Awarded actress and former Quezon City Councilor Aiko Melendez is a renewed Christian. She was baptized several months ago (movie/TV actress Coney Reyes was her discipler) and is now an active member of the Victory church. It was Piolo Pascual, her costar in the now defunct “Apoy sa Dagat,” who paved a path for Aiko on her way to rediscovering her faith.
“I keep seeing Piolo read the Bible so one time I asked him to give me a Bible. Binigyan niya ako. I have Bibles already in my house pero hindi ko siya binabasa. Parang display lang,pangontra ng mga bad spirits. So sabi ko parang it’s about time na magkaroon ako ng personal relationship with God so I started reading the Bible he gave me tapos tuloy-tuloy na,” explained Aiko.
So what has changed?
“Mas naging magaan ang pagtingin ko sa buhay kasi dati when I hear negative things I allow them to eat out the best in me. Now I lift them all up to God. Kapag hindi para sa akin ang isang bagay, there are better things for me to come,” she replied.
Aiko admitted that life is “harder” as a Christian, particularly a celebrity, because there are a lot of temptations in the industry.
“But when you know the word of God mas alam mo ang gaga- win mo. Minsan hindi mo naman gustong gawin pero kailangan mo lang gawin, now ‘yung stand mo talaga mas matibay! Sobrang big step and I’m very happy,” described Aiko.
Another “big step” in Aiko’s life – an indie film titled “Asintado” by his director friend Louie Ignacio. She was hand-picked by the director himself to play the female lead in “Asintado,” an entry in the Director’s Showcase category of the 2014 Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival, which will commence Aug. 1.
“Maganda ‘yung story ng ‘Asintado.’ It is a story about a mother na sobrang mahal na mahal niya ang mga anak niya. Meron akong autistic child dito at si Jake Vargas ‘yung isa kong anak na na-involve sa drug syndicate. So I have to make a choice then na whether makapatay ang anak ko or hayaan kong makapatay ‘yung i s a n g anak ko naman. So ‘yun ang dilemma, ” she shared. Playing her autistic son is Migs Cuaderno.
Others in the cast are Gabby Eigenmann, Rita de Guzman, Rochelle Pangilinan and Jak Roberto.
“Asintado” is produced by Jose Mari Abacan, Elvira Yap Go, Oliverio Laperal Jr., Luisito Lagdameo Ignacio with Dennis Evangelista as Line Producer. It is written by Socorro
