Mar Roxas and Korina Sanchez tie the knot - Finally

The long-awaited wedding (on Korina's part, I guess) between Sen Mar Roxas and TV broadcaster Korina Sanchez finally happened on Oct 27 at the Sto Domingo Church in Quezon City.

The Filipiana-inspired wedding was attended by the "who's who" of Philippine politics, showbiz, business and the alta sociedad.

The guest list included: Vice President Noli de Castro, Chief Justice Reynato Puno, Sen. Benigno "Noynoy"Aquino III, former President Joseph Estrada, Ballsy-Aquino Cruz, former Senatory and NEDA chief Ralph Recto, US Ambassador to the Philippines Kristie Kenney, former Senate President Franklin Drilon, Batangas Vice Governor Mark Leviste, PNRC Governor Rosa Rosal, and former Senator Jovito Salonga.

Guest from the world of media were: ABS-CBN Chairman Eugenio "Gabby" Lopez III, ABS-CBN President Charo Santos-Concio, veteran journalist Cheche Lazaro, and showbiz talk show host Kris Aquino, among others.

The bride, who arrived 45 minutes late to her wedding, wore white, a serpentine-style (whatever that is) gown designed by Pepito Alberta. Korina is no blushing virgin, but sige na nga let's just give it to her.

There were thousands of "uzis" outside the church waiting for a glimpse of the bride.

Imagine their disappointed when Korina arrived and was immediately surrounded by a huge cloth by her alalays to shield her from onlookers.

According to my favorite tabloid, the "supporters" (I'm using the term loosely) were so disappointed they will no longer vote for Mar.

Yeah! That's the kind of voters we have. They don't disappoint. I always say, just as there should be some sort of approval process before a couple can breed, people should be screened before they are allowed to vote. The requirements must be expanded to include not just being 18 years old. So what, right?

Korina was late because she visited the graves of her parents at Heritage Park in Taguig. I guess she couldn't do it a day before or after the ceremony, or the very next day. Added drama for a more entertaining look/read in the media. Wedding ceremonies are so routinary, kasi.

Guess, who attention-grabber was during the wedding? Nope, the bride. Kris Aquino, whose son James (the baby, not the daddy) was the ring bearer, came in a black gown for the afternoon affair.

As for the reception, guests gathered at the Roxas' grand mansion, Bahay na Puti, in Araneta. The reception was initially set to take place in Araneta Coliseum. But because Ondoy happened, that plan was scratched.

On the good stuff - the honeymoon. It's a short vacation in Hello Kitty land, Japan. A longer honeymoon is planned in Europe. So what happens in the honeymoon? They will talk political strategy. Just let your imagination run wild.

The Plastic War

I'm not talking about the battle over who can sell the most Tupperware products. I'm talking about a brewing catfight between Mikaela Bilbao vs Gretchen Barreto and Pops Fernandez.

But first who is Mikaela Bilbao? If you tuned in on the first few episodes of the current Celebrity Duets, you wouldn't have missed this lady in a tanga costume, doing what I think is singing. As soon I saw her face full frontal, I thought "the Helen of Troy of our generation." Later I found out that she is the genius behind "Philosophy" by Mikaela Bilbao, a beauty and wellness center. Who knew, right?

Alas, Mikaela dropped out of the competition because according to her doctor, the intense heat from the studio's kleig lights is bad for her complexion. No, according to Mikaela the contest is putting too much pressure on her plastic mug on her health.

Well, anyway...

The root of the catfight is money, or in this case the promise thereof, and it all started from a text sent to Ana Abiera, a close friend of Gretchen Barreto and Nadia Montenegro.

Gretchen Barreto and Nadia Montenegro are former best buds. Nadia Montenegro is now an endorser of Philosophy for their weight-loss technology.

Mikaela got embroiled in the controversy because she "allegedly" was the sender of the malicious text.

The connection is with Dodie Puno, the brother of DILG secretary Ronnie Puno; the alleged new rich man in Gretchen Barreto's life (not that Tonyboy Cojuangco is out of the picture); and the executive director of the Road Board, the agency handling the dispensing, that is supposedly the responsible dispensing, of billions of pesos of road users' tax.

I didn't know Gretchen and Pops are so hard up that they need to dip their fingers in government contracts? I read that Nadia is, but that's neither here nor there because her name was not in the text.

But I think Gretchen really needs the funds wherever she can get it because there's always new branded shoes, clothes and bags to get her hands on and the shops will not wait for her.

Gretchen has said she's in consultation with her lawyers to advise her on what to do with the creature who dared maligned her name in public.

