Richard Gutierrez on Heart Evangelista: "Binigay namin ang totoong pakikipagkaibigan sa kanya."

The decision of Heart Evangelista's mother not to renew her daughter's co-management contract with Annabelle Rama stirred up a hornet's nest last year.

Upset by Cecile Ongpauco's decision, Annabelle lashed out at Heart in October 2010.
To date, Heart still has not patched things up with Annabelle. The young actress is also involved in a new controversy.

This time, she is accused of ignoring Raymond Gutierrez, prompting the latter to tell Heart to "be loyal to your friends and have a backbone."

What is Richard's reaction to the ongoing rift between Heart and his twin brother Raymond?

"You know, I'm shooting every single day and hindi ko alam na nangyari pala yun. May nagsabi na lang sa akin tapos tinawagan ko si Raymond...

"Binanggit pa raw sa interview. For me, that's uncalled for. Ang tagal na ng issue na yun. Why would you bring it up now? Why will you have an interview about it? If you have a problem with it, you can talk to Mon (Raymond's nickname).

"Kami naman ni Mon, binigay namin ang totoong pakikipag-kaibigan sa kanya and we really helped her out. We were really very supportive. We were there for her.

"Na-hurt rin naman ang family ko, especially si Mon kasi even before Heart transferred to GMA-7, pinu-push na ni Mon si Heart. Mon was really there for her and in every project, very supportive si Raymond.

"More than me, Raymond was hurt kasi si Mon talaga ang nasa likod niya ever since before."

With this development, Richard said he would distance himself from Heart for now.

"Let's see what happens from here kasi lumaki na ang issue. Na-hurt na ang mom ko, na-hurt na si Raymond. Ang dami nang nadadamay. Ayoko naman makipag-plastik at lalapit sa kanya para batiin siya.

"Hindi ako kumportable because of her actions towards Mon and my mom. Hindi ako kumportable to be honest and hindi ako makikipag-plastik."

Still, Richard remains hopeful that the rift will be resolved.

"Of course, siyempre wishful thinking. You know it's just the beginning of the year and sana wala nang gusot na nangyayari kasi ang issue na ito ang tagal na, before Halloween pa. Sana hindi na naungkat pa. Sana maayos talaga."