Ruffa will be converted to Muslim

Embrace me, embrace my religion.

That’s what Ruffa Gutierrez will be doing now that she’s officially and legally Mrs. Yilmaz Bektas after their fairy-tale wedding yesterday at the garden of The NBC Tent, Fort Bonifacio Global City, Makati City.

For the first of two weddings, with the second one slated on May 11 (Ruffa and Yilmaz’s third anniversary as sweethearts) in Istanbul, Yilmaz, who’s Muslim, agreed to the Christian ceremony (officiated by a lay minister) and it’s but fitting that Ruffa should do the same during their Istanbul wedding.

"That’s what Yilmaz and his family want," said Annabelle Rama who has come to terms with the reality that, well, she and husband Eddie Gutierrez were not losing a daughter after all but gaining another son. "Ruffa will have no choice but to be converted to Muslim."

"How do I feel?" Eddie asked a few minutes before the ceremony with a star-studded entourage. "Excited and happy and nervous at the same time."

During the ceremony, Eddie cried more than Ruffa, especially in his speech, where he entrusted his daughter to Yilmaz.

Ruffa replied, "Don’t worry, Mom and Dad, I’m in good hands."

Until early Monday night when Yilmaz finally arrived from Turkey, which is only a border away from war-torn Iraq, Annabelle could hardly eat or sleep, ready to collapse as she expected the worse. Could you imagine a grand wedding, known around the world, being postponed and/or cancelled at the last minute because the groom was stranded by a war thousands of miles away? The gallant Turkish landed with a big "I’m finally here!" smile at the Centennial Airport at around 5:45 p.m. March 24, accompanied by only four people and not the original dozen or so relatives who decided to remain in Istanbul because of the war.

However, the bride and groom saw each other only yesterday at The Fort during the traditional march down the aisle. Even if they wanted to, Ruffa and Yilmaz couldn’t see each other. There’s a belief/superstition that two people about to be married shouldn’t see each other prior to the ceremony because it would mean bad luck.

But Ruffa did prove one superstitious belief false when she agreed to fit her wedding gown, egged on no doubt by a presumably over-excited Inno Sotto who must have craved for his own, uh, "15 minutes of fame" in a newspaper spread showing him on his knees spreading the gown’s six-meter-long veil.

Superstitious people went tsk-tsk-tsking, sure that because Ruffa fitted her gown, the wedding wouldn’t be pushed through. For a while, Ruffa was worried Yilmaz might not make it to the wedding, keeping her fingers crossed as she half-jokingly told Ricky Reyes (who enlisted Ruffa as a Gandang Ricky Reyes image model), "Mother, magtirik ka na ng kandila!"

Before they walked down the aisle yesterday afternoon, Ruffa and Yilmaz only had a fleeting glance at each other at the Manila Peninsula lobby where they were both billetted, Yilmaz and company at the Penthouse and Ruffa in her own room.

Instead, they communicated by cellphone, with Yilmaz begging Ruffa, "I want to see you, even for just a second. I won’t touch or kiss you, I just want to see you!" Yilmaz’s bodyguard Halil relented.

Smiled Ruffa, "I told him, ‘Okay, I’m at the lobby; go to the second floor so we can at least wave at each other.’ We were sabik na to see each other but that was all we did – wave at each other for not even a minute – several hours after he arrived from Istanbul."

But last night, you guessed it, the newlyweds didn’t just wave at each other as soon as the last guest had left The Fort and they (Ruffa and Yilmaz) rushed back to The Pen; they surely sealed their first night together as husband and wife with more than just a kiss.

As Funfare has been reporting, the couple will fly to Maldives for their honeymoon and to start on their first "joint venture" – the baby, yes! – far, far from the maddening crowd.

Can you imagine Ruffa reeling with morning sickness during their second Istanbul wedding, this time with her as a full-fledged Muslim?

MTRCB chief praises Carlo J. Caparas

Golden Lions co-producer Donna Villa was expecting the worst when the trailer of her and husband/co-producer Carlo J. Caparas’ latest movie, NBI Files: The Cory Quirino Kidnap, was "X-ed" by the MTRCB now headed by Maria Consoliza Laguardia, appointed only recently by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

"I was afraid the movie would be either banned or rated-X," said Donna, now heaving a sigh of relief especially after last Monday’s SRO premiere in three SM Megamall theaters. "Instead, we got a ‘PG-13,’ without cuts."

Early on, Cory Quirino begged Donna and Carlo to cut the crucial "rape" scene because when Cory saw the rushes, she found it too brutal and violent, bringing back painful memories of her ordeal in the hands of her five kidnappers ("rapists"?) who are now languishing in deathrow. But Carlo said no way, "The ‘rape scene’ is vital to the story."

People who have been asking if, indeed, Cory was "raped" can now find out for themselves in several Metro Manila theaters where the movie is opening today.

Carlo, who wrote and directed the movie, got a "bonus" of sorts when, after previewing it, MTRCB Chief Laguardia congratulated him for a job well done, saying, "You should make more movies."

I think Carlo should heed Madame Laguardia’s well-meaning advice.

What’s up?

• Condolence to Leandro and Carlo Muñoz on the death of their father, Louie Muñoz, yesterday morning at the Medical City in Pasig City due to heart attack. He was 66. The youngest brother of veteran actress Tita Muñoz, Louie is also survived by his wife, Patricia Garcia, other children Carissa and Angelo, and grandchildren Cheska and Enzo. His remains lie at the Arlington Chapels, Araneta Ave., Quezon City. Interment will be announced later.

• Also, condolence to Gloria Sevilla and children on the death of her husband, Amado Cortez, after a lingering illness at the Kidney Center. His remains are also at Arlington Chapels.

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