Ruffa and family doing well after tragedy

Curtain-raisers:

• My friend manghuhula (no, not the Madame Auring type) predicted that before the year is over, a controversial couple will break up in the same noisy manner when they said they started going steady and finally admit that they’ve been "secretly" married. Asked who the couple is, the manghuhula said, "Hulaan mo!" Make a guess.

• Effective July 1, SkyCable and Home Cable have reorganized their channel number assignments so that channels belonging to the same genre are grouped together. While subscribers continue to enjoy the same select programming, the resulting line-up is a more organized arrangement that results to an easier and more convenient channel surfing. Movie channels such as HBO, Star Movies and Cinema One are now on Channels 54, 55 and 56; and sports channels like ESPN, Star Sports, Solar Sports and Sports Plus are now on Channels 31, 32, 34 and 35. For the updated channel line-up, tune in to Channel 33 (or call SkyCable’s customer hotline 631-0000 anytime of day and night).

• Briefly noted: Funfare wishes a "happy reunion" to the alumni of Lanao Chung Hua School (formerly Lanao Chinese High School) in Iligan City on their second grand homecoming July 7 to 9. My friends, Drs. Henry Yu and Wilson Lim, belong to the batch...Readers said that Colegio de San Jose Recoletos in Cebu City is now University of San Jose Recoletos. That’s where Isabel Oli, one of Richard Gutierrez’s leading ladies in the new GMA adventu-serye Sugo, graduated. Also, readers have clarified that Isabel played Marco Alcaraz’s half sister in the ABS-CBN soap It Might Be You and not Marco’s girlfriend.

* * *

Since last April when her husband, Yilmaz Bektas, was shot by a mentally-ill man, Ruffa Gutierrez has been intriguingly quiet. If you recall, Yilmaz fought for his life at the ICU of a hospital in Istanbul while the other victim (of the same crazed assailant) died. Ruffa’s dad, Eddie Gutierrez, flew to Istanbul to give Yilmaz and Ruffa moral support.

Yilmaz is up and about now, attending to his business(es). What about Ruffa (who celebrated her birthday on June 24), who is so far happy and contented being wife to Yilmaz and mother to their two daughters, Lorin and Venice?

I just got an e-mail from Ruffa who gladly updates us on what she has been up to:

Dearest Tito Ricky,

Hi! How are you?

I know I haven’t been in touch for the longest time. The last four months have been the most difficult time of my life. I thought I had seen it all in the crazy, intrigue-laden world of showbiz but I guess I was wrong.

I now take this opportunity to thank those who have stood by me, who have prayed for my family and have sent cards, letters, prayer books, and who have offered me a shoulder to cry on. I now realize more than ever that having a close, God-fearing family and wonderful friends who stand by you every step of the way helps one make it through any crisis.

For the curious, Yilmaz is well, healthy and in hight spirits. He has fully recovered and has gone back to work. Coming so close to death and escaping from it gives one an amazing love of life. Much of what happens in this world is evil and bad, but God specializes in bringing good out of it.

On a lighter note...my family is well. Lorin will celebrate her second birthday on Aug. 3 while Venice will celebrate her first birthday in September. How I wish they could be babies forever! As I turned a year older (I’ve stopped counting the years since I turned 25...don’t ask me when, please!!!), I focus my efforts on being CEO of Fashion TV here in Turkey. We have loads of projects lined up and are busy setting up our new office. But I haven’t forgotten Manila. I promise to be there soon.

By the way, I’m proud of what my brother Richard has accomplished. His star has risen and many projects are lined up for him, including his latest action series on GMA, Sugo. I hope he will always remain humble and remember those who have helped him on his way up.

Miss you all!

Much love,

– RUFFA

Rita proud to play her namesake

Several weeks after she had a miscarriage (her and husband director Erick Reyes’ first baby), Rita Avila said that she hasn’t fully recovered yet. That’s how badly she wants to have a baby. To help herself recover from the loss, Rita bought a cute doll to keep her – and Erick – company. But she hopes to have her own "live" baby as soon as possible.

Meanwhile, Rita keeps herself busy to get her mind off that heart-breaking experience. She has just done a cameo role in Peque Gallaga’s much-awaited comeback vehicle, Unitel Pictures’ Pinoy Blonde, impersonating the late great drama actress and her namesake, Rita Gomez.

"When I was new in showbiz," recalled Rita, "I posed as Miss Rita Gomez for a magazine pictorial. Now, I’m playing her bigger-than-life."

Rita was thrilled when she got the offer to do (even just a) cameo in Pinoy Blonde which comes on the heels of Unitel’s critically-successful comedy La Visa Loca (said to show Robin Padilla’s finest performance).

"Twenty years ago," added Rita, "I was a student of direk Peque at the Actors Workshop Foundation."

On the last day of the workshop, direk Peque assessed Rita this way: "She’s one who, if one day I’ll come across with in the middle of the street, I’ll probably say to other people, ‘Hey, look, this girl has been my student. Mine!’"

Said Rita, "That’s a memory I want to freeze and display because the assessment came from a master."

Who would have thought that, 20 years later, the student and the master would be working together in a movie!

Even just in a "cameo."

Reader’s reaction

Reader Leila Fernando-Tolosa said she’s "curious" whatever happened to the following stars.

Let me see...

• Jonathan Potenciano, a Tawag ng Tanghalan grand champion. (He’s now in the States.)

• Nobo Bono, Jr., also a Tawag ng Tanghalan grand champion. (He’s in his native Cebu; hasn’t been singing professionally for years.)

• Eva Vivar, one of the mainstays in Tirso Cruz III’s early-evening Sunday variety show. (Yeah, where could she be?)

• Rochelle del Carmen, whose popular single was called Travelling Boy. (Same.)

• Beth Manlongat, who used to be paired with Roderick Paulate. (She’s around, married with children but not inclined to return to showbiz.)

• Janine Frias. (Now in the US.)

• Cora Adajar, the Female Elvis Presley. (She’s retired.)

• Ellen Esguerra, the sexy villainess. (She died of cancer a few years ago.)

• Susan Valdez, Mutya ng Pilipinas runner-up. (The Ilongga nurse is in New York, happily married. She was in the cast of Laurice Guillen’s American Adobo, shown in 2002, which was shot in the US.)

• Lillian Laing de Leon...is she still alive? (No, she died a few years ago.)

• Julie Ann Fortich, one-time beauty queen. (She made a comeback two years ago and now appears only occasionally in TV shows.)

* * *

E-mail reactions at [email protected]