Mikaela has appeared on a number of showbiz talk shows to defend her good name. To quote her "hindi ako ipinanganak para matakot sa isang Gretchen Barreto."

Hmm, them are fighting words. But I expect to see these same people making bese-beso in social-climbing events in no time. As they say, friends who do plastic surgery together, flock together. Well, I'm mixing my idioms, but you get my drift.

Mikaela dropped other bombshells. Like it was Pops Fernandez who called her up to ask for help on a government contract. Another one: Gretchen, Pops and Ruffa went on a vacation in Bohol with certain top government officials.

I don't who's telling the truth; I don't really care to find out. What is clear is that it is unethical for any of these ladies to make commissions on government contracts on the virtue of one or two of them having an intimate connection with the person who has the power to award the winning bid.

Mikaela is encouraging Gretchen to take the dispute in court where she can reveal all she knows.

The stakes are high. I wish they’d get a judge who is creative, one who would rule that whoever losses will have to choices for punishment: spend an inordinate of time under extreme heat or allow one flick on the loser’s nose.

The complete text message sent to Gretchen Barretto's friend, Ana Abiera:

First text: "Kung meron mas malala kaysa sa mga bagyo na pinagdaanan ng bansa natin is that may konting katotohanan sa
sinasabi ni Sen. Miriam Defensor pati ang mga artistang sina Gretchen Baretto at Pops Fernandez ay kasama na nakikikomisyon
sa mga proyekto. Mas matindi pa sa buwaya ang mga ito at pati source ng pinahanap nila ay na-123 nila. Kung ebidensya ang
pagbabatayan mismong sulat kamay ni Gretchen ang percentage ng komisyon sa road safety at road works ng mga raket ni Dodie.

"Alam ni Gretchen at Pops kung sino ako. Matagal akong nananahimik at nagpapagaling pero ayaw nila akong tantanan. Puwes sa
senado kami magkikita. Wala akong kinakatakutan kahit sino pa. Alam ko Ana na humingi kayo ng 500k na advance sa Serena
kasama mo si Gretchen. I recorded my conversation with Jenny Munar.

Second text: "Pakisabi sa dalawa mong alaga, mga putang ina sila! Hindi ko sila tatantanan at hindi ko sila uurungan. Mismong
tatay ko binaril ko, mismong anak ko hindi ko inuurungan. Sino sa tingin nyo kayo? Gusto kong malaman kung gaano kayo
katapang. Nananahimik ang buhay ko pa-letter-letter pa kayo. Antayin ninyo ang sagot ko.

Third text: "Tingnan ko lang kung anong presinto kayo ni Dodie babagsak sa mga raket ninyo."

Richard Gutierrez Is Really His Mother’s Son

I’ve no doubt about it now. Read on.

So, on Oct 2, Richard Gutierrez figured in an incident at the NAIA Terminal 3. The controversial actor and Jewel Mische were late arriving at the boarding gate, causing them to be offloaded from their Cebu Pacific Air flight bound to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

According to airport sources, Richard threw a temper tantrum, shouting at airline personnel, even going so far as spitting on his boarding pass and throwing it against a wall.

I’ve been waiting for this escandalo to hit our local media, and nada. No TV or newspaper coverage. If I didn’t happen to read it in another showbiz website, I wouldn’t know about Richard’s Dr Jekyl and Mr Hyde personality.

I caught moneyger Anabelle Rama being asked about the incident during her birthday celebration in an orphanage. All she said was “bayaan na ang mga naninira sa anak nya.” A mild-mannered Anabelle Rama is like seeing Mother Theresa angrily rejecting the needy and the sick. I’m thinking she was being kind becase it’s her birthday or it’s all she can say in her son’s defense. Huli sa akto, eh.

Anyway, Richard and Jewel arrived on time at the airport and was able to check in their luggage. For some reason, they failed to show up on time for boarding.

Some are saying they had a quickie. I don’t believe this. I believe it was longer than a quickie. I’m imagining the sex involved whips and handcuffs that’s why they took so long. But I won’t go there since this is a GP site.

Sources also said Richard and Jewel could have boarded but they were waylaid by mga chipangang airline personnel who wanted to take pictures. I’m thinking Richard went along because he doesn’t want to hurt his fans’ feelings. Lecheng fans! Sila ba magbabayad ng rebooking mo?

You see this is one of those times when security is helpful. They will do your dirty work like barricade you against overzealous fans. Since Richard and Jewel took a budget airline, I guess security is too steep an investment for them.

