MY CYBER DOMICILE

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Gracious and merciful God,
in a wonderful sacrament you have given us
a memorial of the passion of your Son
Jesus Christ;
grant that we who receive these sacred mysteries
may grow up into him in all things
until we come to your eternal joy;
through our Saviour Jesus Christ

who is alive with with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God now and for ever.
Amen

Agot's (Still) Got It
Twenty years into showbiz, Agot Isidro shares her secrets to longevity in career, health, and relationships

By Noelle De Guzman
PHOTOGRAPHS BY MARLON PECJO

"When I started, I wasn't serious with it at all. i never thought I'd last, or I'd be doing this for at least 10years, 18 years," says Agot Isidro, mentally counting backwards as she gets her makeup done for the cover shoot. By "it," she means her career in showbiz, and by our count, it was 1990, when Agot first appeared on the Sharon Cuneta Show as a back-up singer. Since then she's made her mark in showbiz's various forms- variety shows, TV soaps, sitcoms, and films. She's recorded eight albums too.

She has a loyal fan base that hangs onto every performance of hers. On her official and unofficial Facebook pages, "AGOTIANS", as her fans have taken to calling themselves, write messages to her about how much they love her. "Lagi po akong nagpa-pray na ma-meet kayo at talagang makilala," writes Kimberly Hannah Siacor, one of the Agotians who regularly post on the page. While there are young fans like Hannah, many have been fans for years. Jane Fuentes, now 27, writes that she has been a fan since she was 10years old, almost as long as Agot has been in showbiz. Symdicated airings and reruns of her teleseryes over The Filipino Channel have also expanded Agot's reach outside the Philippines. Lynn Allen from Florida writes, "I watch [sic] the teleserye Tanging Yaman starting from day one. At malapit nang matapos. I wish you have another teleserye again."

Agotians wishes will soon be granted. We catch Agot in a lull on the day of the cover shoot. Taping for Pag-ibig Na Walang Dangal where she plays a lawyer, resumes this month, involving long hours on location. " When I get home sometimes, may araw na." She's not complaining though, being well-versed in this aspect of her job. She rattles off her schedule matter-of-factly, laughing at the quick transition time between appearances on shows and press conferences. "I shower at home, load my stuff for the other shows; sleep in the car, and then I'm there."

Agot relishes fleshing out the characters she plays, like mother-turned-insane murderer Ingrid Garcia in lasta year's Tayong Dalawa and a fictional First Lady of a fireman who runs for President in the recently-concluded Tanging Yaman. "Everything that I undertake, I always look at it in a fresh way. There's a tendency especially in teleserye to put yourself in a box, " she says, referring to stereotyped roles. She also doesn't limit herself to dramatic turns, having starred in the comedy Ang Darling Kong Aswang at last year's Metro Manila Film Festival.

She gets that this is a career where she has to find her own ways to grow and be fulfilled. "There has to be something more, "she says. "Nu'ng una, okay, [trabaho para] makabili ako ng kotse. After a while, you have everything, you can afford [things], but then what can you give back to the craft or the industry? Can you leave the world and say, 'Okay, 'yan ang ginawa ko?'"

Agot has yet to do a play. "Theater is live. There's a script, so any misstep you make, you have to regain your composure." As if imagining herself in one, she adds: "With musicals, I'm comfortable with singing. In a play, wala akong kakapitan, you're just there for two hours, talking. Parang hindi ko kaya. But there's the challenge I want to face."

Her stable and supportive
relationship with her husband, businessman Manu Sandejas, helps her deal with the stress of showbiz. They met on a dive organized by Manu's sister in Anilao in 1998. He pursued Agot despite being five years younger. They married two years later.

Agot believes they are great match. "Pag kasama namin mga tao, sabi nila, 'Steay ninyo.' Wala kaming problema." After long taping days, they go out for a good dinner or stay in for massage dates. "Little things like that are my rewards,"she shares. "It's always check and balance between us whenever there's crisis. I'm the one who wants to fix it right away. He's really the typepe who goes, 'Okay, hindi muna kita papansinin. Sometimes I get dramatic. When that happens, he takes a back seat."

