Mother of Former Glee Star Claims All is Well Between Her and Daughter; Confirms Charice Pempengco is No Longer with Oprah

Raquel Pempengco, the mother of embattled Filipina singer Charice, insisted on Tuesday that all is well between herself and her 21-year-old daughter, contrary to media speculations that there is a gap.

However, she confirmed that her daughter - whom many people believe is lesbian because of the sudden shift in her physical appearance from feminine to masculine - is no longer under the management of Harpo Production, the company of TV host Oprah Winfrey. But Raquel said there is continuous communication between Charice and Oprah.

Raquel told Pep.ph through email responses that Charice even greeted her Happy Mother's Day on May 12 through an email. But she confirmed that the famous singer no longer lives with the family, but she and other child, Carl, are always ready to welcome her back.

"Charice should remember that blood is thicker than water ... Whatever happens, family is always there," Pep.ph quoted Raquel.

She confirmed that Charice and Alyssa Quijano, the upcoming singer speculated to have a romantic relationship with her daughter, are long-time friends from singing contests they joined, but insisted the pair did not elope.

Her account differs with that of Robert Ybera, the baptismal godfather of Charice and their former neighbour in Cabuyao, Laguna. Ybera had told TV 5 that the mother-daughter had a major disagreement which led to the incident allegedly being reported in a police blotter.

Influential Philippine Star columnist Ricky Lo believes Charice is in a rebellious phase which is destroying her hard-earned international singing career. Lo wrote in his regular column that the once-close mother-daughter team is now estranged.

Lo, who felt bad that Charice - also his godchild - is on a self-destructive path - wrote: "If you're social-media savvy, you should know what has happened to Charice, how she has changed from a cuddlesome probinsyana (country lass) to a menacing clone of K-Pop actors and flaunting her suspiciously brazen closeness to some women ... making people believe that she has blatantly 'outed' herself without her admitting it (does she need to when actions indeed speak louder than words?)."

He suggested that "somebody should knock some sense into Charice before it's too late."