Willie last to know

When Willie Revillame sat over lunch with six movie writers close to him yesterday at the lobby restaurant of his Wil Tower, first thing they asked him was about Justin Bieber who took Willie’s private plane to Tacloban for a whirlwind two-hour-plus visit.

“I was the last to know,” admitted Willie. “That day (Tuesday, Dec. 10), my Fil-German pilot, Capt. Dan Heitkamp, texted me, ‘You know who my passenger is? Justin Bieber.’ I said, ‘Oh, come on!’ I didn’t even know who was renting my plane. It’s usually confidential.”

Willie would learn later that everything was done with clockwork precision.

“The pilot was requested to start the engine 30 minutes earlier,” Willie was told. “As soon as Justin arrived at the hangar with his companions (including his bodyguards), he went straight to the plane. Mabait naman daw si Justin during the one-hour flight, pero the pilot was not allowed to talk to him or have a picture taken with him. Doon siya sa upuan ko umupo. He must have been so tired because he slept all the way. Before Justin deplaned, his bodyguards opened their umbrellas so nobody saw Justin got off. Maybe he did it to avoid creating a commotion.”

Justin and his entourage arrived in Tacloban at around 1 p.m. and left at past 4 p.m. after entertaining the Yolanda victims and played basketball with children. The entourage left Manila Thursday.

Willie learned that Justin felt so hot that as soon as he boarded the plane from Tacloban he took off his shirt. A Funfare source took his half-bare photo surreptitiously.

Weeks before Justin’s visit, Willie has already contributed P10M for the relief of Yolanda victims, care-of DSWD Sec. Dinky Soliman. Next Sunday, Dec. 22, he plans to stage a show in Tacloban, in cooperation with Tacloban Mayor Alfred Romualdez, and contribute more to the rehab efforts in Tacloban.

Photo courtesy of a reader

“It’s a meaningful Christmas for me,” said Willie who is spending his first Christmas away from showbiz.

These days, he’s preoccupied with managing his Wil Tower and the construction of a resort on the one-hectare lot in Tagaytay which he bought from the Madrigals and the condominium building on the lot beside Wil Tower. He confirmed having sold the Wil Events Place nearby for much cheaper than its value because Wil Tower also features a venue for the same purpose.

“But I haven’t sold any of my cars,” Willie denied rumors that he has been selling some of his properties because he was “poor already,” something that he refused to dignify with an answer.

The lobby restaurant is classy, with the table and chairs designed by no less than Kenneth Cobonpue and the centerpiece lights hanging over it. Even the sofa and the chairs around it are by Cobonpue.

“I’ll show you,” said Willie as he took out a remote control and started tinkering with it. In a jiffy, the overhead lights came alive and those in every nook and cranny, highlighted by the changing colors (bright yellow to blue to red to green, etc.) of the Cobonpue creation. He does the same with the remote control at his sprawling office equipped with all the amenities including TV monitors occupying one wall airing shows of all major networks. On one inner wall hangs a painting given to Willie by his friend Joey de Leon.

“Check out the toilets,” Lolit Solis was gushing after she and Shirley Pizarro relieved themselves.

We did and came out gushing, too. So classy-cozy and so fragrant are the toilets that you are tempted to linger in them.

So how else will Willie spend his first Christmas after his semi-retirement from showbiz?

“I will take it easy,” he said. “I will relax in my rest house in Tagaytay and maybe spend some time in my yacht.”

But first, he will fulfill his promise to bring hope to the Yolanda victims.

(E-mail reactions at entphilstar@yahoo.com. You may also send your questions to askrickylo@gmail.com.)