Boy Abunda Release Erick Santos
by MANILA, Philippines — Artist-manager relationships are complicated enough with business interests and personal matters in between, but more so when it suffers a falling out that goes public.
In mid-September, word came out that Erik Santos had parted ways with Backroom, the management company that had taken care of his career since he won in the reality TV show, “Star in a Million.” Back then, Erik reportedly said he left due to changes in the management team within the firm, as reported on Bulletin Entertainment on Sept. 18.
“Sa ating negosyo—and this is general—‘pag ginagawa niyo po lahat ang iyong kayang gawin, and you do it with love, you do it with a lot of hard work, you fight with everything that you have, at ‘pag nasabihan kang what you’re doing is not enough, masakit.”
Although he insisted these weren’t Erik’s exact words, they were, he noted, the general terms of what they had discussed.
Asked what his shortcoming were as Erik’s manager, Boy replied, “I am not a perfect manager, I am not a perfect human being… First thing that comes to mind, panahon… lalo na itong nakaraang mga buwan. I’ve become very busy.
“I miss those days when I used to manage—halimbawa si Ariel Rivera—ako’y sumasama sa lahat ng bookings, ako ang naniningil doon sa mga producers, sumasama po ako sa lahat mga probinsiya. I miss those times… Dahil naging busy ako, I have my own career. At lalo na nung magkaroon ng karamdaman ang aking ina. I realized na wala na talaga akong masyadong oras. Pagkukulang ‘yon, at tinatanggap ko ‘yon,” he explained at length.
He nevertheless added that he tries to make it up to his artists, even to Erik; and that he did everything for his talents wholeheartedly.
Addressing Erik, he noted, “If you’re watching Erik, you know this. Nagbibigay ako pero hindi ako nage-expect, at hindi ako nagbibilang ng mga naibigay ko. ‘Pag naibigay ko, bigay ‘yon.”
Although he admitted to having many regrets, Boy insisted he doesn’t regret managing Erik.
“We have become friends, we have remained friends… Itong aming pinagdaanan na problema, nalampasan namin,” he said, although he also admitted that this incident has already fractured their friendship.
“Wala akong galit kay Erik, pero lamat meron,” he quipped.
“Itong klaseng lamat na ito… mahihilom ng panahon,” he nevertheless quantified. “Hindi ito ganong kalalim. At saka ‘pag nasaktan ka kasi, dalawa ang choices mo; either to treat that pain as pain, or to treat that pain as a lesson.” He agreed with Charlene that he took it as a lesson.
Asked if he would accept Erik should he come back to him, “Halimbawa pwede na ako, oo…”
In the end, Boy noted he learned a lot from the incident. “Una, lahat napapagusapan, no matter how difficult; [at] lahat ng bagyo po, kahit gano kalakas, natatapos,” he said.
But more importantly, he said, “We have to be careful of the words we’re saying, dahil po ang mga salita na ito ay maaaring makasakit…”
“Magpatawad ka. Be a better person and move on,” he finished, but not without noting how close Erik had become to his family—in fact, Boy shared that when he took his mother out of the hospital, she had been listening to Erik’s album. Boy then closed the segment with another apology to Erik for all his shortcomings.
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