Agot sums up the key to their relationship in simple words: "COMMUNICATION. RESPECT. RESPECT AND LOVE, but really more respect." Time is also certainly something Agot has taken, especially when trying to start a family. In an interview with Town & Country, she admitted she and Manu have accepted the possibility that they may not have children of their own. When we ask about adopting, Agot turns pensive ang says, " We've talked about it. We're not yet sold on the idea. It's not yet time." She pauses. " It's a commitment, eh." What keeps them busy together now is a renovation project. "We're really creating a home we love. This is where we'll stay for a long time."

She gets though that keeping the bond strög means making time for their own independent pursuits and friends. While Manu goes mountain biking with "his boys," Agot loves to hang out with her friends, many of whom she first met in high school, or on the set of Sa Linggo nAPO Sila, her first variety show. "What I like about my friends is they're not very pushy. They know me in the same way that I know them."

KEEP FIT & HEALTHY!

Agot Isidro is a self-confessed exercise and health nut. Some tips:

1/ JUST DO IT. "My siblings? They're not fit at all. (Laughs). I got hooked[on exercise]. They say, 'Yeah, I have to go to the gym.' I say, 'Do it!'"

2/TAKE ON A CHALLENGE. " I joined a spinning marathon. I spent five hours. Pagtingin ko sa calorie counter, I hit 3,000 calories!"

3/GET MOVING TO KEEP MOVING. " When you're getting older, you have to take care of certain parts of your body, like the legs, because this is what will carry all the weight."

4/LIFT WEIGHTS. "When you lift weights, you're burning calories even when you're at rest. With cardio, you're burning only while you're at it. When lifting weights, you're burning even after the exercise. It's also good for building your bones."

5/LOAD UP ON VEGGIES. "I get veggies from Mara's Organic. They have a harvest time and they call you so you can pick it up, so I have a week's stock."

6/EAT WHOLE GRAINS. "I eat brown rice, whole wheat pasta," which are known as healthier carbs.

7/ COOK MORE HEALTHY. " No frying. Just baked or steamed or poached."

8/DON'T DEPRIVE YOURSELF. "If you eat substitutes, they can taste like cardboard, so might as well go for the original and eat less just to satisfy that craving."

Agot's other pastime is exercising.

"I go to the gym a lot," she says. "Even the trainers are telling me, 'Ma'am, araw-araw kayo ah?'" She lives within walking distance of the gym and at one point was addicted to spinning classes. "Before, araw-araw, todo. Kakadiri," she quips, poking fun at herself. " If there's a spinning class then I do spinning, and then I do weights."

The way she talks about being fit, she gets that she has to make an effort to look and feel good particularly at her age. When she goes without working out, people tell her she's on "low-batt," and she readily agrees. "There's a certain high after a good work-out, and then it carries you through the day,"she claims.

Lately, she's taken up running. "I have flat feet so as long as I can last an hour on the treadmill, I'm okay". Her routine also sometimes includes sessions with a personal trainer for strength work. Agot aims for a toned appearance,although she professes an admiration for Madonna's sculpted arms, so she lifts weights at 15 to 18 reps, three sets each. She avoids plateaus and burnout by attending group classes and following routines from iTunes apps.

She started going to gyms regularly when she was 23, but boosted her gym time more recently as she approached 40. "I'm going to fight this losyang look!" she says determinedly. "When I was 20, I would not eat dinner and then the next day,wala na akong tiyan. Then at 30, parang okay, pwede pa. At 35? It wasn't happening anymore!"

Despite the metabolic challenge, she'd rather increase how much she exercises than resort to cosmetic surgery. "A lot of people, they're not satisfied with the way they look, so they turn to surgery. After that you really have to maintain it. You can't just keep making 'pasipsip,'" she says, referring to liposuction. "I kow some people; they spend their life saving on it, then after one year ,bumalik rin sila sa dating itsura, parang nagsayang lang sila ng pera ,plus the scars."

She also takes good care of her skin
preferring to fend off signs of aging with cleansing,moisturizing, and sun block. Her philosophy? Prevention is better than cure. Of anti-aging products marketed to women in their 20's and 30's, she comically exclaims, "So yung mga 20 ngayon, pag-tumanda sila ng 40, para lang silang 20? Walang ganu'n sa amin noon!"