When this incident happened, Anabelle Rama could not be reached for comment. I don’t think Anabelle’s secret room at their palatial house can be reached by cellphone signals. The room with her voodoo dolls is impenetratable by advanced technologies such as GPS and satellites.

Who made a comment about the incident on their Twitter account? None other than Raymund Gutierrez, Richard’s Impakta (of the fanteserye Darna), I mean her twin brother.

Raymund twitted:

"wow.it seems like PEP is really out to get my bro.no airport incident happened-he’d been in the country and was even in Mel & joey live lastnight."

"Just called my brother reg the latest article on PEP. Like me, he is saddened and shocked. another day, another lie. what can we do..."

"there are a lot of future scriptwriters out there. half of them work for PEP."

"all the negative press the past few months... wonder who’s behind it all. hmmm... lets all take a wild guess shall we?"

"Nakakatawa ang PEP. fri-he was in GMA with the people from GMA films; Sat-he worked out in his condo and had a meeting; Sun- he was on Mel & Joey."

Thank god for Twitdards like Raymund who use Twitter to let the world know of their stupidity. Basically, Raymund dear, your brother could have done all those things you mentioned and still have time to go to the airport, have a quickie and catch his flight (or try to).

Moral of the story: Avoid quickies until you’ve boarded. Join the mile high club instead, but not in a budget airline. Don’t be cheap and book youself in business class.

Ara Mina Believes People of Provident Village Should Have Been Saved First

The reason? Provident Village is like Corithian Gardens, ergo the people who live there are rich.

Elitist much, Ara?

For those not in the know (I doubt there are people who don't kbnow unless you're living under rock or you just don't care) this little piece of wisdom came from Ara Mina because her little sister and the rest of her family live in Provident Village in Marikina and was trapped for 12 hours on the rooftop of their house.

Ara Mina was confounded why rescue was slow for her sister who lives in a posh subdivision.

Ara Mina's handlers should let her know, gradually of course because we don't want her to undergo a rude awakening, that her sister is not special even if she bagged the No 1 spot in FHM's most beautiful women, or sexiest women, basta magandang title.

Ara Mina also assumed it's Bayani Fernando and his men who had the responsibility to save her family in Provident Village. In fairness to her, she said "wala siyang tampo kay Chairman Bayani, kasi baka may iba pang sinaklolohan."

Ara, ang mayor ng Marikina yung asawa ni Bayani. Yun ang dapat magsa-save sa residente ng Marikina. Si Bayani, icocoordinate niya ang rescue ng buong Metro Manila, kasi ano siya, ah, hmmm,,, wala lang Chairman siya ng Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA).

Too bad Manny Pacquiao is in Baguio.

Of course, we know Richard Gutierrez saved Cristine and her family in a spectular fashion, riding in a rubber boat, braving strong currents and extreme darkness, to save .... the leading lady of his newest movie, Patient X. Sorry, I've reading too much fiction.

The gods are now smiling on Richard Gutierrez. Imagine, his saving his leading lady, is a great promotional angle for the movie, even if it's of the horor genre. Kaya lang, will people watch? What's a greater horror than seeing a sudden flash flood, being trapped in a water world, waiting for rescue, not knowing when that rescue is coming...Okay, you get my drift.

Anyway...

People of Quezon City, particularly Ara's district, take note. Ara Mina is taking the plunge into politics in the 2010 elections. It's not enough that she tookover Aiko Melendez's leftovers (hmm, Jomari Yllana, anyone?), she will also be trying to take over the council seat that will be vacated by last termer Aiko Melendez, who will be runningh as Vice Mayor.

Quezon City residents this is your future Councilor. If there should be a major calamity again, Ara Mina will be saving her rich constituents first. Kung purita mirasol ka, get a stub and get in line to be saved.

Okay, now. I really don't believe Ara Mina thinks the poor deserved to be saved last. She's probably musing out loud and forgot to turn on her filter. She probably also forgot she was talking in front of the press whose job is to take note of every soundbite, good or bad, from actors and actresses like Ara Mina whose charm goes pffft once they start talking.

Ara's poor wittle brain (smaller than her bust size. yes, I went there so sue me!) can't grasp the concept that Mother Nature is a great equalizer. She's an equal opportunity badass who will devastate your life whether you are poor or rich.

Gurl, your hope to grab an elective position is the people living below the poverty line. I'm sure you know the poor people are in far greater number than the rich. You can't afford to alienate the people who can elect you.

I guess Ara Mina is still lucky because this brilliant soundbite will not be read or heard by that many people, just people like me who doesn't have anything better to do and not even a resident of Quezon City.

People are busy rebuilding their lives, so stupid comments from stupid celebrities are so far from their priorities right now.