Entertainment

“It was a good 18 months”, Nicko Falcis opens up about better days with Kris Aquino

Kris Aquino’s former project manager Nicko Falcis have opened up about his past employment and good relationship with Kris Aquino before the latter filed qualified theft charges against him because he allegedly siphoned off money worth P1.2 million from her production company, Kris Cojuanco Aquino Productions (KCAP).

In an interview with ANCX, Falcis shared stories about his relationship with the Queen of all Media before everything turned sour between them. The interview was done after Aquino posted a Facebook Live video wherein she emotionally told Falcis to face the cases against him.

Falcis said that his connection with Aquino started in 2015 when they became partners and co-owners of several Nacho Bimby and Potato Corner franchises.

He said that after Aquino exited from ABS-CBN, she decided to seek several business ventures instead.

“I think you know she did a very public announcement of ‘I’m leaving the network and I’m focusing on the businesses, I’m a proud owner of several franchises already’.

“She wanted to have that narrative going well for her. And that’s where I was introduced. And of course we showed her the potential of the business,” Falcis was quoted as saying.

Falcis said that it did not take long for Aquino’s business to grow. What used to be a two-branch enterprise soon had several other branches in different locations and malls. He said that this made Aquino realize how good of a manager he is.

Falcis further narrated that after Aquino left ABS-CBN, she transferred to GMA and was supposed to be transferred to managed by by APT Productions, the producer of GMA’s noontime show “Eat Bulaga”. However, he said that her connection with APT Productions did not work out leaving her no one to manage her.

That was when Aquino turned to Falcis to help her form her own management team that will handle her digital projects.

Falcis said that he initially turned down the offer “since [he’s] already doing a lot of responsibilities” and that he “can never go full time”.

“I can form a team, I can represent her during the meetings but nothing beyond that. Like I can’t be in an employer-employee relationship because I feel like I may be unfair to her later on. So we said, let’s try it out first,” he said.

He added that he was never employed by Aquino since he once again declined her offer when KCAP and its digital projects was already starting to roll out.

Referring to his employment with KCAP, Falcis told Aquino, “Just make it yours and then I can run it. You can call me anything you want.”

Falcis’ job description with KCAP was never clear. He said that he was just asked to “run it…, help [Aquino] coordinate with all the brand inquiries, help her oversee production, and put everything together”.

He said that the first thing he asked Aquino after he started working for KCAP was if he could form his own team, to which the latter said yes.

At this point, Falcis also said that Aquino told him that they will open a specific bank account for him.

“It’s the weirdest thing because like she executed SPA (special power of attorney). It was like a Kristina Bernadette or Nicardo setup. It’s not an ‘and’ (account),” Falcis said.

The interviewer further asked if he has special power of attorney to which Falcis responded, “Of course. Everything. So she executed all of that. I can literally sign her digital life away. Yeah. Contracts, everything, all the business transactions.”

Falcis added that he does not have a fixed salary when he worked for Aquino. He just received a twelve percent commission “on all her revenues, or collect whatever she collected as a celebrity and even as a producer on digital.”

He said that this kind of concept was his idea.

“Honestly, she really came to it blindly. And, you know, she gave me full trust and confidence. ‘Oh Nicko, what do you think about this? Nicko, what do you think?’ She always tells me that she just knows all her contracts. ‘This is what I did before, you know this is what we experienced before’ and that’s just it. And then it’s up to me to crunch the numbers, make it into a good and very viable business model. And we saw the potential,” he said.

He said that even though Aquino has been working for decades in the television and film industry, she found herself sailing a new ship when she started her online and digital projects.

Proving that she is truly the “Queen of All Media”, Aquino, with the help of Falcis, had a vision of taking over even the cyberworld by becoming the “first digital-ready celebrity”.

“She enjoyed it, or she found it very, very visionary. And of course in the end, it’s very viable. Because we were first. We have the first mover advantage,” Falcis said.

And their vision somehow became a reality as some brands wanted to close deals with them and it fueled the hype when Aquino joined the cast of the Hollywood film “Crazy Rich Asians”.

There was a time when Aquino referred to Falcis as her “Northern Star”.

