Sen. Bong & Lani draw strength from the Bible

Happy 50 to Sen. Ralph Recto (photo) who’s turning Golden Boy today, Jan. 11. Ralph is celebrating his special day in Baguio with his wife, Batangas Gov. Vilma Santos, other family members, close friends and his office staff.

David Farmer (photo), president of the Screen Actors Guild of Hawaii, is in town with his Filipina wife Loren who is the niece of Baby K. Jimenez (also here for her annual vacation; Loren’s mom is BKJ’s first cousin). Also a prominent lawyer, David is the nephew of the Hollywood actress Frances Farmer.

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Holding back tears, beleaguered Sen. Bong Revilla welcomed his friends from the movie press at Annabel’s restaurant yesterday, which was also his and wife Cavite Rep. Lani Mercado’s belated annual get-together that they usually hosted before Christmas.

“2013 was a bad year for me,” Bong started but had to pause to prevent tears from falling, excusing himself to take a sip from his glass of Coke, “dumating sa akin ang matinding pagsubok pero,” he added with impunity, “babangon ako.”

Thanking those who still believe in him and know what kind of person he really is, Bong swore that deep in his heart he knows that he has committed no sin.

“I am innocent as charged,” he stressed, smiling though near tears, again taking another sip of Coke to clear his choked throat, “and I will do everything to prove it.”

Unlike in past Christmases, Lani recalled that they spent last Christmas quietly first with her constituents and then with the Revilla Clan led by former Sen. Ramon Revilla Sr. who stayed until the wee hours of the next morning enjoying the company of his children, in-laws and grandchildren.

Asked if it was a blessing in disguise that he didn’t produce a movie for the recently-concluded Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF), Bong clarified that he backed out for lack of time to wrap an entry and not because of the controversy that continues to haunt him to this day.

Even when he and other colleagues hogged headlines, Bong continued hosting his GMA show Kap’s Amazing Stories.

“I’m glad that my show’s rating was not affected,” said Bong who had to give up Sugo (in which he would have played Eduardo Manalo, head of Iglesia ni Cristo) because “I didn’t want the movie to be affected by the controversy.”

The Revillas have been attending weekend Bible study for five months now.

“We draw strength from the Bible,” disclosed Lani who herself didn’t let the controversy ruin her work as an actress (her GMA soap Mga Basang Sisiw closed late last year).

“I now digest every word of the verses in the Bible,” said Bong who has pastors as advisers. “We have become closer as a family because of what’s happening and we realized that during hard times, it’s really the family that you can fall back on.”

As per the Chinese Calendar, the Year of the Horse starts on Jan. 31.

“As I was saying,” repeated Bong who is a Horse (Lani is a Monkey), “2013 was a very bad year (annus horribilis) for me,” although it was a good year for his wife Lani (who won in the May elections) and other family members who were also winners…Bong’s son Jolo (Cavite Vice Governor), brother Strike (Bacoor Mayor), sister Rowena (Bacoor Councilor) and brother-in-law Junjun Ynares (Antipolo City Mayor).

Ending the get-together sans tears, Bong joked, “In 2014, the Horse will gallop with the Monkey on his back.”