MANILA, Philippines – It’s game over for the Kris Aquino- James Yap marriage. On ABS-CBN’s “The Buzz” last June 27, host Aquino declared: “This marriage is over on my part.” News about the separation had been swirling the past week – after co-host Boy Abunda revealed that Aquino failed to attend an event in Cebu due to marital problems.

Initially, basketball player Yap expressed “surprise” when asked about the rumor in a televised interview on Wednesday. “I think it’s best that I let Kris talk about personal matters,” he told ABS-CBN’s “TV Patrol.” On “The Buzz,” a show she co-hosted or 10 years, Aquino said: “Sumuko na ako (I’ve given up).” She, however, declined to delve into the “legal and personal” aspects of the separation for the sake of their two-year-old son Baby James. “I don’t want Baby James to find a video of my explanation on YouTube when he’s grown up,” Aquino said in the interview punctuated by tears and laughter. “Apart from God, the only person I am answerable to is Baby James. I want him to respect me and his father.”

“I want to keep silent for now,” she kept insisting. Still, for 15 minutes or so, Aquino held the audience in thrall, expounding on the many reasons she had chosen to hold her peace. “My decision to keep quiet is not because my brother Noynoy will be sworn in on June 30,” she stressed. Benigno Aquino III is set to take his oath as the country’s 15th president then.

She said her main consideration was whether Baby James would “understand, respect and love”
her in spite of her decision. “I think Baby James would understand, respect and love me more.”
On the same show, Aquino bade goodbye to “The Buzz.” She joked that she hoped to be back
on the showbiz-oriented talk show after six years, when her brother’s term ends. “Who knows, with the help of science,

I may still look good. But then again, six years from now, maybe I’m the one who’ll be sworn in.” Realizing she had unleashed a mouthful, she quickly backtracked: “Joke lang. Baka may magalit na naman (Someone might get mad again).” She was obviously referring to Kris Aquino’s Despedida, a Facebook page that has attracted 28,516 members so far calling for her departure not only from “The Buzz” and local show biz, but from the country.