The Roco twins are poles apart

Curtain-raisers:

• Again, we’ll talk in riddles: Could it be true that the real girlfriend of Love Me is not his co-host Jump Start but Kiss Me, daughter of singer-actress Please Me? Jump Start’s boyfriend is Joke Lang, son of a popular politician. Love Me is the former boyfriend of Need Cash who is now the girlfriend of Petty Cash. Love Me’s actress-mom, Very Sweet, said that Kiss Me is Love Me’s second serious girlfriend (the first was Need Cash) and only the second girl Love Me has ever brought home to introduce to his mom.

• When Kleen Again paid Morning Light, her new "MU" (as in Mutual Understanding), a surprise visit, guess who accompanied her – yes, her immediate former(?) undying flame Justice Minister. Hmmmm! Do you smell something fishy in this much-publicized "romance?" Justice Minister is reportedly giving Kleen Again his blessing as long as she’s happy.

• Some corrections on Funfare’s recent item on Kristine Florendo who graduated magna cum laude from UP last week: 1) Kristine’s course was Bachelor in Elementary Education and not B.S.E.Ed; 2) She was .002 (not .02) away from summa cum laude; 3) She was first runner-up as "Most" because she ranks second; 4) she sold knives to her mom and her mom’s best friend, not hers (Kristine’s); and 5) The cranky, bitchy guy was from the College of Education, not from the Registrar’s Office. (Thanks to reader "JP," Kristine’s friend, for the corrections.)

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Twins almost always think, act and feel alike; when one is sick, the other feels sickly, too; and what one prefers, so does the other. Right? Not always. Not in the case of Roco Twins Felix and Dominic, the fourth/fifth children of Bembol Roco and wife Coco Artadi, coming after Bon (27), Katrine (23) and Louis (17).

Felix and Dominic, born two minutes apart (Felix is older) on April 12, 1989 (Aries), are members of ABS-CBN’s Talent Center, first seen on the big screen in Star Cinema’s Otso-Otso, Pamela-Mela One (topbilled by Bayani Agbayani and Vhong Navarro).

"We are very different from each other," claimed Felix who, at 5’5", is an inch shorter than Dominic.

While Felix likes pasta and alternative music, Dominic goes for Japanese food and hip-hop. At Seed Montessori (along Commonwealth Avenue, Quezon City) where they’ll be high school juniors this coming schoolyear, Felix belongs to Section B and Dominic to Section A. Felix is good in Social Science and Dominic, in English.

But the twins, who sleep in the same room, both love to play basketball.

It was Dominic who was first discovered last year when he guested on Tessie Tomas’s defunct show Teysi which discussed teeners’ "addiction" to cellphones. When Dominic was asked to go back, he brought Felix along and Felix was discovered as well.

Soon, they were doing workshops at Talent Center and guesting on ABS-CBN shows (Bida si Mister, Bida si Misis, ASAP Mania, etc.).

Oh, yes, they also agree on one thing: They both aspire to be good actors like their Papa.

"But we’re not competitive with each other," said Dominic. "We support each other."

Remembering Timi Yuro

Funfare’s item on the death of Timi Yuro (Hurt, I Apologize, etc.) last March 30 drew varied reactions, most of them "shocked." Timi, 62, performed here back in the ’60s and was so fascinated by Nora Aunor’s golden voice that she wanted to adopt Nora and bring her to the States. Nora politely declined.

One interesting reaction came from reader Zenaida Zayco Rodriguez-La Rocque of Boston, Massachusetts, USA. Here it is:

Dear Ricky:

I have lived here in Boston for 20 years now and I miss watching the local TV sitcoms and movies back home. Anyway, I am happy to read good news about the movie industry and how it is improving in terms of quality.

I read your recent story on Timi Yuro, the cute and petite American-Italian singer in the ’60s. We will surely miss her. I just want you to know that I had the privilege of meeting her in person when she first went to Manila to perform at the Araneta Coliseum. She also had a cameo role as a singer in the movie which starred Bernard Bonnin (my first cousin and the biological father of Charlene Gonzalez-Muhlach). During the first half of her show with Teddy Randazzo, Timi dedicated a special song to Bernard entitled Let Me Call You Sweetheart.

After the intermission, she went down to sit with Bernard on the front row.

He was then sandwiched by Timi and Lourdes Medel (his girlfriend then). I was beside Lourdes, who looked angry and jealous as she watched Timi whispering sweet nothings to Bernard.

When Bernard went to the States with his elder brother Gabby (father of TV matinee idol J.C. Bonnin, now a Charismatic Episcopalian minister in St. Stephen church in London), they visited Timi's home in upstate New York.

Timi went back to the Philippines the second time. I saw her again at the Araneta Coliseum and she mentioned that she planned to marry Bernard. Sad to say, the marriage didn’t materialize because both of them had their own families by then and were living separate lives.

Here are other news tidbits you might be interested to note:

• Charlene Gonzalez is related to Ana Roces and Joy Ortega (she used to mimic and imitate Kris Aquino). The father of Charlene (Bernard Zayco Bonnin is the second cousin of Ana’s Dad, Rene Zayco Adad). Bernard is also the second cousin of the mother of Joy, Geraldine Ramos-Ortega, of Himamaylan, Negros Occidental, and San Fernando, La Union.

• Did you know that Joey Stevens, the husband of Amalia Fuentes, was a former boyfriend of Charlene’s aunt, Marlyn Bonnin? Charlene took a lot of her features from her aunt Marlyn Bonnin-Daland of Kentucky. Amalia is the aunt of Aga. What a coincidence!

Sincerely,

– ZENAIDA ZAYCO RODRIGUEZ-LA ROCQUE

Boston, Massachusetts, USA

(E-mail reactions at [email protected])