Elijah Canlas and Miles Ocampo may have ended their relationship, but the actor is not erasing the five years that came before the breakup.
In fact, while confirming that he and Ocampo have separated again, Canlas offered an unusually generous assessment of a relationship that did not get the ending they once hoped for.
“Those were the best five years of my life,” he said in an interview with Ogie Diaz.
It is a striking statement from someone fresh from a breakup — particularly one that has played out under the scrutiny that comes with two recognizable names in Philippine entertainment.
Canlas confirmed that he and Ocampo had mutually decided to separate after rekindling their relationship following an earlier breakup.
This time, he said, there was no dramatic villain behind the ending.
The actor denied allegations that cheating or a third party caused the split, saying people close to them — including Ocampo — know that those claims are untrue.
“There was no third party involved, ever,” he said.
They thought the second time would last
Canlas and Ocampo began dating privately in 2021 before publicly confirming their relationship in 2022.
Their romance hit a difficult period in 2023, when they first separated. They later found their way back to each other, with Ocampo confirming in 2024 that they had reconciled.
That second chance made the latest breakup particularly painful for Canlas.
When they got back together, he acknowledged, there was a sense that perhaps this time they had figured it out.
“We got back together thinking this is it,” he said.
But the relationship eventually reached another conclusion.
Canlas described the decision as mutual and amicable. Rather than pointing to one explosive incident, he spoke about the more complicated reality of two people realizing that a relationship might no longer work.
There was no hatred, he said.
There was, however, pain.
Canlas recalled that when they made the decision, they cried and thanked each other for what they had shared over the past five years.
Love doesn’t automatically become friendship
The breakup also leaves Canlas and Ocampo in an uncomfortable space familiar to many former couples: what exactly do you become after spending years as each other’s person?
For now, Canlas isn’t forcing an answer.
Although the separation was amicable, he said five years together cannot simply be converted into friendship after only a few months apart.
He did not rule it out someday.
“The love will always be there,” he said, describing Ocampo as a “great, great person.”
For the moment, however, his priority is distance and healing.
It is also why he is not rushing toward another romance.
Canlas said he is focusing on himself and his work, arguing that immediately entering another relationship would diminish the significance of what he and Ocampo had shared.
“It would be a dishonor to myself, even to my heart, to just jump straight into another relationship,” he said.
A breakup without a villain
Celebrity breakups rarely remain between two people.
A photograph, an unfollow, an old video or a casual outing with someone else can quickly become evidence in an online investigation that the people actually involved never asked for.
Canlas experienced that firsthand when he was linked to actress-singer Thea Astley after they were seen with friends in La Union.
He denied that there was anything romantic between them, saying Astley is simply a friend and rejecting suggestions that the outing proved he had been unfaithful to Ocampo.
The speculation is also part of the reason Canlas decided to publicly confirm the breakup despite initially wanting to keep it private.
What he did not do was reveal exactly why the relationship ended.
That part, he maintained, belongs to him and Ocampo.
He instead asked the public not to reduce five years together to theories surrounding their separation.
“Go easy on Miles. Go easy on me,” he said. “Let us heal.”
Ocampo had not publicly responded to Canlas’ latest statements as of the reports following his interview.
For now, Canlas appears content to leave their relationship without the dramatic rewrite celebrity breakups often invite.
They loved each other, separated once, and tried again. Despite knowing how the story turned out, Canlas says he wouldn’t erase the years in between.