We also enjoyed the singing of Tirso Cruz III, Ali Sotto, Maila Gumila, Roderick Paulate. Other guests in the affair are Bibeth Orteza, hubby Carlitos Siguion Reyna and son Rafa, Lorna Tolentino and sons Ralph and Renz, Maricel Soriano, Laurice Guillen and daughter Ina with her Italian boyfriend, Gina Alajar, Amy Austria with husband Duke Ventura, Pip’s wife Lyn and daughter Djanin, talent managers Dolor Guevarra, the balikbayan Shirley Kwan and Veanna Fores, banker Danny Dolor, Viva’s June Torrejon and Lawrence Tan, Anna Pingol of Yes Magazine, Allan Diones of Pak,
Bibeth says that after her stint as a theatre actress in Singapore some months ago, it seems they liked her performance so much that they were getting her again, this time for a musical. “When I told them that I don’t sing, they said they thought all Filipinos are good singers,” she laughs. Bibeth continues to be one of the most enlightened members of the MTRCB who patiently explains to the newly appointed members the why’s and wherefore’s of their job in the review board.
Her son Rafa is part of the new Jerrold Tarog historical epic, “Gen. Goyong”. “I play Julian del Pilar, the brother of Gen. Goyong played by Paulo Avelino, so mahaba yung role ko,” he says. “Patapos na ang shooting namin and the movie is scheduled to be released by the middle of next year.”
Gina Alajar happily informs us that her three sons have all given her grandchildren. Ryan Eigenmann has three, Geoff has one and the youngest, AJ (based in the U.S.), also has one. She’s now in the cast of the new GMA-7 soap, “Hindi Kita Kayang Iwanan”, playing contravida to Yasmien Kurdi who became an HIV victim after she was raped.
Laurice Guillen is the director of the GMA megahit, “Ika-6 na Utos”, which is extended until next year. She also appears as a drug lord in “Dark is the Knight”, a film about extra judicial killings starring Gina Alajar and Phillip Salvador which was screened in the recent Toronto Filmfest. Her daughter Ina is with Gina in “Hindi Kita Kayang Iwanan”.
Lorna Tolentino says she has happily resumed the taping of her new ABS-CBN soap, “Asintado”, while son Renz is in GMA-7’s “Impostora” playing the role of an NBI agent. Maila Gumila tells us she plays a hotshot lawyer in ABS-CBN’s new soap, “Hanggang Saan”, who defends Arnold Reyes pro bono after he was accused of killing Eric Quizon when the culprit is actually Sylvia Sanchez who had to do it to save her son Arjo Atayde, who also happens to be Maila’s top student in law school.
And Ali Sotto is excited that she will be a grandmother any moment now as it’s the “kabuwanan” of the wife of her son Chino. “It’s going to be a boy!” she proudly declares, showing us on her cellphone her grandson’s ultrasound photo. She also showed us a poem she has written for her late son, Miko, who left 12 years ago, and we told her it will be an excellent song with touching lyrics so she should ask someone to set it into music.
