Zsa Zsa Padilla and Conrad Onglao (MNS Photo)
MANILA (Mabuhay) -– While he and singer Zsa Zsa Padilla have yet to talk about settling down, renowned architect Conrad Onglao revealed that it has been his dream to re-marry and to hold a grand wedding in Florence, Italy.
Onglao said: “I find that city very romantic. There’s that hotel in Fiesole Farea, there’s a hotel there called Villa San Michele. It’s an old hotel with the altar designed by Michelangelo… For me, the whole Tuscan area is very romantic, it’s just a fantasy, this dream wedding of mine, whether it will happen or not.”
Onglao said he never lost faith in marriage despite his failed relationship with his first wife, interior designer Ivy Almario.
“Of course [I still believe in marriage]. Unfortunately, my first marriage didn’t last, but it doesn’t mean I no longer believe in marriage and it doesn’t mean I’m less of a father,” he said. “I know I’m going to get married someday, ever since when I divorced before pa, ang tagal na rin.”
Onglao and Almario have two sons. They were divorced in the United States and obtained a legal separation and church annulment here in the Philippines.
Padilla, on the other hand, was in a long-time relationship with Philippine Comedy King Dolphy, who died two years ago.
Asked if he thinks Padilla believes in marriage as well, he said: “Yes, she believes in marriage. She really believes in long-term relationships. I recall Sharon (Cuneta) told me that she stayed with Dolphy for 25 years, that’s something.”
“A relationship has its ups and downs, but through thick and thin, Zsa Zsa stayed with Dolphy to his last breath — it says something about her. Zsa Zsa is a woman of substance, and she values relationships,” he added.
Now four months into their relationship, Onglao said he treasures what he and Padilla have because neither of them expected it.
“We get along pretty well. It’s an effortless relationship. Being both artists, we understand each other. It was maybe our third date, it was lunch, I felt light and comfortable. It was a feeling of familiarity that you can’t explain, you just feel good, it’s not expected,” he said.
When prodded if talks are true that he and Padilla plan to tie the knot this year or next year, the architect said: “It’s a matter of timing. It will just unfold… I have so many women friends who want to be my ‘best man’ at my wedding.”
At this point, Onglao said he just enjoys the company of the singer-actress.
“In the entertainment world, they call her the Divine Diva, but she really has no complex. Zsa Zsa will leave the house without makeup. She never says ‘no’ to people who ask to have their pictures taken with her. She helps people and she would never even tell me — that’s the measure of a good person,” he said. (MNS)