Ruffa and Yilmaz: The morning after

( Second of two parts )

Given her delicate condition (four months on the way), Ruffa Gutierrez’s Turkish wedding (originally scheduled May 11) to husband Yilmaz Bektas has been postponed to next year and their honeymoon in the Maldives supposedly last week was scrapped altogether. Ruffa decided instead to fly to LA. Yilmaz went to Istanbul first before meeting up with his wife in America. Well, that was Plan B. But guess what? Even that didn’t happen. Yilmaz was able to leave for Istanbul, all right, but Ruffa failed to catch her plane to Los Angeles here in Manila. This was around the time President Gloria-Macapagal-Arroyo threw another one of her tantrums and barked at the NAIA people to beef up security at the international airports. NAIA management of course complied with presidential orders, but it resulted in heavy traffic at the airport with some of the passengers missing their flights, Ruffa among them.

When Yilmaz learned that Ruffa didn’t make it to LA as scheduled and was still in Manila, he asked her to get a ticket to Turkey and join him and his family in Istanbul. From there, they will proceed to LA together.

As I wrote in this column last Tuesday, I had the chance to talk to both Yilmaz and Ruffa the day after the wedding at the penthouse suite of the Manila Peninsula Hotel where they were staying. Ruffa that time was her usual bubbly self – with Yilmaz (already well-rested after a long trip from Turkey) in a very light mood. "Ako ang nagturo ng Ingles d’yan," Ruffa tells me. "Kaya kita mo, ang Ingles n’yan, mayroong mga ‘Really!’" adds Ruffa in her trademark "Grabe!" intonation.

Our conversation centered mostly on Ruffa’s pregnancy and the couple’s love for each other. (If you want a longer interview and see details of that grand wedding, watch A Journey to Love on GMA 7 this Sunday, April 6, at 9:30 p.m.) Below is the concluding part of my interview with the newlyweds:

Butch (B): Why did it take you so long to announce Ruffa’s pregnancy?

Yilmaz (Y): We wanted to wait for the perfect time. We cannot be knocking on everyone’s door to tell that she’s pregnant. We thought the wedding was the right time. The television was there, the guests were all there.

Ruffa (R): Before the wedding, everyone was asking me, ‘Ano Ruffa, buntis ka ba?’ If you’ll recall, du’n sa mga interviews ko, I say, ‘Sana, buntis ako.’ But I would never say yes or no. I would just leave them hanging because I didn’t want to preempt Yilmaz’ announcement and I thought the wedding reception was the right time to announce it. And the booties which he showed to everyone at the reception – I gave those to him a month ago pa. He would kiss those booties at night and every morning to remind him of our baby.

B: How did you break the news to your parents – Eddie and Annabelle?

R: He told my Mom first.

Y: Ruffa tried to hide it at first. Actually, we didn’t have to hide it. It’s a beautiful thing. It’s an amazing thing. But when I first told her Mom about it, she didn’t want to believe me. On the phone, I kept telling her (Annabelle Rama), Ruffa is pregnant. And then, she’ll say, "Okay, tell her to return to Manila because she has a lot of commitments here." And then, I repeated it to her. I told her again, "Ruffa is pregnant." And then, she said again, "Okay, ask her when she is flying back to Manila because she has a lot to do here." Her Mom didn’t want to believe it.

R: When I spoke to my Mom myself, I told her that she had to give us her blessings. When we finally talked to her and to my Dad here in Manila and told them that we wanted to get married, my Mom said, "No! No! Ruffa’s still young!"

B: Are you still craving for anything?

R: Not anymore. But that time, Philippine mangoes and crabs – and those special sausages that Yilmaz’s Mom makes.

B: Where are you giving birth?

Y: She’s giving birth in LA.

B: Why LA?

Y: Because we want to think about the future of our baby. The United States is a strong country and if Ruffa gives birth there, the baby can become an American citizen.

R: And my family is there.

Y: She knows a lot of people there.

B: What’s your term of endearment for each other?

Y: Ashka.

R: Ashka means love in Turkey.

Y: I call her Love.

R: I call him Pappy or Pappy Smurf.

B: What’s your message to the world now that it’s at war?

Y: I read the Bible and three more religious books and all of them tell us to love and to give peace to one another. So my message is just peace to everyone.

R: I think we are the best example that two worlds can co-exist.

B: (To Yilmaz) What’s your message to Ruffa’s fans and how can you assure us that you will love her and take care of her because we love her very much here in the Philippines?

Y: I will take this marriage seriously and I promise that I will stay with her and love her and be true to her.

B: (To Ruffa) Can you say that your wedding day was the happiest day of your life?

R: I’ve never been happier.

Y: How about during the time of Miss World?

R: I was happy then, but not this happy. I was at my happiest during the wedding and I’ll never forget it for the rest of my life.