Since last week we have been following with K-drama status the
rift between Commission on Elections (COMELEC) chair Andres Bautista and his
estranged wife Patricia “Tisha” Cruz- Bautista.
As a backgrounder as to what were the couple before all this mess and
how was the relationship between the Andres and Tisha, Philippine Daily
Inquirer (PDI) writer Marge Enriquez wrote
an interesting piece last August 13,about the Bautista couple titled “Tisha and Andy: When a
marriage unravels in public (What happened to the ‘traditional’ family of Andres ‘Andy’ Bautista and
Tisha Cruz-Bautista that led to this confrontation?).
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| The whole Bautista family during happier times( photo credit to the owner) |
Below is the full article published in PDI:
In the last four years, the story of the relationship between
psychic healer Tisha Cruz-Bautista and businessman Alvin Lim and how her
husband, Comelec Chair Andres “Andy” Bautista, tried to save their marriage had
been tittle-tattle in café society.
The talk persisted. Tisha maintained that Lim was a business
partner and best friend. Andy took her on a cruise and sought counseling to
make things work. Although they lived in the same condominium, they slept in
separate rooms.
When Tisha hogged the headlines, accusing her husband of
ill-gotten wealth, the state of what’s left of their marriage was unraveled in
public.
It was a complete surprise. In the early years of their marriage, Andy, then a lawyer, and Tisha made a handsome couple who shared the same ideals of helping the country.
Andy majored in Constitutional Law at Harvard, but he ended up
handling project finance for New York law firm White & Case and set up
operations in Hong Kong. He returned to Manila to set up British Law firm Allen
& Avery. On weekends, he enjoyed teaching constitutional law at Far Eastern
University Law School.
Close to his heart was an advocacy, the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV), a nonprofit organization which serves a volunteer watchdog for honest elections.
He left his post as CEO of Shang Properties Inc. to head the
Presidential Commission on Good Government. Andy found satisfaction in serving
the country.
Values education
Tisha was managing director of Isdanco Foundation, which taught
values education, and started a vocational school on cosmetology domestic
training. She was a consultant for livelihood programs and started a volunteer
group to help victims of calamities. She wrote a parenting manual and a
wellness column for a major daily, talking about theta healing, education,
community projects.
In a Lifestyle Father’s Day story published in 2011, the story
revealed that the Bautistas were a traditional family. Andy was the main
breadwinner and Tisha was the nurturer. Andy aimed to set an example of
integrity and hard work for his sons.
Since he was always at work, it was natural that their four sons
would be closer to their mother. Still, the couple would wake up at the crack
of dawn to see their sons off to school and catch up with them over dinner.
They attended Sunday Mass together and prayed the rosary every Sunday.
Andy was very close to his mother-in-law, Baby Cruz-Vazquez. He
liked to entertain his friends and colleagues at her apartment because of the
solicitous hospitality.
Meanwhile, Tisha was becoming known for her interest in mysticism.
Her esoteric powers fascinated the social set. Through common friends who
shared the same interest in mysticism, she got to know Lim.
Lim and Tisha formed a company, Arkaelogy, dedicated to psychic
counseling and healing energies.
Talk had it that Andy did everything to win her back. The couple
and their sons would still go out for Sunday dinners.
Over time, tongues wagged that the Bautistas had an “open
marriage”—a rumor that was never confirmed.
Sources said the relationship started to drift apart when Tisha’s
company may have also changed her. As in most relationships, the once idealized
image that the couple had of each other was shattered. It came to a point that
they became two polar opposites, whose only common ground was their children.
How the suddenly very public conflict will affect these children
is what many are concerned about.
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