Veteran actress Jackie Lou Blanco has revealed that her ex-husband, Ricky Davao, passed away unaware that her mother, the iconic Pilita Corrales, had already died.
In an emotional interview on ‘Fast Talk with Boy Abunda’ aired May 13, Jackie Lou opened up about her family’s grief and the heartbreaking decision not to tell Ricky about Pilita’s passing.
“In the beginning, I was thinking, should we tell him? But my kids were saying, ‘Mom, no na lang. He’ll feel bad pa. ‘Wag na lang.’ So, we didn’t,” she shared.
Despite their separation, Jackie Lou said Ricky and Pilita maintained a close bond, even after their marriage ended.
“When Ricky and I got separated, ‘yun ‘yung hindi nawala — my mom’s love to Ricky and Ricky’s love to my mom. It was always there and that’s such a blessing,” she said.
With gentle humor, she imagined a sweet reunion in the afterlife between Ricky and Pilita.
“Since nauna si mom, pagdating ni Ricky sa langit, sasabihin ni Ricky sa langit, ‘Oh, Mamita! Nandito ka!’ Sasabihin ni Mamita, ‘Oh!’ Tapos sasabihin ni Ricky, ‘Oh! Kanta tayo!’ Sasabihin ng mommy ko, ‘Hanggang dito ba naman, Ricky, magdu-duet pa tayo?’”
Pilita Corrales, revered as Asia’s Queen of Songs, died on April 12 at the age of 87. Ricky Davao followed on May 2, succumbing to complications from cancer at age 63.
Jackie Lou admitted that she continues to grieve both losses deeply and finds strength through faith.
“By God’s grace. By God’s love, I take it a day at a time, which is the same thing I tell my children,” she said.
She described how difficult it has been to process the two losses so close together.
“There’ll be a day when we’re okay, the next day, we’re not okay, and it’s okay. Because there are no shortcuts to grief,” Jackie shared. “But for me, I think it was harder because my brain couldn’t process that I lost mom and then now I’ve lost Ricky.”
What weighs on her even more, she said, is witnessing the pain of their children — Kenneth, Ara, and Rikki Mae.
“I’m crying for Ricky and crying for my children because I know how hard it is for them and how hard it will be for a long time,” she said. “So, hindi ma-one plus one equals two ng utak ko that I’ve lost two loved ones.”
Ultimately, she reflected that what endures, beyond pain and time, is love.
“What I’ve realized is when you lose a loved one, even with my situation with Ricky, what is left is just love. I don’t think of the not so good times… Kapag pala, when there is death, all you remember is love.”
