It seems that Derek’s aware of the persistent rumors linking Angelica to fellow Kapamilya star John Lloyd Cruz. But without naming names, he maintained that he would be happy for Angelica if she finds someone new in her life. Asked if he believes in the so-called 3-month-rule in breakups, he replied, “I don’t believe in the three-month rule. Like with Angel, if she has fallen with somebody else, I wouldn’t be mad at that certain someone. I wouldn’t be mad at her. Kung mahal mo talaga ang tao, gusto mo maging masaya sila. So, ako gusto ko maging masaya siya. Kung masaya siya sa ibang lalaki, she has my support.”
As for his own love life, Derek said that he’s open to dating or falling in love again. “Pwedeng makipag-date! Pwedeng magmahal! Pwede rin (seeing someone),” he vaguely answered when asked if he’s already seeing someone. “You never know. You don’t look for it. Love can hit you anywhere. I learned a lot in my 6 years relationship with Angel. She taught me so much,” said Derek who had nothing but good words about Angelica.
The actor-athlete added that there are no specific qualities that he’s looking for in a potential girlfriend. “No. Siguro the mistakes that you made in the past relationship, you just don’t make again. It’s funny with Angel and I, there's no mistake, there's no one at fault. It’s just that I guess it wasn’t meant to be. You never know what the future holds. But for now, it’s not what's meant to be.”
If he would have his way, Derek said that he’d rather date a non-showbiz girl so that he could still maintain a certain degree of privacy. “Yeah, definitely it’s my rule now. I will have to date someone non-showbiz. By saying that it could bite me in the butt, I could be dating somebody from showbiz; but for now, I don’t want to be so high-profile with my love life because there's going to be a lot of pressure. I thought we had a perfect formula. But I guess it did affect us.”