February 27, 2025 | 12:00am
Emosyonal na nagbalik-tanaw si Iza Calzado ng kanyang pinagdaanan noong nabubuhay pa ang inang si Mary Ann Ussher. Bata pa lamang umano si Iza noon ay mayroong nagsabing baliw diumano ang ina.
“Mahirap pong karga ‘yon kasi may shame ‘yon eh. May takot at may shame na kasama ‘yon. Hindi ko rin siya maintindihan. It was embarrassing to hear that. Pero now you can’t even say that anymore. It’s no longer politically correct. It’s not humane,” pagbabahagi ni Iza sa amin sa Fast Talk with Boy Abunda.
Naging kontrobersyal ang pagkamatay ng ina ng aktres noon dahil hindi ito masyadong napag-usapan. “It was not talked about. I was new in the industry. So when they would ask me, I would just say, ‘She died.’ And they were always free to assume whatever they want to. So yes, in 2019, I lost my mother. She died by suicide. I don’t say it proudly. I don’t want to attach anything to it except truth, and grief of course. That’s the only thing I attach to it. No longer shame, nor fear, no longer worry, ‘coz at that time the worry was, what if that’s my path? How does that affect me? Alam mo ‘yon, Tito Boy, when people say, ‘I lost my mom to cancer.’ My mother was sick. She was bipolar. She battled with this since I was a child. Bata pa lamang po ako ay nakikita ko na ang laban ng nanay ko. Dilim, ilaw, dilim, ilaw, I didn’t understand the way I understand now. I had to face it, day in and day out. It comes with a lot of things, Tito boy,” pagdedetalye ng Kapuso actress.
Samantala, mahigit dalawang taong gulang na ngayon ang anak nina Iza at Ben Wintle na si Deia Amihan. Nangangamba ang aktres kung sakaling sundan ng anak ang kanyang mga yapak na sumabak din sa show business balang araw. “Ang dami kasing posibilidad. Let’s say, hindi dito sa Pilipinas, wala ang protection ko. Let’s say lang, pwedeng sexual assault, rape, somebody taking advantage of her. Somebody powerful. These are possibilities. But hindi ko kasi siya talaga iniisip, Tito Boy, masyado,” makahulugang paglalahad ni Iza.
Ang tanging dalangin ng aktres para sa anak ay maging matatag ito upang malampasan ang mga pagsubok na kahaharapin sa takdang panahon. “My prayer is this because I cannot stop life from happening for her. Not just to her, life happens for us, for a reason, to develop us. My prayer is for God to keep her strong. For her to be resilient, so that whatever happens in life, wherever life takes her, babangon at babangon siya. Kasi hindi natin po mapipigilan kung ano man, ang baraha, ang pag-ikot ng mundo. And my prayer is that she does things with the lightness of being that I got from my father and that I have inside me. Despite the struggles, have that lightness of being,” makahulugang pahayag ng aktres. (Reports from JCC)