Garie: 50% Gabby, 50% Grace

Among Gabby Concepcion’s four daughters, it’s only Garie who inherited her dad’s dimples on the cheeks.

“She’s 50 percent Gabby and 50 percent me,” said Garie’s mom Grace Ibuna who is still grieving for the passing of her long-time partner Iggy Arroyo.

Mother and daughter sat for an exclusive joint interview with Funfare and Startalk (airing at 2:30 this afternoon on GMA after Eat, Bulaga!), more in connection with Garie’s entry into showbiz (she has just released her eponymous album) than about Grace’s legal problems.

“Nothing about the case please,” Grace begged off. “Kasi it’s already in the court.”

She was wearing black, trying to be back in her bubbly self even if every now and then when Iggy’s name was mentioned, she would turn serious and wipe a tear or two.

Garie was quiet, shy and retiring, the exact opposite of her mom. When Funfare noted that Garie’s looks are 50 percent Gabby and 50 percent Grace, Grace said, “Thank God!”

Aside from those dimples on her cheeks, what did Garie get from her dad whose first-borns are all girls (KC with ex-wife Sharon Cuneta, Chloe with ex-wife Jenny Syquia and Samantha with present wife Ginbee Yatco)?

“It’s the panga,” said Grace. “’Yung kilay niya Concepcion na Concepcion. Ang ugali niya, Gabby na Gabby, very quiet. Like Gabby, Garie keeps quiet when she’s angry. Ganoon si Gabby. He would walk away from an issue or a problematic situation instead of confronting it,” adding, “ako, talk ako nang talk. I’m unstoppable.”

Lolit Solis, Gabby’s former manager who helped arrange the interview, interjected, “Gabby has changed. Now, hindi na niya tinatalikuran ang issue, hinaharap na niya. He has matured.”

Like the minor issue about Gabby not making the first move at seeing Chloe when she was here recently with her mom Jenny to sign a contract with Viva Films. Father and daughter haven’t seen each other for ages and, sadly, neither took the rare chance of finally reuniting and, well, letting bygones be bygones. Chloe is based in Sweden with Jenny and her Swedish husband but she’s now a scholar in China.

Grace Ibuna and Garie Concepcion are more like friends and sisters than mother and daughter. Inset: The cover of Garie’s debut album Relaks Lang Tayo.

“Maybe she’s not ready to see me,” was all that Gabby would say.

But Garie was able to meet with Chloe and KC and they even watched the Katy Perry concert together as KC’s blowout to celebrate their long overdue reunion. Unlike Chloe, it was KC and Garie who separately initiated the meeting with their dad. KC flew to San Francisco where Gabby was then living with his new family (“Tita Ginbee was nice to me,” KC was quoted as saying). Garie also sought out Gabby in San Francisco (where she was born) and then reunited with him when Gabby came home (and attended her graduation, with a degree in Hotel & Restaurant Management).

“I was 14 when I met Papa again,” recalled Garie. “Did I feel any resentment or bitterness towards him? Well, I won’t deny it na mayroon talaga pero madaling nawala ‘yon. There were things that I wanted to know na si Papa lang ang makakasagot but he was not there for me. It was really Mama who raised me.”

Between KC and Chloe, Garie said that she’s closer to the former.

“Because Ate KC and I often see each other,” explained Garie. “It was the first time Chloe and I met so medyo hindi pa kami close. But I hope that we will be once she comes back.”

The three of them talked about fashion and music but not about boys. Asked if they have the same type, Garie blushed, “I don’t think so!” KC has just recovered from her traumatic break-up with Piolo Pascual and Garie was at a loss how to console her. “Kasi I haven’t had a boyfriend yet,” she said, a late bloomer at 20-plus.

Asked if she wanted to have a boyfriend as drop-dead gorgeous as her dad, Garie smiled.

“Mahirap ang guwapong boyfriend,” she said. “Pero kung guwapo na, mabait pa, eh, di bonus na ‘yon.”

“She’s a homebody,” Grace said of Garie. “Hindi siya ma-gimik. I was kidding her nga, ‘Anak, 23 ka na hindi ka pa nagkaka-boyfriend. Ayoko magkaanak ng madre, ha.’ Joke lang ‘yon.”

At first, her parents frowned on Garie’s entry into showbiz but they eventually relented. It’s in the blood and they couldn’t stop her.

Gabby laughingly called himself the Bathroom Concert King (after the release of his album). Would Garie consider having Gabby as co-performer if ever she mounts her debut concert?

“Why not?”

Yes, why not? After all, what counts is the singer not the song (or the singing). Right, Anne Curtis?

What’s up?

• From Edu Jarque: Muy buenos dias, Ricky. The photo of Robin Padilla and Mariel Rodriguez on Page E-1 (in yesterday’s Funfare) appears to have been taken at the back of St. Basil in Moscow and not St. Petersburg. That is, of course, if I remember the sights correctly. Thanks. Trust you are well. Cuidate.

• Martin Nievera is a true supporter of the anti-piracy campaign. When he was in New York for a concert, a fan approached Martin to autograph his CD which was obviously pirated. Martin said so sorry and didn’t sign it.

• Ruffa Gutierrez (photo) will return as guest tomorrow, May 6, on ABS-CBN’s The Buzz, the same show she quit in tears a few years back. To interview her is host Charlene Gonzalez with whom Ruffa has in common (guess what, er, “who”). Will the two compare notes on air? Will Ruffa jokingly remind Charlene, “Una siyang naging akin!”? And will Charlene rebutt her, also in jest, “Ako naman ang nagwagi!”?

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