Sign language between Annabelle and balae

All quiet on the White Plains front. I mean, haven’t you noticed that Annabelle Rama has been intriguingly silent these past many days? It’s unusual (isn’t it?) because Annabelle is noted (notorious?) for being highly audible – you know, somebody who can’t keep her mouth shut ("She talks even in her sleep," daughter Ruffa Gutierrez said in jest.)

Now it can be told: Annabelle has been (ma)lingering in Istanbul where she’s visiting Ruffa and husband Yilmaz Bektas and the couple’s two daughters, Lorin and Venice. Annabelle has also been bonding with her balae, Nurhan Bektas.

Said Ruffa during a brief phone chat yesterday with Funfare, "Mommy (Annabelle) and Mommy Nurham are alike in so many ways. Parehong maganda, parehong makaluma, parehong hardworking at parehong matapang. They could be the best of friends, except that they have some kind of a ‘communiction problem.’ You see, Mommy Nurham doesn’t speak English and my mom naman doesn’t speak Turkish, but they manage to get by through sign language. Sometimes, I act as their translator. I’ve been taking Turkish classes and I now speak Turkish better than I do Spanish (which my dad, Eddie Gutierrez, speaks fluently)."

Ruffa then talked about daughters Lorin (one year and seven months old) and Venice (five months and a half old).

"While Lorin is so like me – friendly, mahilig sa makeup at magbasa ng books, at ma-PR – Venice naman is like Yilmaz, friendly to those she loves pero matapang. When you don’t give Venice what she wants as soon as she wants it, biglang nagsasalubong ang kanyang kilay. But both need at least 20 minutes after waking up before they are in the mood to play."

Photos on this pages were taken, according to Ruffa, last Feb. 26 at the black-tie charity ball at the Esma Sultan which was built in the 18th century as residence of an extraordinary Ottoman princess.

"Aside from my mom, Yilmaz and me," Ruffa noted, "we invited some family relatives and friends to join our table. Proceeds from the event, more than $50,000, went to 35 different charitable institutions in Turkey. Everyone thought my mom was my sister dahil mukha daw siyang bagets. Grabe!"

Annabelle should be back home any day now to meet (in her capacity as son Richard Gutierrez’s manager) with GMA, Bench and Regal Films. But end of this month, Annabelle might fly back to Istanbul, this time with Eddie who hasn’t seen yet his new apo.

"As usual," said Ruffa, "Yilmaz and my trip to Manila has been postponed again from March to April. Yilmaz’s schedule is very tight. He misses halu-halo na very much. Grabe!"

Gentle ‘Warning’ From MTRCB

In reaction to the network word war that’s getting uglier and uglier, nastier and nastier, MTRCB chief Ma. Consoliza P. Laguardia has issued the following memorandum to "All TV stations/TV producers and hosts thereof," with "Showbiz-oriented talk shows and/or hosts" as subjects:

The Board notes that in the recent episodes of a majority of showbiz-oriented talk shows, the focus had been the personal bickering and/or heated "word war" among the hosts thereof. Without necessarily curtailing the constitutional right of the industry’s freedom of expression, the Board is bound to remind all concerned that there is a limit to the excercise of this freedom. The purposes of entertainment and information for which showbiz-oriented talk shows stand are sacrificed in view of the self-destruction stance of some of the programs’ hosts. In other words, the sense of objectivity and entertainment value of the shows are practically diminished due to incessant tirade among the hosts and/or anchors of the shows, as well as the unnecessary inclusion of offensive, prurient and indecent materials in the over-all program content.

Thus, the Board is constrained to remind all TV stations airing live/taped showbiz-oriented talk shows as well as the hosts thereof to refrain from hurling defamatory imputations against one another under pain of being sanctioned by this Board pursuant to the mandate of Presidential Decree 1986 specifically Section 3, paragraph c (vi) thereof.

For your strict compliance.

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