MANILA — Nearly two years since she was embroiled in a controversy involving her then-fellow Star Magic artists Gerald Anderson and Bea Alonzo, Julia Barretto has now learned to navigate “judgment” from the public eye.

Barretto, 23, opened up about being the target of criticisms and being “misjudged” in the latest vlog of her sister, Dani Barretto, where the latter interviewed the actress.

“I feel I’ve learned to compartmentalize things: what matters and what doesn’t matter,” Barretto said, when asked how she deals with being misjudged.

“If we’re talking about judgment from people that have no significant role in my life, it really doesn’t bother me. Because, ‘What do you know in the first place?’” she explained.

She added: “If we’re talking about judgment from people in my life, I’m just glad I’ve become more picky with who I want to be in my life. Because now I know that the judgment are always constructive and are always out of concern, or to just help me become a better person or to guide me.”

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In the biggest controversy to beset her career, Barretto was accused as the third party in the separation of Alonzo and Anderson in July 2019. Barretto also happened to be fresh out of a relationship then, having separated from her onscreen partner Joshua Garcia in June. At the time, Anderson and Barretto had just released their first co-starring film, the Japan-set “Between Maybes,” in May.

Barretto and Anderson denied, in separate interviews, being romantically involved.

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Since then, rumors linking them have only persisted and appear to now have concrete basis, with sightings of Barretto and Anderson at the same location, aside from their separate but aligned pronouncements of being “happy” and “in love,” and hoping to have a family of their own in the near future.

• Julia Barretto’s next big goal? Become a mother

Despite the 2019 controversy admittedly being a “exhausting and painful” chapter for Barretto, the actress “wouldn’t change anything” about what transpired.

Barretto was answering what she would tell her younger self, when she mentioned the topic.

“Even what I went through two years ago, I wouldn’t change a thing. It was such an eye-opener, and it revealed a lot of things to me that I need in my life,” she said.

Sharing her message to her teenage self, prior to the intrigues and scandals that would test her character, Barretto said: “I’ll just tell her to keep going, really. I really wouldn’t change a thing. I don’t mind going through it all again. Just keep going, it’s just that simple. Tunnel vision. Focus on the goal.”

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Watch more in iWantv or TFC.tv

Watch more in iWantv or TFC.tv

Watch more in iWantv or TFC.tv