Goodbye, Ali, hasta la vista! - FUNFARE by Ricardo F. Lo

Anytime now, Ali Sotto (known simply by her real name Aloha when she was starting in showbiz as a singer in the mid-’70s) is flying to Mexico to join her husband, Omar Bsaies, and live there happily ever after, finally together every day for the rest of their lives as husband and wife after more than three years of practically living apart, divided by their respective equally demanding jobs, seeing each other almost only every now and then.

Ali and Omar were married somewhere in Palawan in 1997. After a brief honeymoon, so hasty that their friends suspected they barely, well, "scratched each other," Omar went back to his post in Bangladesh in his capacity (not as a consul like what some people think but) as General Services Officer of the United States Department of State (a job which authorizes him to enter into contracts for and in behalf of the US Government to, for example, set up embassies abroad); while Ali resumed her movie-TV-radio work.

Everytime he was in town, Omar would eagerly rush to Ali at her Loyola Grand Villas home in Quezon City (she has put up her Tahanan Village house in Parañaque for rent). Or they would take trips together, savor every moment of their brief togetherness, and, sob and sigh, then again retreat to their jobs.

Both Ali and Omar, now 52 (Ali is into her late 30s), have "exes" and have two children each from previous marriages. Ali, whose marriage to Maru Sotto (younger brother of Sen. Tito, Vic and Val), has two children, Chino (19, who briefly courted Angelika dela Cruz, with not much success because, according to Angelika, "my dad didn’t like him") and Miko (18). On the other hand, Omar is divorced from his American wife with whom he has also two kids, Ryyan (19) and Cheyenne (17).

In Mexico, their new home where Omar (who used to be based in Washington D.C.) is now assigned, the couple might finally come up with their own "joint venture," who knows?

As early as August, Ali has already shipped to Mexico their belongings, including furniture sets from Dhaka, Persian rugs from Istanbul, tapestries from Bangladesh, house decors from Bangkok, decorative paltes from Greece, assorted bases from Honduras, and other valuables they’ve been collecting during their travels abroad.

Ali is leaving behind not only her career but also his sons (who will remain at her Loyola Grand Villas Condo), old enough to take care of themselves (dad Maru is around to check them out). Omar’s children are with their mom. Ali, by this time, must have already did goodbye to the avid followers of her DZRH radio program and her TV fans, too.

A lot of people might be wondering waht sort of person Ali’s husband is. He must be so special to have won the (elusive?) heart of Ali who, I guess, must have been traumatized by her and Maru’s failed marraige.

Omar is a poet, so he must be sensitive and artistic and creative – and romantic, for sure! (A sample of a poem he wrote for Ali/Aloha is printed with this story.)

A native of Tunisia (a republic of Northern Africa), Omar was 17 when he studied in the US on a scholarship grant, earning two master’s degrees (one in Economics and the other in International Relations) from Colorado University. A linguist, Omar speaks seven languages, not to mention the "language of love" (through poems) which he speaks oh-so-eloquently to Ali.

The two met in 1992 in Brunei where ali performed for the Filipino community there during an Independence Day celebration. Omar was there as member of the US diplomatic corps. To make a beautiful love story short, Ali and Omar so clicked with each other on that first meeting that they found their paths crossing both here and abroad – until they tied the knot in 1997.

Well, then, to Ali and Omar, here’s wishing you many blissful years together. Viva el amor!