hen Donita Rose Ramos Cavett-also known as Mei Kuai, Dee, Donitz, and Donuts, but better known as Donita Rose, movie star MTV veejay-became June bride to Eric Ladines Villarama, she was making a lifetime commitment out of a childhood friendship. The Cavettes and the Villaramas both lived at Clark Air Base in Pampanga in the 1980's. When Eric to play with Donita's brother Paul. More than a decade later, E ic told his best friend's sister: "I've been in love with you since we were kids."

In this YES! Exclusive, Donita Rose tells, in her own words, of how she found in Eric a love anchored on the rock of a shared faith.

In all of my others past relationships, I was there for the companionship. I liked the person I was with and everything, but I was never really convinced that I going to marry him and spend the rest of my life with him.

For instance, my previous boyfriend was very intelligent. So I fell in love with him because I felt he could take care of me not an unconditional love that I felt for him.

Also, I was compromising in the relationship. Actually, I was compromising in all my past relationships. With that last one, I prayed with this person. He says he's a Christian, but in my heart I know that he's not."

So I asked God for a sign if I should continue with that relationship or not. And I dreamt that the guy was cheating on me. The day after, his best friend confirmed it. But to this day, that guy still denies that he was unfaithful. Whether it was true or not, my dream and his best friend's confirmation were good enough reasons for me to break off with him.

From there, I told God, "I'm going to stay single for one year for you. I dedicate this one year entirely to You. I will learn to be totally dependent on You so that I will become mature enough to be given a lifetime partner."

One year happened. Two years happened. Two and half years happened. So I said: "Lord, I'm getting old and gray already!" I mean, I wasn't really looking for a husband, but I would joke about looking all the time. Then Eric Villarama came along, and he was the answer to all of my prayers.

THE GUY
For three weeks, while I was on vacation in Manila, Eric and I hung out with my brother, Paul, and some of our friends. We were in a big group. I started to like Eric, but I tried to be careful. For instance, I didn't drink even if my brother would drink. Actually, I stopped drinking a long time ago because it kinda get me into trouble. You know, you start to be malandi. Before you know it, you start kissing the guy.

Just before I was supposed to leave for Singapore and Eric was supposed to leave for the States, he expressed his feelings for me. He said: "If I don't tell, you, I'd regret it for the rest of my life." He told me: "I've been in love with you since we were lids. It has grown from puppy love all the way to the kind of love that I'm scared about."

My answer to him was: "You know, I feel the same way for you, too. I shouldn't even be telling you this because I'm really waiting for God's perfect choice. But unless I get any confirmation, we just have to be friends."

But when he expressed his feelings for me, I knew right away that he was the guy I was going to spend the rest of my life with.

THE TEST
Anyway, Eric and I maintained a long-distance telephone friendship over the next couple of months. I was in Singapore. He was in California. Over the phone we started to become sweet with each other. We started calling each other "sweetheart." It was like a full-blown relationship already via phone. I began telling my pastor, Larry Matsuwaki, and his wife, Elaine, that I was madly in love with Eric already. Pastor Larry and Elaine said I needed to break off my relationship with Eric.

The ultimate test was when my manager, Tita Angeli Valenciano, said that I should break up with Eric, too. Pastor Larry and Elaine were in Singapore, and Tita Angeli had no contact with them. So it was so ironic that all three of them were giving me the same advice. They said, cut off the relationship, because I was already emotionally bound to this person, so my judgment was not clear.

I couldn't help but cry. I told them: "I don't want to let go. This is it, I think I'm so in love with him." But they were very clear on what I should do. When I told Eric, he said: "I would do anything for you. If it means that we won't communicate anymore, I'll cut off the relationship, too. I know that God will bring us back together again someday."

When I got off the phone, I was so depressed! For like a day, I was crying. I couldn't eat. I was just really down. When I spoke with Tita Angeli, she asked: "So did you do it?" I was, like, "Yeah, yesterday." Then she was, like, "How do you feel about it?" And I'm, like, "I'm so depressed because we already agreed that we weren't going to talk anymore."

Then, she's like, "No! Gaga! I didn't say don't be friends with him anymore. I said just cut off the emotional ties."

"Really?" I was so happy! I called up Eric in the States: "Guess what?" He said, "Why are you calling me? I thought we were not supposed to talk to each other anymore?" I explained to him that Tita Anglei, as well as Pastor Larry and Elaine, were saying it was emotional pala. He was so happy he cried, too.

But the rules were that, one, we should get to know each other, and two, we should not call each other "sweetheart" or say "I love you." I admit that we didn't do a good job with regards to following the second rule. But what can you do via the phone? It was good that God set us apart because, if it were otherwise, the physical aspect was just hard to resist. When you're so attracted to someone and you're so in love, it's very easy to fall. So I was just really, really glad that we were not together then.

THE PROPOSAL
Pastor Larry, Elaine, and Tita Angeli said to me that I should only see Eric if he proposes marriage. They said, "Unless he proposes marriage, just be friends." I went to the States for Christmas, and Eric did just that.

