Bela Padilla addresses work ethic accusations: ‘I was late once’

The actress speaks candidly about “unfair” claims surrounding “Blood Vs Duty.”

Bela Padilla has broken her silence about the online backlash that deeply affected her, admitting that the experience made her question herself and wonder if she had done something wrong.

The actress revealed that she was particularly shaken by the accusations surrounding her work ethics during the production of “Blood Vs Duty,” where she starred with Richard Gutierrez and Gerald Anderson.

“I’m not gonna lie about it, not gonna tiptoe around it. I was reading and hearing a lot of things that I couldn’t easily refute. At that time, I was still part of the project. I didn’t want to do anything and honestly, I lost my fight. I felt like, ‘This is so unfair,’ so I didn’t want to say anything,” Bela said.

She admitted that the accusations became difficult to process because she was still showing up and doing her job while the allegations were spreading.

“I gave more than a thousand percent in that project and I feel like everybody and everyone else did that. I was surprised that so many things came out, especially since I was still working on it. I would still show up to set and I was still there for two more weeks after that,” she shared.

Bela said the situation became even more unsettling when people she knew were being mentioned in the controversy.

“I started feeling bad, like, ‘Who can I trust here? What’s happening here?’ I was still talking to everybody and people were also talking to me. There were names mentioned, and they are still my friends up to this day. People reached out, so it was very confusing for me. I started questioning everything I know about life, like, ‘Who to trust? What to do? What to say? What I can’t say?’ I didn’t treat (that) project differently from any of my projects,” she said.

She also addressed claims that she was frequently late on set, saying the accusation was something she could easily disprove.

“Everything is easily refutable, even as simple as always being late. I could’ve easily refuted it because I come on set sometimes earlier than the prod, so I was late once,” she explained. “Kinagat ako ng aso, so I had to go to the hospital and they knew that.”

Still, the actress said what hurt most was how easily people could construct a different version of her through social media.

“It’s so unnerving that [people] can make up so many things, or you can read about yourself in such a different light that I started questioning myself. ‘Did I do something wrong?’ So I started reaching out to the people mentioned, and they said, ‘No, we don’t know where this is coming from,’” Bela said.

When asked directly if she felt attacked, she did not shy away from admitting it. “I’m not gonna lie… yes I do,” she said. “But wala e, I cannot do anything about it.”

The controversy also affected Bela beyond her career. While preparing for her new film with Maricel Soriano, “Life After You,” she revealed that the emotional pressure had started affecting her physical health.

“Kaya nga sabi ko baka it’s a disservice if I was feeling bad na mabigat ang pakiramdam ko tapos papasok ako sa project, so I wanted to feel good at first before starting the project kaya lang, life doesn’t work the way we want it,” she said.

She eventually chose to push forward instead of allowing the experience to stop her.

“Hindi ko rin naman kasi talaga siya bibitiwan kaya kailangan kong humanap ng paraan para maging okay ako. In a way, to start feeling better,” she added.

“Inay (Maricel), Direk Marla, and the whole production, they’re so helpful kasi I was also in and out in the hospital. It was starting to affect my health na rin. I was so stressed out, I couldn’t sleep. I dropped to 48 kilos. It was starting to affect me on a physical level but everybody here is so kind,” Bela revealed.

Despite everything that happened, she emphasized that she does not bring her personal struggles into her work.

“Few things,” she said when asked how much of her real-life experience she brought into her character. “I don’t usually bring real experiences in my life to my project. Kasi kung gagawin namin ‘yon bilang artista, hindi na kami ever mag hi-heal. That’s my personal process. I don’t know how other people do it, but I tried to really study the character,” she explained.

Bela said she is now in a much better place and credited her current film and the Diamond Star for helping her recover from the difficult period.

Meanwhile, when radar Entertainment directly asked if she remains friends with Kim Chiu and Angelica Panganiban, Bela chose to respectfully skip the question.

“I won’t talk about it muna. Thank you,” she politely replied.

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