Aside from Pretty Woman, Runaway Bride was one of the biggest box-office hits of Julia Roberts. But prior to this 1999 Hollywood film, there had already been dozens and dozens of Filipino movies about runaway brides.

In the old days, arranged marriages were still acceptable in society — and are said to still be practiced in some countries. The Philippines was no exception back then. This was one of the reasons why stories about runaway brides were popular themes in pre-war and post-Liberation local films.

In Philippine entertainment today, Pinoy movie fans are still talking about the last-minute cancellation of Bea Alonzo’s wedding to Puregold heir Vincent Co. Was it really all about the prenup agreement Bea supposedly refused to sign? Or did Bea realize how her life would drastically change once she married into a rich but very traditional Chinese family?

Neither camp has spoken, giving rise to so many speculations about why the wedding didn’t proceed as scheduled. Is it still pushing through? Word has it that the wedding has been canceled for good. And so, Bea Alonzo is now being branded a runaway bride.

People of today’s generation probably aren’t aware that Bea isn’t the first runaway bride in Philippine show business. In 1993, there was Angelique Lazo.

From 1987 to 1993, Angelique Lazo was one of the most popular faces on television. She was seen every day on TV Patrol delivering showbiz news. Her segment was the most awaited by viewers because, after hearing all the depressing hard news — as delivered by Noli de Castro, the late Frankie Evangelista, and Mel Tiangco — Angelique came in like a fresh breeze, dishing out entertainment stories.

Angelique became so famous that there are now so many girls in the Philippines named Angelique. It’s not surprising that a lot of parents named their daughters after her. Angelique, for one, is a unique and undeniably beautiful name. Of French origin, it means “messenger of God.”

It also helped that Angelique Lazo’s face had always been refreshing. Gifted with a beautiful smile, she was one of the most charming personalities on TV from the late 1980s to the early 1990s. Her reputation also remained spotless. And then came her resignation from TV Patrol to get married to Manny Ayala, who was also an ABS-CBN broadcaster.

Angelique had to resign because she and Manny were supposed to live in Hong Kong after the wedding. Manny was a bright young man — a prized catch, actually. He was good-looking and had more to offer outside the world of broadcasting. He was — and still is — a master entrepreneur. Manny had a job offer in Hong Kong, and Angelique was willing to give up her lucrative TV career and play housewife in the then-British Crown Colony. All for the sake of love.

The wedding was to take place in Los Angeles, California. Preparations had been made, and guests from the Philippines were starting to arrive in the Golden State — just like in the case of Bea Alonzo, whose friends had already flown to Spain for the supposed wedding.

But shortly before the LA wedding, Angelique felt that “something was not right.” She didn’t exactly want to cancel the wedding. All she said to Manny and his family was, “Wait muna.” She didn’t say, “Ayoko na (I don’t want to anymore).”

Angelique’s last-minute decision to postpone the wedding did not sit well with Manny’s side of the family. In their interpretation, it was a cancellation — for good. And they can’t be blamed for getting upset. The postponement put them in an awkward position. Never mind that Angelique never had the intention of embarrassing them.

What followed was the darkest chapter in Angelique’s life. She just slept and slept, which was a sign of depression. Although she never attempted to end her life, Angelique finally understood during that period why some depressed people would rather die than continue living in such a miserable situation.

Thankfully, Angelique had always been a prayerful person. When she wasn’t sleeping, she would be in church hearing Mass. Her constant prayers gave her the will to survive and the strength to wait for the storm to pass.

After six months in the United States, Angelique decided to fly back to the Philippines to pick up the pieces of her life and start a new career. She couldn’t return to TV Patrol. Her slot had already been taken over by Christine Bersola, whose life also changed in a major way because it was at ABS-CBN where she met and fell in love with Julius Babao, who later became her husband. Their union is now one of the most enduring in show business.

It was RPN-9 that gave Angelique the chance to return to television. She co-anchored a public affairs program called Action 9 with Dong Puno, Rey Langit and Mon Tulfo. Entertainment was no longer her beat. For a while, she also had another public affairs show on GMA, which she co-hosted with Rene Cayetano, the late father of the now-controversial Senator Alan Peter Cayetano.

Angelique found love again in 1994 in the person of Ramon Mayuga, who was in the petroleum business — oil exploration, to be more exact. It was Pat-P Daza who played matchmaker.

In November 2000, she and Ramon decided to get married — also in Los Angeles. The wedding pushed through this time — at the Holy Trinity Catholic Church on Boyce Street. A reception followed at La Cañada Flintridge Country Club, also in LA.

That was Ramon’s second marriage. His first marriage was legally annulled before he wed Angelique. Ramon has two children from his first union. He and Angelique don’t have children of their own. But Angelique is content being in the loving company of Ramon’s grandchildren, who call her “Lali” instead of “Lola” (grandma).

Although they come from different fields, Ramon and Angelique share the same interests. For one, they are both Ateneo de Manila alumni. It is interesting to note that when Ateneo was planning to accept female students in the mid-1970s, Ramon was among the Ateneans who opposed the idea of turning the school into a coeducational institution. Little did he know that he would end up with a former Ateneo coed.

Angelique took up Communication Arts at Ateneo, where Gloria Macapagal Arroyo was her teacher. The former president, incidentally, was a wedding sponsor when she wed Ramon.

Angelique is now with PTV-4, where she not only delivers the news but also hosts her own public affairs program called In Person. Her current PTV-4 stint has brought her full circle since it was at the government network where she cut her teeth in broadcasting.

Angelique isn’t the only PTV-4 alumna who became a big name in broadcasting. Mel Tiangco, Korina Sanchez, and Ces Drilon all came from Channel 4 before moving to ABS-CBN after the Lopez network reopened in 1986.

Angelique Lazo-Mayuga has her hands full and is always sleep-deprived because of her busy schedule. On weekdays, she has to be at PTV-4 to do her programs. She devotes weekends to a religious community she supports in Cavite.

She never saw Manny Ayala again after the wedding was canceled. He got married before she did. To this day, Angelique believes that the wedding did not push through “kasi hindi nauukol (it wasn’t meant to be).”

Angelique Lazo-Mayuga looks very happy at this stage of her life. Watch her on her program, In Person on PTV-4, and it is very noticeable how she emits a certain glow of contentment. In fact, she’s even lovelier now than when she was at the peak of her youth during her TV Patrol days. Maybe it’s because her personality has matured. Or perhaps it’s the confidence that comes from within after surviving all the battles she went through in the past.

But surely, and this much she stresses, whatever became of her life was all “through the guidance of God.”