29 years later, Aiko Melendez and Onemig Bondoc find their way back to ‘yes’

ASM, Philippine Canadian Inquirer
October 07, 2026

Photo courtesy: Aiko Melendez | Instagram

MANILA, Philippines — Some love stories do not move in a straight line.

For Aiko Melendez and Onemig Bondoc, nearly three decades passed between their first romance and the moment he knelt down to ask her to spend the rest of her life with him.

Melendez said yes.

After 29 years, Aiko Melendez and Onemig Bondoc are engaged | Aiko Melendez | Instagram

The actress and Quezon City councilor confirmed their engagement after Bondoc proposed at a place that carried deep meaning for her – the resting place of her late father, actor and former councilor Jimi Melendez.

Bondoc had already spoken with Melendez’s mother, sibling and children before the proposal. He also wanted her father’s memory to be part of the moment, making the engagement less about spectacle and more about family, history and the people who helped shape her life.

Melendez and Bondoc first became a couple in the 1990s. Their relationship eventually ended, and both went on to build separate lives and families.

Years later, they reconnected.

What followed was not simply a return to an old romance, but a new chapter shaped by everything that had happened in between.

Melendez has reflected publicly on how much time had passed since they were first together, describing their reunion as something that came when both were older, more settled and able to choose the relationship with a different kind of clarity.

That is what makes the engagement resonate beyond the usual celebrity milestone.

It is a story about timing, second chances and finding your way back to someone after life has already taken you in different directions.

When Bondoc finally asked the question, he did so with Melendez’s family already aware of his plans and in a place where she could feel her father close.

And after 29 years, the answer was yes.

The couple has not yet announced a wedding date.