“Every time she features me on IG, I was so grateful to her, mainly because I’m never a public person. You know, I never even announce, like, Oh, I’m the new Mister Manager of a Kris Aquino. Of course, I just told my mom; it’s a personal feat. But nothing public. So whenever she puts it in public, I got so conscious about it. I always wanted to say, ‘Madam, I just want to do more for you, I just want to get more contracts for you, etc.’ And that’s how things developed. But I think, as I said, to all other people, my language of service and love is bringing success. I’m a corporate slave, I’m a professional manager, but overall, I bring success to my stakeholders. And that has always been my mission in terms of working with her, working alongside her. And I think she just really were happy with how things panned out after her traditional media life,”

He said that working with Aquino at first went well and that it was a “good 18 months”. Falcis further narrated that working with Aquino made him realize that she has three versions — one of which is her “hyper” side.

“I always wanted to meet the hyper one or, you know, the one that can be as active and as passionate as me. ‘Oh, you go to the house, go to the house. We have to discuss. We have to discuss,’” Falcis said.

However, there are times when these visits would take too much of Falcis’ time already and he would often end up doing more things out of his job description and contract.

“I think she’s very much pressured to deliver something, or to prove something, because she always tells me, ‘A peso to Kris, is a peso away from all others’ and specially her own previous network. And she’s very competitive. And for me I thought it was just, Okay, yehey, at least I have a boss who has the eye of the tiger, I like that, [a boss] who’s very driven. I like working for someone who can also be at my certain level of energy but I never knew that she had so much baggage. I never knew that the personal baggage was also something that I cannot fully manage professionally,” he said.

However, things started to change between them around August last year when their team went for a trip around Southeast Asia, as well as a US trip to close deals and partnerships and open new businesses.

“I think it took a toll on her and then she started asking herself, ‘Do I really need this? etc,’” Falcis said.

However, things started to really change for the worst when Aquino found out that Metro.Style, the ABS-CBN lifestyle wesbite, was able to gain exclusive access to her photos during the “Crazy Rich Asian” premiere.

“I think it triggered her most insecure side and she lashed out on us,” Falcis said.

He said that the photos were handled by one of KCAP’s media producers. He didn’t know how the photos were given to the said media outlet but since he the managing director, he took the blame and apologized.

But that only irked Aquino who said, “But what can your sorry do to me?”

Falcis even recalled that Aquino told him after the photos leaked, “You know Nicko, that we do not like them and we will never give in to them? How did you not expect this?”

He said that Aquino expected him to know her past with ABS-CBN, but Falcis said he did not work in the entertainment industry and he is not aware with what happened during Aquino’s stay with the network.

“When I met her, a lot of people warned me: Nicko, you have to be careful,” Falcis said.

Falcis added that Aquino still hasn’t fully moved on from her parting with ABS-CBN.

“It’s her licking her wounds I feel, but the wounds I think she’s really holding onto. I really thought with our digital chapter, with all the successes, with Crazy Rich Asians, that she would be the happiest already. And that, you know, she’s ready to become so much bigger,” he said.

Falcis then said that at this point, he started seeing a different side of Aquino who would always message him everyday which made him feel like she “wants to put all the guilt, put all the pressure, put all the blame unto [him].”

“Unfortunately, empathy isn’t one of my strongest suits,” Falcis said,

“‘I’m really like your type A manager. I’m just really your no-nonsense, let’s-just-work-so-that-we-can-go-and-move-forward type of guy. And I think she felt so betrayed that I cannot support her emotionally. She said that I have duplicate keys to have free reign of the queendom. I did. And I was able to deliver what she has envisioned. But unfortunately, I cannot support her, cuddle her, or cheer for her the way she wanted.”

Answering the question if Aquino demanded him to comfort and emotionally support her, Falcis responded, “Specifically, she said, ‘I wanted to be nurtured Nicko. I have to be supported. I am the queen.’ She said that ‘the queen needs to be guarded at all costs. And you forgot that.'”

He said that at this point, he saw a different side of Aquino.

The said source said that they will reveal the other sides of Aquino that Falcis mentioned in the second part of the story.

Staff Report

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