Young stars should take care of their finances and pay their taxes. This advice came from Vilma Santos, whose assets were frozen by the Bureau of Internal Revenue in the ’80s for non-payment of income tax. “But I know what [other stars] are going through right now—it’s not easy. When you’re young, somebody else handles your money. When you start having problems, then you start wondering what happened to your earnings.” she added. She considers herself lucky to have recovered from the brush with the BIR even if her marriage to Edu Manzano suffered from it. “Edu wanted me to be Mrs. Manzano, to lie low from show biz. But I had to work and pay my debts. I survived and recovered.

Not everybody is as lucky.” Vilma was surprised to learn that Luis, her son by Edu, paid a bigger income tax than she did this year. “For the first time in my life, I felt insecure,” Vilma said, laughing. “Luis was earning more— I told myself, this could no’t happen. But it’s happening.” She described Luis as a good person who wants to enjoy life. “And the girls! I know my son, he’s definitely no longer a virgin. But I still don’t want him to get married and make me a grandmother,” Vilma admitted. “He just turned 25!” The actress observed that, “….today’s young stars are all talented. “And beautiful,” she gushed. “They can dance, sing, they can do anything. But the problem there is, it’s hard to stand out. During my time, it was a one-on-one with Nora (Aunor) and me.”..” – Nini Valera, Inquirer, 03 May 2006 (READ MORE)