A Valentine in December

Julius Babao and Tintin Bersola must be the happiest couple in the world today. (How enviable!) The newlyweds are on their honeymoon in the US where they will be spending Christmas (with the Babaos).

Three days before their wedding last Dec. 8, I caught the tail end of TV Patrol – the part where Julius was going to turn it over to Ernie Baron who was supposed to give his weather forecast for that weekend. Julius’ turnover spiel was actually so fitting: "Ka Ernie, kumusta ang lagay ng panahon? Uulan ba sa araw ng aking kasal?" (The weather was going to be fine, thank you, and more importantly, it was going to be cool on their wedding night.) It was with fondness that I laughed over that one. I’ve always considered Julius a friend because of Tintin, who has been a kid sister to me since the day she co-hosted Showbiz Lingo with Cristy Fermin and myself way back in the mid-’90s.

It was at that point when I remembered that I was supposed to call up Tintin – which I did at once. I caught her on the road, and she was obviously listening to TV Patrol on DZMM."How did Julius look like when he said that on TV?" Tintin excitedly asked me over the phone. "Oh, he had this unmistakable glow on his face and it looks like he loves you more than you love him," I answered. "Noooooo!" The correction came as quick as a bolt of lightning from Tintin’s end. "I love him just as much as he loves me," she insisted. She wasn’t talking to me as a press person, but as a friend and I knew she was sincere when she said that.

Then with equal sincerity, I told her how happy I am for her – for them – and that even if we don’t get to see each other that often (but always bump into them at Japanese restaurants), I am really quite fond of them and will always have a soft spot in my heart especially for Tintin, who will always be my baby sister even when she becomes Mrs. Julius Babao.

Unfortunately, I could not be at their wedding because I also had a birthday party for myself scheduled on that day. However, I promised Tintin that if my party finished early, I would try to catch up at least in the reception. That didn’t happen. In the first place, the venue of the reception was not just in the Ortigas Center area. It was in far Antipolo. I’ve been there before – in May 1997 to attend the wedding of my friend, sports enthusiast Bert Madrigal to his artist wife, Tammy. Called Silangan Gardens, it is a picturesque place owned by art patron, Dr. Joven Cuanang, one of the principal sponsors of Bert and Tammy and now, Julius and Tintin.

Since I failed to make it to the Babao-Bersola wedding (I’m sorry, Tin!), I made sure I caught the coverage of that special event on ABS-CBN last Friday.

As captured on television, it was indeed a beautiful wedding – clearly the result of painstaking preparations. Both the church and the venue of the reception were dressed up tastefully – that much you could tell on TV. The bride was radiant. And the groom? Well, he looked so in love – and I am glad (for Tintin, of course!) because I’ve been to so many weddings where only the bride seemed excited and the groom acted like he’d just been handed his death sentence. In the case of Julius, the happiness he felt inside him manifested on the outside and this is good enough indication that he will be a good husband to my baby sister Tintin.

The ABS-CBN coverage of the Babao-Bersola wedding actually also did justice to the careful and thorough preparations made by Julius and Tintin. It was star-studded – with well-written spiels so warmly delivered (and with so much sincerity) by the hosts (led by Korina Sanchez) who all worked in the past and present shows of both Julius and Tintin. Even the music score during the coverage was carefully selected and this made the show so romantic, it was like a Valentine’s Day special.

But then, I really don’t know what happened to the ending. Julius and Tintin were shown opening their presents and cut – no goodbyes whatsoever. My guess is that ABS-CBN was going on overtime and had to cut the special abruptly. In fact, the closing billboard wasn’t even shown anymore.

Whatever the reason was behind that abrupt ending is no longer important at this point. I am just extremely happy that the Julius-Tintin romance, which started on TV more than half a decade ago ended beautifully on the altar last week, when they wed on the feast of the Immaculate Conception.

To Julius and Tintin, my very best wishes! I am genuinely happy for the both of you.