Preggy Charlene says ‘I do’ to Aga today - FUNFARE by Ricardo F. Lo

Curtain-raisers:

• So Gina Alajar and Michael de Mesa have broken up... again!?! In their 20-plus years together as a couple, Gina and Michael have broken up and made up and broken up and made up and broken up and made up ad infinitum that – ho-hum! – it’s hardly news anymore, is it? What’s news is if they live happily ever after. You guessed it. The cause of this new split-up is, ho-hum, a third (female) party!

• Now, could it be true that a prominent couple in socio/political circles are also headed for splitsville due to, sigh, a third party (a pretty commercial model with whom the husband is said to be badly smitten)? Is it why the aggrieved wife has left for Europe with the children?

• The dismally disappointing results of the recent elections in the case of actor-politicians, especially for the losers, might take a toll on the marriage of some couples. Ask perceptive showbiz-watchers. But let’s hope that it won’t happen. One debacle can’t be corrected by another debacle. It’s only politics, man!

* * *

When Charlene Gonzalez swaps "I do’s" with Aga Muhlach at 3 o’clock this afternoon at the St. Joseph Church in Baguio City, I’m sure the little life in her womb will share their excitement. If "it" could only scream, I’m sure the baby will let out a big "Hooray!"

Yes, Charlene is three months pregnant although her delicate condition isn’t obvious yet. But even if it is, it will be camouflaged by the breath-taking gown (guess how much it cost) designed by Joe Salazar.

Going by my mental calculation, Charlene and Aga’s first child, to be delivered sometime in November (a boy, presumably, according to Funfare’s resident manghuhula), must have been conceived while the two were on a vacation in Jamaica last year where they greeted the advent of the New Year. No, it wasn’t an advance "honeymoon," but just a simple vacation that turned out to be, ehem, fruitful.

It means that when Charlene and Aga will celebrate their first wedding anniversary next year, they’ll have a little bundle of joy with them. Congrats to the newly-weds – and to the soon-to-be brand-new parents.

Aga and Charlene’s wedding is marred a bit by the decision of Aga’s family (Dad Cheng, Aunt Amalia Fuentes, cousin Niño Muhlach, etc.) to "boycott" the event which took the sweethearts all of eight months to prepare, with President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo leading the distinguished roster of principal sponsors. In tears, Cheng Muhlach said that he felt slighted when Aga turned down his request for two extra invitations. And for only that reason, the father would run to a national television and ruin his son’s "one moment in time?" Figure it out.

After the wedding, Charlene said she and Aga would go on with their usual schedules – you know, the show must go on; business as usual. But it might not be long before Charlene goes on maternity leave, you know.

Because they both have new houses – so far not quite "lived in" yet – Charlene said that she and Aga would stay in Aga’s Ayala Alabang mansion (naturally), although she might spend time every now and then in her own house in Tandang Sora, Quezon City, where her mom, Elvie Gonzalez, will live alone from now on, with only the maids and driver as companions.

Some people might be saying that since she’s now pregnant, Charlene should, when asked by the officiating priest if she’s taking Aga as her lawfully-wedded husband for better or for worse..., say "I did" instead of the usual "I do."

Oh, well, yes, she "did" – sans regrets.

Kabayan for President in 2004?

The winning senators have to be proclaimed, no thanks to the ongoing slow COMELEC count, and already there are speculations that topnotcher Noli "Kabayan" de Castro might be "tempted" (if influential groups will succeed in pushing him) to run for, don’t laugh now, the Presidency in Year 2004.

No kidding!

Because he’s topping the senatorial race, with a lead over the second-placer of more than four million votes, Kabayan is deemed to be a "presidential timber" (no kidding!!!) since previous senatorial champions eventually ran and won the country’s highest office, such as ousted President Erap Estrada (who topped the senatorial race in 1992, encouraging him to run for Vice President and then for President in 1998, getting more than 11 million votes) and, of course, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo who got the most number of votes first in 1995 when she ran for senator and in 1998 for Vice President.

In fact, the 1998 senatorial-race topnotcher, Loren Legarda, is also being touted as, well, "a presidential timber" and if and when she’s prevailed upon to also run in the 2004 Presidential Race, we’d be in for another exciting political "pageant." Something to look forward to, isn’t it?

I hope this piece of news won’t give Kabayan ideas. But seriously now, if he’s deadset on aspiring for a higher office, he should prove himself worthy between now and 2004; he should prove his critics wrong that he’s nothing more than "a voice" (a booming one, I should say) in the Senate and that he’s not just another (un)welcome addition to that august body’s "silent minority" (you know who the bona fide members of this group, don’t you?).

Your move, Kabayan!