Why the nasty Regine-Ogie rumor persists

Several issues ago, Ogie Alcasid broke his silence on the persistent rumor that he and Regine Velasquez (whom he desribed as "my buddy... my working partner") are having an "affair" and that he has, in fact, gotten Regine pregnant. Ogie also explained – satisfactorily, I must say – that the reason why he let his wife, Michelle van Eimeren, and their two daughters move to Australia was because of the Australian Embassy advisory for Australian citizens in the Philippines to be extra-careful, prompting Ogie and Michelle tro push through with their plan to have Michelle and the children go to Australia where they can be safer and so that the two children can go to school without Ogie and Michelle worrying that something bad might happen to them.

While Ogie has said his piece once and for all, Regine has opted to keep mum and pretend that the rumor will die a natural death.

Wrong. In showbiz where silence is perceived to be a sign of "guilt," Regine stands to lose more than Ogie does. People have started to believe that, if Regine is not pregnant, she and Ogie could be, you know, "singing beautiful music together" even outside of the recording studio.

What’s worse is that Regine is being pictured as a "husband-grabber" because of her being romantically linked, oftentimes not true, to married men (the first first having been Janno Gibbs whose wife, Bing Loyzaga, flew into a rage and reportedly confronted Regine about the, I must hasten to add, unfounded rumor).

Why does the nasty rumor persist?

Well, because Regine is silent about it, thus making people speculate even more – you know, is she or isn’t she, pregnant that is? (I don’t think she is.) Is she and Ogie having an affair (because, people observe, they sing so beautifully together –in their latest song, Magpakailanman), that’s why Michelle left "in a huff"? (I also don’t think so. Michelle and their children were accompanied by Ogie himself to Australia.)

The rumor came in the wake of the row between Regine and her long-time manager Patty whom Regine has reportedly "fired" due to a misunderstanding during Regine’s recent concert in the States. Regine was scheduled to sing five songs but there was a wild clamor from the SRO mostly-Filipino audience for one more...just one more. According to the US-based roving Funfare DPA, the show producer asked–nay, begged!–Regine to sing just one more song but Patty refused to let her. Of course, the audience was disappointed and, naturally, dismissed Regine as madamot. The incident made Regine junk Patty.

Meanwhile, the Regine-Ogie rumor will persist – and spawn side stories –now that Ogie’s wife and children are away (he may be "lonely," you know, and needing company, who knows?) and he and Regine continue to be "buddy-buddies" and "working partners," with Regine as one of the guests on Ogie’s show OA@15 on Oct. 10, 8 p.m., at the Araneta Coliseum, produced by Viva Concerts. For sure, fans trooping to the Big Dome will be keeping eagle eyes on Ogie and Regine and, without any doubt, read "meanings" in their every movement and everything they say to each other. If they hold hands, and I’m sure they will, fans will conclude that, that’s it, sila na nga.

Ogie’s other guests are Gary Valenciano, Piolo Pascual, Janno Gibbs, Jaya, Manilyn Reynes, Dingdong Avanzado, Francis M., Michael V., Wendell Ramos, Antonio Aquitania, Sarah Geronimo, Rico J. Puno, Kyla and Salbakuta. The STAR is among the sponsors (along with Manila Bulletin, Love Radio, Yes FM and IFM).

Tickets are now available (P1,300 for Patron A and Patron B, P1,100 for Lower Box, P600 for Upper Box, P300 for Upper Box B and P150 for General Admission). Call the Araneta Ticketnet at 911-5555, SM Ticketnet outlets, Viva Concerts at 687-5853 or 687-6181 local 715 or 620 or 687-1125.

(Postscript: According to a Funfare DPA, somebody "close to Regine" is the one spreading the rumor about Regine and Ogie. That person reportedly even called up Michelle–before she left for Australia–to tell her about the "affair". Now, who could "that person" be?)

Mystica Airs Side

Well, the character known as Mystica was on the phone yesterday to air her side on that "humiliating" (take note: in quotation marks) incident aboard Cebu Pacific last Saturday (Aug. 9) from Davao to Manila.

