Ruffa getting married, at last!

When Funfare came out with a "blind item" yesterday in Curtain-raisers about a popular couple making an announcement of their engagement on Feb. 14, Valentine’s Day, everybody thought the one referred to was Phillip Salvador who has been the subject of "blind items" (not in this corner) lately as getting married. Somebody who used to be close to Phillip also thought so.

Sorry, folks, but Phillip is not the one. I don’t even know if Phillip and his non-showbiz girlfriend (a rich businesswoman from Tagaytay also in her ‘40s and estranged from her husband) do have any plan of getting married. What I know is that Phillip can’t marry anybody just yet because his estranged wife, Sony Dabao (who was here with their children for the Christmas holidays), based in New York, hasn’t signed – "And will not sign," according to somebody close to Sony – the annulment papers yet.

I planned to reveal the identity of "the one" this weekend but due to pressure from friends and readers – and to set the record straight – I am doing so now: Yes, the couple who have finally decided to get married this year are no other than Ruffa Gutierrez and her Turkish boyfriend Yilmaz Bektas. The wedding – it’s final, folks! – is scheduled before middle of the year, first in Istanbul (Muslim rites) and then in the Philippines (Catholic rites).

I got this piece of good news from my friend in Miami, Florida, who was with Ruffa and Yilmaz for the New Year celebration. Ruffa and Yilmaz were here in November last year and they spent Christmas in Istanbul before flying to Miami from where they proceeded to Los Angeles for further R&R. It was Yilmaz’s first visit to California so Ruffa had her hands full showing him around. As of this writing, they were in Las Vegas, presumably enjoying the sights and trying their luck at the casino.

A Funfare DPA said that Ruffa’s dad, Eddie Gutierrez, has already given his blessings to the couple and so did her mom, Annabelle Rama, although very reluctantly – "And," the DPA added, "amidst an ocean of tears."

Ruffa – and Yilmaz – have been telling friends and the press that, after going steady for three years (marked by episodes of LQ’s, as in Lovers’ Quarrels), they’re ready to settle down and have a family of their own, but Mama Annabelle wouldn’t hear of it.

"Ruffa is her only daughter and it’s painful for Annabelle to ‘lose’ her," said the DPA. "Actually, Annabelle won’t be losing a daughter; in fact, she’s gaining a son – an ideal son at that! You see, Ruffa and Yilmaz really love each other, despite their frequent fights, and they’re close to each other’s families. Ruffa has been to Istanbul several times while Yilmaz has been here several times."

Funfare’s Miami DPA said that Yilmaz again "proposed" to Mama Annabelle towards the end of 2002, reminding her that he had already asked for Ruffa’s hand in marriage eight times and adding in jest, "We Muslims can do that only 10 times. After that, I might just ‘snatch’ Ruffa away from you."

When contacted by Funfare yesterday, Mama Annabelle was inconsolable, unable to either deny or confirm Ruffa and Yilmaz’s wedding plans because she was rocking with giant sobs. What a useless "informer"! But somebody close to the Gutierrezes told Funfare that Mama Annabelle has finally "relented," realizing for sure how very much in love Ruffa and Yilmaz are with each other.

"What Annabelle is worried about is that Ruffa, who’s turning 29 this coming June (Yilmaz is as old as she is), is not quite sawa sa pagka-dalaga and might not be ready just yet to settle down as plain housewife in Istanbul, even if all she has to do is make babies (lots of them!) with Yilmaz and live like a princess. Annabelle doesn’t realize the fact that, at 29, Ruffa is on the brink of spinsterhood. Si Annabelle nga, she was in her early 20s when she got married to Eddie. She was in love. O, may nakapigil ba sa kanya?"

The Miami DPA corrected Funfare’s item yesterday.

"The engagement won’t be held on Feb. 14 but a week before the wedding," he said. "It will be the bride-to-be’s parents who will foot the bill as per the Muslim custom," adding jokingly, "kaya siguro umiiyak si Annabelle."

According to the DPA, after the twin wedding, Yilmaz will have to ask Ruffa to stop working. What would happen then to Ruffa’s contract with GMA for which she’s now starring in the soap Habang Kapiling Ka? Will Ruffa simply quit the soap (and risk being hauled to court)? Or will Yilmaz, the wealthy businessman that he is, "buy Ruffa out"?

"What Yilmaz wants Ruffa to do as soon as they get married is manage her own business," said the DPA.

Yilmaz was said to have promised Eddie and Annabelle to take good care of their daughter and make her the happiest woman on earth.

There you are. Hush up, Mama Annabelle! Dry your eyes and look forward to "grandmothering" for a dozen beautiful Turkish-Filipino apos. About time you let go of Ruffa and make her chart her own life and happiness – with Yilmaz beside and behind her!

Welcome addition

Her brief appearance as Aga Muhlach’s absentee girlfriend in the smash-hit Star Cinema romance-drama Kailangan Kita (with Claudine Barretto as the girl who gets Aga in the end) must have rubbed off on Benetton image model Rissa Samson the right way because she’s now into her second "challenge" as an actress as Ruffa Gutierrez’s beauty-contest nemesis in the GMA soap Habang Kapiling Ka. As Selma, Rissa is a delight to watch, handling her role quite naturally.

I caught Rissa in one episode (her part lasts for the next three weeks) and I should say that, given the right parts and the right push, Rissa will go far as an actress (goodbye, modelling?).

Directed by Maryo J. delos Reyes and Khryss Adalia, Habang Kapiling Ka is shown Mondays through Fridays, starting at 7 p.m. (after FrontPage). Here’s how Rissa and Ruffa’s paths cross:

Venus (Ruffa Gutierrez) enters a beauty pageant and encounters Selma (Rissa Samson) who is driven to win. Since she was thrown out of the house of Alejandro (Albert Martinez), who is the father of Venus’ nice (Chynna Ortaleza), Venus doesn’t have a job because Alejandro makes it a point she won’t get into a company because kakilala niya lahat. The only way she can earn is for Venus to use her beauty. She is backed up by her sister Helga (Chin-Chin Gutierrez) and Helga’s friend Farrah (Joanne Quintas).