Sisters Ara Mina and Cristine Reyes reveal how they've made peace for the first time

A lot of speculations have been made about the nasty not to mention controversial feud of sisters Cristine Reyes and Ara Mina last year.

There came up the issue of sibling rivalry and even money matters reportedly due to the townhouse they bought for their mother after the onslaught of typhoon Ondoy, but not one among the two spoke about the real reason that sparked their tiff even after they have resolved their differences last April.

The squabble resulted in a barrage of personal attacks between both parties that prompted Ara to file libel and grave coercion charges against her younger sibling. To assuage her sister, Cristine issued a public apology June last year in response to Ara’s demand on her counter affidavit.

However, despite this, the sisters remained in disagreement after Ara judged her younger sister’s gesture as “insincere.”

Now, during their appearance on Buzz ng Bayan’s Sunday episode, for the first time the sisters spoke at length about their previous falling out and how they have patched things up.

The truth according to them is that it was never about the money, according to the When the Love is Gone star.

“Hindi naman po tungkol sa pera ‘yung pinagawayan naming actually eh. ‘Yun po talaga ‘yung grudge even nung bata po ako. Hindi po ‘yun tungkol sa money… kasi hindi po ‘yun alam ng tao eh kaya ang iniisip nila pera,” said Cristine.

Ara seconded Cristine and said, “Nadala lang po ng galit ‘yon pero wala po talagang money involved.”

This grudge that Cristine mentioned is something that she has harbored against her Ate and even her Mom for the longest time for being literally left alone in their home when she was a lot younger.

“She felt lonely when she was growing up. Kasi I’m so busy that time. Uuwi daw siya ng bahay walang magtuturo sakanyang gumawa ng assignment. Ako super busy ako, tapos ‘yung kapatid naming isa nag-aaral rin tapos naging broken family kami eh. Una akong umalis sa bahay,” she explained.

Now though, eight months since they’ve smoked the peace pipe, the sisters could only fondly recall the long and arduous journey that led to their reconciliation which involved lots of text messages from Cristine and a 30-minute need-for-speed-like drive all the way from Tarlac to Ara’s home.

Both of them agree that their previous misunderstanding is something that had to happen in order for them to realize things.

“Masyado po akong matapang lalo na kung alam kong tama ako and [then] hindi lahat ng bagay nadadaan sa init ng ulo. Hindi lahat ng tao, kahit sinong tao sa paligid mo, kapatid mo man, nanay mo, best friend mo or kahit sino ay iintindihin ka at maiintindihan ka sa lahat ng actions,” Cristine shared her learning.

She even thanked her Ate for filing charges against her because, “Hindi ko talaga naiintindihan kung bakit mo ginawa sakin ‘yung demanda. Pero nung ginawa po sakin ‘yun ni Ate like galit na galit po ako sakanya pero eventually after like one year, na-realize ko na parang dapat talaga ginawa [‘yon] kasi wala po talaga akong kinakatakutan as in kahit sino babanggain ko talaga.”

Ara, for her part, waxed emotional while imparting her advice to other siblings who might have been in the same situation as theirs before.

“Advice ko nalang ito sa mga ibang tao like me, hindi porket nabibigay mo ‘yung mga gusto nila or nabibili mo ‘yung mga kailangan nila eh, ibig sabihin okay na kayo. Kailangan mag-open kayo sa isa’t-isa. Kasi katulad niya may grudge pala siya na hindi ko alam, Importante sa family ‘yung communication,” said Ara.

She even stressed, “Mas pagkatiwalaan niyo ‘yung pamilya niyo kesa sa ibang tao. Kung may hinanakit kayo sa kapatid niyo, sabihin niyo, ‘wag niyong kimkimin. ‘Wag niyong itago dahil kung hindi worst ang mangyayari.”