The jailbride on Private I

Erwin Tulfo’s Private I on ABS-CBN made mincemeat out of the other reality shows on TV when it aired last Friday night the arrest of a woman right on her wedding day.

I mean what could be a more colorful real-life drama situation than the sight of a woman in her bridal finery being led away by NBI men and later being grilled at the NBI office still in her immaculate white wedding dress?

Charged for illegal recruitment and estafa, the suspect, 37-year old Clarita Chua, alias Melissa, was arrested right after the wedding ceremony – while she and her groom were being congratulated by their wedding guests at the front entrance of St. Peter’s Church in Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City. Chua was no longer allowed by the NBI agents to attend the wedding reception, but was given permission to ride the bridal car all the way to the NBI office.

Chua was said to have gypped a number of applicants seeking work abroad by charging them from P50,000 to P80,000 each. When these job opportunities did not materialize, the applicants asked for their money back but Chua allegedly just gave them the runaround. Chua later explained at the NBI office that it was a business partner who ran off with the victims’ money.

Chua had been eluding arrest for about a year now – until somebody was said to have tipped off Private I about the wedding. The NBI people knew they would be creating a scandal at the wedding and tried to avoid this by scheduling the arrest before the wedding. But when they went to Chua’s Caloocan City address, which they got from St. Peter’s Church, it didn’t look like the bride was there because there were no visible signs of a wedding preparation going on from the outside. (The bride must have checked in at a hotel, which is customary now in most weddings.) The NBI operatives were left with no choice but to conduct the arrest right after the wedding. (At least, they still allowed her to get married.)

During the arrest, the NBI men, along with Tulfo, very calmly (and even politely) explained to the newlyweds why they had to take the bride with them. The bride surprisingly kept her composure all throughout the arrest – and even at the NBI office where she, of course, looked so conspicuous in her bridal dress.

Although there was no look of remorse on her face, your heart will still go out to her (hey, this was supposedly the most important day of her life!) – until you see the victims whose hopes and dreams came crashing down allegedly because of this woman who, if proven guilty, would again be walking down the aisle straight into her cold prison cell. And this time around, she won’t be in white.

A Test Of Sweetness

In local show business, Boots Anson-Roa is the epitome of sweetness (along with Charo Santos and Susan Roces). In all the years I’ve known her, I have yet to see her lose her composure and turn nasty.

Last Thursday night in GMA 7’s Debate With Pare and Mare, I thought I was finally going to see a dark side of her when she participated in the debate on whether we should keep the death penalty or not. (She was pro-life).

Now, Debate inarguably is the one show where it is tough to keep one’s poise and bearing – a program where even glamorous society gals can turn into fishwives. But not Boots Anson-Roa.

Those on the pro-death penalty side were actually tough on her, but this senatorial bet on the KNP slate really astonished me when she kept her cool and remained level-headed as she raised point by point her reasons for staying on the pro-life side. She knew exactly what to say and carefully worded her statements and was able to prove her point without offending the other party. I don’t know how she does it, but I’m all the more convinced now that her sweetness was never a put-on because it’s so difficult to fake anything in a show like Debate.

Hair Forecast From Celeste Tuviera

The F4 hair is out, but long hair is still in. This was the hair forecast shared to me by Celeste Tuviera, who does Rosanna Roces’ hair in Startalk and the one who cuts mine, too.

According to Celeste, who owns and operates Symmetria Salon in Fox Square in Connecticut, Greenhills, the long hair men will be sporting in 2004 is more relaxed and not prettied up like the F4 look.

Another haircut that would be popular for men this year would have the sides cropped like a military haircut, but with more length at the back and at the top. This haircut is perfect for men with oval faces and those with heavy jaws.

Skinhead, of course, will still be fashionable – especially during summer and only for those with good head shapes.

For women, rebonding is out, says Celeste. (Believe me, this woman knows what she is talking about because she went to school at the very prestigious Vidal Sassoon in California.)

Curls Will Be In, States Celeste – "Loose Curls To Wavy."

For hair color, she claims that colors will be well-blended – with hints only of highlights.

Hair extension, which Celeste Tuviera introduced in this country, is still in – but only those with properly-placed human hair, which she does herself at her Symmetria Salon in Greenhills.