Actress, musician split up, too!

Curtain-raisers:

* Congratulations to direk Marilou Diaz-Abaya whose film, Star Cinema’s Bagong Buwan, is included in the Asia-Pacific Film Festival in Sydney, with her signature actor Cesar Montano as lead star. If and when direk Marilou goes to Sydney for the event, she should pay a visit to the set of The Great Raid, the Hollywood war drama filming in Australia in which Cesar is appearing with Benjamin Bratt and US-bred Filipino actor Paolo Montalban. A visit from direk Marilou will, I’m sure, give Cesar a big moral boost.

* The remains of Ronel Victor, who succumbed to colon and pancreatic cancer on Monday, July 1, in Chicago at age 32, won’t be cremated but will be buried on Thursday in Illinois. According to his relatives in Dipolog City, Ronel was initially operated on for cancer of the pancreas and it was only after he was opened up did the doctors discover that he also had colon cancer. The former Seiko star is survived by his nurse wife and their two little kids.

* Here are the winners of the joint Funfare-Hallmark Channel promo for the telemovie Fidel – Amparo Dionisio, Revelry Sadorra, Ma. Teresa Paulino, Tomas Panganiban, Jr. and Gerry dela Cruz, major winners of Hallmark special Edition Wine Sets; and Wilson Dy, Aurora Foz Marcelo, Naomi Garcia, Eduardo Ting Tiu, Paul Ruben Mendoza and Jolyn Cayaba, minor winners of autographed Fidel posters.

* * *

Jomari Yllana and Aiko Melendez.

Joey Marquez and Alma Moreno.

Miriam Quiambao and Hans Montenegro.

Jenine Desiderio and Juan Miguel Salvador.

Joey Marquez and Kris Aquino (daw!)

As you must have noticed, the roster of showbiz couples breaking up this year alone is getting longer and longer.

Don’t look now but the newest addition to the list are a respected actress and her musician husband known in all corners of the world.

Actually, according to the Funfare DPA, cracks in the couple’s marriage began showing as early as last year when the actress kept on extending her supposed "vacation" here with their children. The impending break-up wasn’t apparent because the musician would come for a visit and, everytime they’re seen (especially) in public, he and the actress appeared as lovey-dovey as ever.

But then, they could pretend (or put up a front) only up to a point.

Added the DPA, "After settling matters concerning properties and support (for the actress and the children), the couple will start leading separate lives for good. It’s final. Why did they split up after years of seemingly blissful togetherness? Don’t ask me. Ask them!"

Off to US holiday

Lipa City Mayor Vilma Santos, husband Sen. Ralph Recto, children Luis/Lucky and Ryan Christian and six other companions (including Vilma’s sister Emelyn and brother Sonny and his girlfriend, and Vilma’s Girl Friday Aida Fandialan) took PAL PR Flight 102 Monday night for San Francisco on the first leg of their month-long US holiday.

During a brief pre-departure chat with Funfare, Mayor Vi said that she would resume shooting for Star Cinema’s Dekada ’70 as soon as she came back end of the month. She has five shooting days more to go, along with leading man Christopher de Leon (who himself just came back from the US where he attended the high school graduation of his and Sandy Andolong’s son Sandino). Dekada ’70 is intended for the 2002 Metro Filmfest in December.

Ralph will come home ahead, along with Luis/Lucky, in time for the opening of the New Congress on July 22. "This US vacation is a big relief for us," said Ralph who, like Mayor Vi and Luis/Lucky, has been hounded by all sorts of issues and controversies. It will be an honest-to-goodness rest and recreation for us."

Asked why his girlfriend Nancy Castigleone wasn’t with them, unlike last year when the family took a trip to Bangkok, Luis/Lucky confirmed reports that he and Nancy were into a "cooling off" period but he hoped to reconcile with her as soon as he comes back, don’t worry.

From San Francisco, the entourage will fly to L.A. for a family reunion with the Santoses (Mama Milagros Santos and Mayor Vi’s sister Winnie Santos who is divorced from Bong Morales and is now happily remarried).

What about Little Ryan Christian? What’s he expecting in L.A.?

"I want to meet Cameron Diaz, my crush," said the boy. "I saw her in Charlie’s Angels several times. She’s my girlfriend."

Sexy voice, sexy body

New singer Malik (no surname), contract artist of MCA-Universal, is expected to catch people’s attention not only with his sexy voice but with his sexy body with his first solo self-titled album, highlighted by the song You Are My Heart composed by Brian McKnight and Brandon Barnes.

"I still can’t believe that I’m singing a song by those great composers," said Malik who used to be the lead vocalist of various bands (Union, Soul Republic and Coolwind). "For my album, I also had the rare chance and privilege of working with the best Filipino composers, session musicians and music arrangers. I couldn’t have been luckier."

Standing 5’7" tall, Malik could be the next bold actor. But no, thank you, he’d rather make a name for his (singing) voice than for his anatomy (which Malik displays anyway at every opportunity, like he does for the cover of his album).