Mega - December 1996

Agot Isidro recounts how, in her unknown days, she met Aga Muhlach for the first time-and unwittingly left her footprints on his ego. "I honestly didn't know who he was." she begins. "I was catching some sleep at a show taping; he arrived pretty late in the evening. When i woke up, we were introduced-all I said was hi, then I dozed off again, I didn't find him particularly attractive." Years later, the anecdote refuses to die. "I didn't remember, but apparently Aga did," Agot laughs. Little did she know that years later, she herself would end up on the list of showbiz personas audiences relate to on a first-name basis.

Unlike most upstarts in the entertainment world, she was never quite the typical ingenue. After a short stint as an interior desinger in Singapore, a coure in fashion merchandishin at the New York's Fashion Institute of Technology and a brief position in a jeans company, Agot ended up back in the Philippines in an unlikely job-as a backup singer for megastar Sharon Cuneta. "I was just bumming around. I couldn't find a job that I wanted, which was to be in the business side of fashion. I can't draw, I can't cut, so at that time I felt there really wasn't anything for me."

Agot's break cam when television director Johnny Manahan asked her to join the daily noontime show 'Sang Linggo nAPO Sila and stand in for one of the regular hosts, Lara Melissa de Leon, who was pregnant at that time. The audience liked her; Agot stayed on and eventually made the natural progression into film (May Minamahal, Pangako ng Kahapon) and a primetime sitcom on the same channel, Oki Doki Doc, where she plays ice-queen live interest to Aga Muhlach's good-looking-beyond-belief neighborhood vet. Now with Star Cinema on a non-exclusive basis, Agot co-stars with Dolphy in a soon-to-be released film, and is at work on projects with Edu Manzano and Lito Lapid. AFter 6 yeras, Agot notes the changes in the industry since she first came on the scene. "Show business isn't what it used to be, a strictly masa pursiut," she says. "Now everyone's aware of what goes on. I'm sure even the Forbes matrons tune in to Showbiz Lingo, though they pretend they don't." Agot laughs.

Despite the fact that her onscreen appearances are well-received, she actually prefers singing to anything else. "It's more lucrative, and you stay in the business longer." Agot assesses. She cut her first two albums with former label Viva Records, which spawned sticky ballads like Everyday and Sa Isip Ko. Agot is currently putting the finishin touches to her first album with BMG, which includes songs by artists like APO Hiking Society's Jim Paredes and the Eraserheads' Ely Buendia. "I'm into a lot of different stuff here," she declares. "Not the usual soft-and-mellow thing."

Along with five siblings, Agot grew up in an atmosphere characterized by "typical Filipino parenting." "My folks are pretty conservative." she relates. "At my age, they can't tell me what to do anymore, but they still do." Agot recalls a childhood she can only describe as normail: happy family, convent school, the entire wholesome package. She owes her interesting looks to her Palestinian and Arabic heritage; though she was considered the ugly duckling growing up beside her mestizo brothers and sisters. "I looked so out of place in all our family photos because I was the only dark one there," she laughs. "I bloomed very late." Now 30, Agot cnfesses that she came into her own only around seven years ago. "While you're here, you think there's nothing beyond Manila. In New York I welcomed the freedom to be myself. I became independent. I grew up."

Though her career fotting is already pretty steady, Agot is seeking another aspect of permanency in her life. "I'm forever looking for the perfect place." Agot, who currently rents a condo, says. "I'm really want my own house," she emphasizes. "But according to feng shui, it's a bad year for those born in the year of the horse-as in, no majorinvestments, no vacation, no traveling, no wedding." She leans back and indulges in a bag of puffy chicharon, and waxes nostalgic about a certain Pampanga brand ("the kind that melts in your mouth and makes you want to die afterwards"). After the momentary gustatory diverson, she continues revealing more about herself. "I'm very moody. Not that I'm unpleasant most of the time, but when it hits me, I can be a bitch," she says honestly. "Cancers are really moody. All water signs, I guess."

One thing she makes clear: the Manila dating scene is tough-even for a celebrity looker. "I'm not a man magnet," she says firmly (her production assistant Karen Araneta, however, reveals that on a good night, around six guys offer to buy her drinks). "Number one, there aren't enough good guys around: either they're married, taken or gay. Or else they're avoiding me," she laughs. Her rule of thumb for recreational dating: "I never go out alone. And whenever I'm going on a first date I always bring my car, so I can make a quick escape if neccessary. And I try to pay."

At this point in her life, Agot possesses a maturity that enables her to navigate both personal and professional waters with a clear sense of self. "I don't think i's impossible for two people in this line of work to combine a reationship with a career, but I am a person who can not. Something has to suffer. Of course, you see couples who make it work, like Martin and Pops Nievera. Maybe I can pull it off, but with a partner from outside the business," she declares. "Deepak Chopra once said, no limitations, no expectations. But I'm Agot Isidro," she smiles. "And I expect a man to possess the maturity to accept who I am and what I do."