How did he propose? He took me to this that led to an edge of a cliff. Then he said, "I have a Christmas gift for you."

"I thought we weren't supposed to buy each other gifts?"

"But I didn't buy it. I made it."

He took it out and it was a book version of our love story, a fairy tale, something like a children's book. It looked really old and it was bound by a rope. The final page was missing.

At the back of the book was a white hanky. He pulled it out and asked me, "What does white signify?"

I said, "Surrender."

All this time his face was getting sweaty. So I asked him, "Are you sick? Are you okay?"

But then he went on, "Okay, today, I surrender my love to you…" he knelt and pulled out a box.

All this time, I believed that the one for me would have to ask permission from all those I loved before asking me to marry. So I asked him, "did you ask my mom, dad, Pastor Larry, Elaine, Rachel, Tita Angeli, Tito Gary…?"

And he said, "Yes! Yes!"

I was like, "What did they say?"
"Yes!"

So that's when I cried and I broke down. "yes, I'll marry you!"

In the end, he said, "Let's surrender our relationship to our Lord Jesus Christ." After that, we had 20 minutes of prayer. I went back to Singapore. A few months later, Eric moved to Singapore.

THE RELATIONSHIP
I love everything about Eric, even the bad things. He's very matampuhin, for instance. I've developed patience because of Eric. In my past relationships, it was always about me, me, me. It wasn't like that with Eric, because I've learned to accept him and love him for all that he is.

So we maintained our relationship, but we were very careful. We knew we should never be alone together, but we didn't really follow that. Well, we work all day and we could only see each other at night, so we kinda compromised in that area. But we were very accountable to my pastor and his wife and to Tita Angeli.

Sometimes Eric would come over to my apartment. If he thought that my outfit was too attractive and he got turned on by what I was wearing, he would tell me and I would go and change.

For a man, it starts with the eyes. When a man sees a sexy woman, that's when he starts to visualize things or starts using the imagination. That's when he gets turned on. For a woman, it's the touch. A woman gets turned on by touch, and that's when it leads to other things. I know all of this be reading books and from experience. So we made a conscious effort to not be very sexy in front of each other. When we hug, we make sure that we guard our hearts, that we're not being lustful, puwedeng sweet, but not lustful.

But even Tita Angeli doesn't want us to hug. She says, "You guys, people are going to think that you guys are having sex by the way you hug each other. Could you just wait till you get married?"

I'm, like, "But it's so hard, you know, we can't kiss na nga e, we can't even hug come very long way.

Yes, we don't kiss on the lips. When we both go before the altar and the pastor says to the groom, "You may now kiss the bride," that should really be the first time.

Eric said to me once, "Sweetheart, I hope that when we get married you won't dislike kissing or, you know, making love, that sort of thing."

I'm, like, "Sweetheart, that's no problem!" You know what? We have been deprived for so long, I think we're going to have a very good intimate life after June 9.

THE PAST, THE FUTURE
God has a purpose for everyone. It doesn't mean that just because I'm an MTV VJ, I am going to be the only one who would experience a great destiny. Before MTV, my career was down in the dumps. Everyone was saying na I was laos na, that I was just another pretty face who didn't have talent and couldn't speak Tagalog.

But my manager told me if I would just repent and ask for forgiveness and turn away from all my past and concentrate on pleasing God with all my heart, He's going to turn my career around 180 degrees. He's going to bless me above and beyond anything that I can possibly imagine. I believed in that at that time, but I also wanted to please God, and I did just that. That was when I signed up with Lux-even amidst the Internet scandal-and I signed up with MTV. Everything since then has just been a wonderful roller-coaster ride.

Everyone can experience that from God. But God has to withhold those blessings if you're not ready. You've got to be prepared.

I also admit I was a party animal back in those days. I used to like going to clubs and dancing hip-hop and going crazy. My little theory then was I might as well do everything I want before I get married since I have paid a lot for some of my sins along the way.

Now I look back on my life and tell myself, "Gosh, I don't miss any of that." I've experienced all of that so it's, like "God, I have something so much better, and I can't believe I used to like doing things like that."

I do regret a lot of things I've done in the past, both in relationships and out of relationships. But I've learned so much. I've learned how to love unconditionally. I have experienced different types of love, from infatuation to lust to respect and, finally, a respectable kind of love.

Even before Eric came along, I was totally happy and at peace. Eric is just the icing on the cake, let's just say that.

To all the girls out there, whenever you think about getting intimate with your boyfriend, think of this: God can't give His best for your life if you're compromising. That thought was key to me. However, I didn't decide just one day: "Okay I'll be holier-than-thou, I'm gonna be celibate till I get married. You know, look at me now, I'm so good!"

No, it wasn't an instant change. I tool things one step at a time. I am not ashamed to admit that it was a very difficult process. But, hey, maybe the Lord allowed that so people would be able to relate to what happened to me more because I've been there.

I believe the best is yet to come Eric and me. - -