Mystica was on that flight with her brother (also her production coordinator), production manager and production assistant (yaya).

Points of clarification (according to Mystica, whose real name is Ruby Cassidy, in her letter to Funfare):

• Her entourage was scheduled to take the 4 p.m. flight but the Cebu Pacific personnel convinced them to take the earlier 1 p.m. flight.

• She refused to take off her high-heeled shoes (as part of the pre-flight safety procedure) unless the other passengers were also made to do the same.

• She and company were proceeding to the Economy Section with their economy-class tickets but the flight stewardess, obviously making a mistake, made them go to the Business Section. (Not all Cebu Pacific flights have both Business and Economy sections; some only have Economy section and no Business section.)

• Her brother moved to the fourth row (of the Business section) to wait for his turn to use the restroom while the plane was about to land, prompting the flight stewardess to ask him to move back to his seat on the sixth row of Economy. An argument ensued between the brother and the flight stewardess, with Mystica coming to her brother’s defense. Mystica asked her brother to stay where he was (fourth row), prompting the flight stewardess to call the attention of Captain/Pilot R. Gonzales to come out of the cockpit and order Mystica’s brother to go back to his seat.

• "I never ranted nor raved, shouted or made such a fuss until all hell broke loose, as your ‘eyewitness’ related," said Mystica. "All I did was explain our side." (in a louder than usual voice, she admitted during our phone chat).

• She added, "I certainly don’t have any intention to malign Cebu Pacific...I just want to exercise my right to tell the whle story," she added.

My further comment? Haven’t I said more than enough?

Meanwhile, here’s Cebu Pacific’s official statement:

The incident with Mystica onboard flight 5J964 from Davao to Manila last August 9, 2003 was simply a miscommunication between her and the Cebu Pacific inflight and flight deck crew.

A discussion took place during the flight, between Mystica and Cebu Pacific’s crew because Mystica and her companions were in seats different from the ones assigned to them at check in. Mystica and her companions rejected the flight attendant’s request to occupy their designated seats – their tickets were for economy class, but they seated themselves in Cebu Class, Cebu Pacific’s version of Business Class.

Prompted by the disturbance caused by Mystica’s vehement insistence to remain in Cebu Class, Cebu Pacific’s crew followed the airline’s safety procedures, which mandate that flight attendants inform the pilot-in-command whenever there is a disturbance or annoyance inflight. The pilot must in turn report this to airport officials, and airport officials, to the airport authorities.

Upon landing, Mystica was approached by Cebu Pacific’s airport station manager, while the airport authorities were on standby at the ramp, in case there were any complaints from either party. Mystica went with the airport authorities on her own volition. She and the rest of her group stayed at the PNP office where a dialogue with Cebu Pacific was held. The dialogue ended amicably and both parties issued a joint statement on camera, which closed the matter that same evening.

Contrary to the intention of the parties, however, this incident was reported in the newspapers the following day. Nonetheless, the incident did happen and the news reports were submitted and filed hours before the two parties agreed to close the issue.

This statement is being issued simply for clarification. Cebu Pacific wishes to put the matter to rest, as previously agreed with Mystica.

Briefly Noted

• Several readers from here and abroad reacted – and made corrections – to the recent item on Eddie Garcia. Nicole Basinger (of Los Angeles), Cathy Mah, Ruby Rovillos (Los Angeles), Odgee Beltran, Lawrence Lagandaon and Allan Moster clarified that the name of Eddie’s car is spelled not Hammer but Hummer (a.k.a. Humvee). Judy Reyes is wondering why, in spite of reams and reams of publicity about him, nothing is mentioned about Eddie’s lovelife. Yes, Eddie is a widower and his current ladylove is named Lilibeth. They have no children. But Eddie does have children by his late wife, one of whom died several years ago in a motorcycle accident.

• Congrats to Rico Hizon who has just been appointed as the new permanent presenter of BBC World’s live Singapore-based daily financial program, Asia Business Report. Rico joined BBC early this year as a reporter and producer on Asia Business Report after he transferred from CNBC where he was also a financial-news anchor.

(E-mail reactions at [email protected])