk down the aisle alone if dad Reynaldo Ongpauco won’t join her.
“No matter what… I will be walking down the aisle. By myself if my dad [doesn’t come] because no one can replace him,” the actress said in a one-on-one interview with Inquirer Lifestyle last week.
Heart said her decision is final.
“Paninindigan ko ito… I have to be brave and I’m not gonna be walking with anybody if my dad’s not there,” she stressed.
Heart is set to wed Sen. Francis “Chiz” Escudero on Feb. 15, a day after she turns 30 next year.
Despite the much-publicized proposal that took place two weeks ago, the pamamanhikan has yet to take place. “Pamamanhikan” is the Filipino tradition in which the groom and his family ask the bride’s parents for her hand in marriage.
“Hindi pa namin napag-usapan, the pamamanhikan or the wedding itself,” the actress said.
Still, Heart is thankful that she is now on speaking terms with her parents who initially expressed disapproval of their youngest hija’s relationship with the senator.
“Better na kami pero parang one day at a time. Chiz and I really don’t know if they’ll go to the wedding. They gave us their blessing; that’s good enough for me,” Heart said.
She is still unsure on whether she will observe that other nuptial tradition of wearing “something borrowed,” like jewelry from her mom, on her wedding day.
“We don’t know how my relationship with my mom’s gonna turn out by that time; I don’t know if I can wear anything from her,” she said.
Heart noted that she, her mother and even Chiz’s mother, Sorsogon Rep. Evelina Escudero, are all fond of jewelry.
“My mom collects jewelry. Most of mine are from her,” she said.
At last week’s launch of her latest endorsement, Pond’s Dewy Rose Whitening Soft Gel, the actress gamely showed guests the diamond solitaire ring that Chiz gave her when he proposed last month.
“I’m super conscious about wearing it because everyone is looking at it. Maybe I have to get used to it. I’ve never been engaged. I’ve only been wearing it for over a week,” Heart said.
A closer inspection showed a brilliant stone that those familiar with jewelry valued to be around two carats or more.
Heart said the diamond belonged to her future mother-in-law, an heirloom from the congresswoman’s mother.
Representative Escudero was said to have had it reshaped into a heart.
To fit her engagement ring, the actress said Chiz “stole” one of her rings to get the finger size right and sent it to Hong Kong through “a friend of a friend” along with his mother’s ring.
The stone from Representative Escudero’s ring was then taken out of its setting and reset as a solitaire in a size 4 ring for Heart.
So, how is her relationship with the woman whose diamond she now wears?
“Mabait siya sa akin. Okay kami,” Heart said with a smile. Cathy Yamsuan