Bea Alonzo, 33, and Dominic Roque, 31, are happily in love.
Bea confirmed in a virtual interview with PEP.ph (Philippine Entertainment Portal) on August 17 that she and Dominic have become boyfriend-girlfriend a "few months ago."
She said they went "dating" for quite sometime until she was sure and ready to enter a relationship.
It was no secret that Bea came from a failed romance in July 2019; hence, she was guarding her heart well.
To show Bea his serious intent, Dominic went all the way to wooing her family, especially her mom Mary Anne Ranollo.
Bea told PEP.ph, "Si Dom kasi niligawan din niya talaga si Mama.
"Never kasi nakialam si Mama sa love life ko. Siguro may tiwala siya sa akin I would always protect myself, love myself.
"But siyempre, given what happened in the past, mas naging protective sa akin buong pamilya ko.
"Kasi, siyempre, sila yung iniyakan ko, sila yung naging kanlungan ko."
Clearly, Dominic has succeeded in winning the heart of Bea's mom as well.
Bea related: "What I really appreciated about Dom, I know he really exerted an effort para magpakilala sa buong pamilya ko, especially sa nanay ko.
"Nakita naman ni Mama na maganda ang intensyon. Siyempre tinanggap talaga ni Mama.
"I'm happy naging ganito dynamics namin lahat. Kasi siyempre, pag okay sa pamilya mo, magaan lahat. Everything follows. Masarap sa pakiramdam."
PEP.ph mentioned to Bea that it thrilled her fans to see Dominic sending flowers and cake to her mom on Mother's Day.
Bea heartily remarked, "Oo! Tsaka may instances na iyan talagang magmo-motor siya papuntang Zambales, medyo malayo. He would do that."
just friends
Bea and Dominic started out as friends long before they started dating.
Diligent fans, in fact, have unearthed pictures of the two hanging out as early as 2016.
Bea commented that her love story with Dominic began with friendship, and it's a good thing.
Bea told PEP.ph: "Friends na kami few years back pa. We would hang out every now and then.
"Siguro magandang foundation talaga ng isang relationship yung friendship.
"I can't speak for everybody. Yung iba love at first sight, yung iba LDR [Long-Distance Relationship], hindi mo alam, e.
"Sa akin, siguro magandang foundation talaga yung friendship because wala kayong best foot forward."
Bea further said their friendship through the years gave them ample time to know each other's strengths and weaknesses, solid grounds when building a relatioship.
"You already know each other. Siyempre lahat naman tayo may good side, may bad side.
"Alam na niya yung ugly side of you. He knows what to expect already. Sa akin, nagwo-work yun sa ngayon."
The progression of their friendship to exclusively dating was evident in the latter part of 2019.
Dominic was present during Bea's birthday bash in October 2019.
The following month, in November 2019, Bea and Dominic went to Japan with their travel buddy Nina Ferrer.
In February 2020, Dominic was the only one outside Bea's family in a photo-op with her mom, brother, and other relatives.
Speculations about their growing relationship reached fever pitch in February 2021 when they were seen vacationing in Amanpulo, an exclusive luxury resort in Palawan.
THE BIG REVEAL FROM FRIENDS TO LOVERS
Their trip to California paved the way for what netizens call "jowa reveal."
Also known as Instagram official, "jowa reveal" refers to that moment when a couple posts a sweet moment on social media, without putting a label to their romance.
It happened on the 31st birthday celebration of Dominic on July 20 (Philippine time).
For the first time, Dominic posted on Instagram Story a video of him and Bea getting cozy while sitting near a fire pit.
They were enjoying a night cap with Dominic's aunt Beth Tamayo at the time.
According to Bea, she was actually the one who took the video using Dominic's phone.
"During his birthday, nasa Napa kami. Magkakasama kami ng mga tita niya.
"And then yung mga friends namin nagpunta ng California galing New York para lang makasama siya sa birthday niya.
"Hindi niya alam na kinuha ko yung phone niya. Siyempre, hindi naman kami nagpo-post, so di niya naisip na mag-post na kasama ako."
Apparently, Dominic didn't expect that Bea would upload the video on Instagram.
"So, I grabbed his phone, ta's ni-record ko na Instagram Stories, yung may cute na filter. And then in-add ko sa Stories.
"Akala niya nagkamali ako. Pero I intended to do it kasi ang cute namin dun.
"Pinost ko. And I think that was the first time na nag-post together."
Since then, the couple have become more comfortable trading sweet nothings on social media.
Bea beamed, "It wasn't naman intentional. Talagang it felt right.
"Sometimes you just go with the flow.
"Go with your gut feel. And it felt right, so shinare namin."
"MAALAGA" boyfriend
Back in February, Bea already told PEP.ph that the next guy she'd fall in love with would be someone really into her. This has also been the earnest wish of her mom.
She narrated: "Gusto niya yung hindi ako lolokohin.
"Kasi ang laging advice sa akin ni Mama, dapat humanap ako ng lalaking mas mahal ako kaysa mahal ko, kasi mas magtatagal daw.
"Kasi dati, every time I would be asked kung 'mas mahal mo or mas mahal ka,' ang sinasabi ko lagi, 'mas mahal ko.'
"Pero ngayon nagbago na yun. Dapat mas mahal na ako. Hahaha!"
Little did she know, he was already along, waiting for the right time to move into her life and make it better. Dominic is the man.
In her August interview with PEP.ph, Bea openly talked about how caring Dominic is as a boyfriend.
She elaborated: "'Yon talaga yung love language niya, maalaga talaga siya, maserbisyo siya, alam mo yun?
"Kung makikita niyo nga sa vlog ko, talagang sinusubuan niya pa ako.
"'Yon yung love language niya, talagang nagdadala siya ng pagkain, kadalasan pinagpi-prepare pa niya ako ng pagkain.
"And the things I didn’t even know I needed, dadalhin na lang niya. Maliliit na bagay—yung kable ng ganito or like different things.
"Talagang maalaga siya at maalalahanin. So that’s his trait that I love.
"Medyo naninibago nga ako, e. Hindi ako sanay. Ganito pala yung feeling na inaalagaan!"
worth the risk
Who knows what the future holds for Bea and Dominic, but so far so good.
Although Bea has hopes her relationship with Dominic will not end in a heartbreak, she said, "So far hindi naman. Sana hindi niya pasakatin yung ulo ko.
"Kasi magkaibigan naman kami noon pa. Kilala ko naman siya. Alam ko na honest naman siya.
"He's not out there to hurt women. So, sana."
One thing going for Bea, she knows herself better this time around.
She said, "Siyempre, I can't see the future. Baka mamaya interviewhin niyo ako, biglang mapahiya na naman ako.
"I can't speak for him. But so far, the mere fact that I chose to be in a relationship with him, to allow myself to love him...
"Medyo careful naman ako this time. Sana hindi mangyari yun."
No matter what the future holds, Bea said Dominic is worth the risk of a heartache.
She added, "And it didn’t feel hard with him. It felt good, it felt easy.
"Siguro iyon yung main reason why nag-risk ako because it felt easy, it felt good, it felt right."