Mikey: I'm happily married

Curtain-raisers:

• Live and let live; love and let love. That seems to be the style of this showbiz couple long rumored to be still living under one roof but going in separate directions. Very civil, very discreet, very respectful of each other’s space. The husband is going out with the fashionista editor of a glossy magazine while the wife is rumored to have fallen for her gym trainer.

• Could it be true that the female half of a popular TV loveteam is getting jealous of the male half’s new leading lady in a new tele-romance? Is that why they have been quarreling? During their TV promo, the guy is very careful about being showing any signs of interest in the girl who is, ehem, much a bit prettier and much younger than his jealous “current.”

• So far, here are the showbiz folk intending to run in 2010: Vice Pres. Noli de Castro as Sen. Manny Villar’s running-mate?; Edu Manzano for senator; Sen. Lito Lapid for governor of Pampanga; incumbent Batangas Gov. Vilma Santos for reelection; Quezon City Mayor Herbert Bautista for Q.C. mayor; Q.C. Councilor Aiko Melendez for Q.C. vice mayor; Alfred Vargas, Jigo Garcia and Ogie Diaz for Q,C. coucilor; and...hmmm, Willie Revillame for whatever.

* * *

Perhaps DJ Mo Twister doesn’t realize what a fix he has gotten into with his recklessness. Remember how he mentioned in Twitter that Rufa Mae Quinto is engaged to be married to Pampanga Rep. Mikey Arroyo, conveniently forgetting that Mikey is married to Angela Montenegro with whom he has two children?

When that entry was picked up by the movie press and the TV talk shows, Mo promptly deleted it. But it was too late. Reacting to an item in Jun Lalin’s column, Mo called the healthy Jun “pig” in his Twitter and then again deleted it, but only after many people had read it. In short, the damage had been done in both cases before Mo did some “damage control.”

When he apologized for dragging Mikey into showbiz gossip, Mo said that he didn’t know that he was not supposed to put it on record.

Showbiz-observers put part of the blame on Rufa Mae who started it all by claiming on national television that she has a new house in San Francisco worth P30 million given to her by her boyfriend whom she’s marrying in the near future.

The other day, Jojo Gabinete and Lolit Solis met with Mikey who denied the yarn that Mo spread via his Twitter.

“I am happily married,” Mikey told Lolit and Jojo. “I don’t know where or from whom Mo Twister got his story. Alam n’yo namang kuripot ako. Sa kakuriputan kong ito magbibigay ba ako ng bahay na halagang P30 million?”

Jojo didn’t say if Mikey and/or his wife Angela are planning to file a case (libel, maybe?) against Mo.

Rose of Tagbi

As I’ve been saying, the Bohol government should give FPJ a posthumous citation for putting the province in the tourism map. In fact, every other province in the country should do the same. FPJ set almost all his films in the country’s scenic spots, one of them the Chocolate Hills and the province’s other attractions that have become a must-see for tourists. FPJ shot Esteban in Bohol, with Alona Alegre as one of his leading ladies. A beach in Bohol was named after Alona who stayed there long before the place grew to be a resort (where the cast and crew of Regal Films’ Nandito Ako, Nagmamahal Sa’Yo, starring Aljur Abrenica and Kris Bernal, directed by Maryo J. delos Reyes stayed).

Also deserving a similar honor is Rosario “Rose” Soy who was chosen Mrs. Bohol International 2009 in last July’s TBTK (Tigum Bol-anon Sa Tibuok Kalibutan, headed by New York-based nurse Betty Veloso-Garcia) week-long celebration. Rose is known as Queen of Rotary Club for four consecutive years (since 2006) for her fundraising projects not only for the club but for the whole province.

Long before saw any glimmer of possibility of Bohol becoming a tourist haven, Rose Soy was already in the forefront of the province’s inchoate tourism in the 1960s.

According to my Boholano friends Raoul Tidalgo and Leo Udtohan, back in the days when going to the Chocolate Hills meant a back-breaking two-hour drive over rough and dusty roads, only Rose saw the hills’ potentials as the crown jewel of Bohol’s many marvels of nature. That vision spurred Rose to bid to operate and develop Chocolate Hills and through her own Bohol Travel and Tours, succeeded in bringing the hills to its full tourism potential.

Rose spearheaded the development of what was to have been Bohol’s first resort hotel complex in the mid-‘60s. Sadly, due to unforeseen setbacks, the project failed to take off. Rose, however, soldiered on, resolute in putting Bohol on the world’s tourism map.

Rose’s effort paid off. She witnessed the dawn of Bohol tourism and helped shape it into what it is today.

Raoul said that today, Rose is gloriously retired but far from being uncommitted.

Added Leo, “This glamorous grandmother is a vigorous as ever, with memberships in the Rotary Club of Tagbilaran and Lions Club of Tagbilaran, The Bohol Chamber of Commerce, aside from managing various business, participating in community project and yes, ballroom dancing at which she is a whiz at the Argentine tango.”

These days, Rose holds court at her Cion-Virge Restaurant at the Tagbilaran Airport Compound. From her office window, Rose sees the endless stream of tourists flying in from all parts of the world daily. She admits the sight warms her heart no end.

(E-mail reactions at rickylo@philstar.net.ph or at entphilstar@yahoo.com)