Ruffa stays as co-host of The Buzz

She was oh-so-good, ayos na ang mga kasunod.

Yes, Ruffa Gutierrez has been retained as The Buzz co-host (of Boy Abunda and Cristy Fermin) for four more Sundays, until April 8. She was supposed to take over the job from Kris Aquino, who’s on maternity leave until end of June, for only one Sunday but Ruffa turned out to be such an engaging co-host, outshining even her good friend Gretchen Barretto (guest) on last Sunday’s edition, that the ABS-CBN management has decided to extend her stint, junking its original plan to have a new co-host every Sunday until Kris comes back.

"I didn’t ask for it," said Ruffa who added that she was surprised when she got the offer, especially since there were rumors that Ai-Ai delas Alas was said to be Kris’ personal choice. (But Kris texted Ruffa her congratulations even before the end of last Sunday’s telecast, complimenting Ruffa not only on her beautiful gown by Rajo Laurel but also, more so, her impeccable talent as a host.)

"I don’t have any quarrel with Ai-Ai whom I knew from way back when I did 13, 14, 15 for Regal Films with Carmina (Villarroel) and Aiko (Melendez). As I’ve been saying, I’m not quarrelsome; I’m not a mean girl. I make friends, not enemies. Ai-Ai played our yaya in that movie. It’s okay that I wasn’t daw on the original list of choices. What matters is that I got the job. You know, if something is really meant for you, you’ll get it."

Ruffa’s Buzz stint doesn’t come in conflict with her contract with RPN 9 which started airing last Tuesday night (8:30 to 9:30) her new show, The Philippines’ Next Top Model (TPNTM), which is running for 15 weeks.

"TPNTM is a reality-TV show," explained Ruffa, "while Buzz is a showbiz-oriented talk show, so there’s no conflict. My RPN 9 contract prohibits me from accepting a show on another station only if it has a format similar to TPNTM."

From March 22 to 28, Ruffa will be in Hong Kong to shoot the finals of TPNTM. On March 25, a Sunday, she’ll fly home for The Buzz and rush back to Hong Kong after the show. That’s the same day she and Yilmaz Bektas got married in 2003.

"Yilmaz and I don’t celebrate our wedding anniversary but the day we met which was on May 11, 2000 in Cannes. But Hong Kong is memorable to us because that was where we began to ‘make’ Lorin, our older daughter whom I was conceiving when we got married. (Their second daughter is Venice.) It happened at The Peninsula Hotel," added Ruffa with a laugh.

In the next breath, Ruffa took exception to the criticism that she is back home working so hard because she is a "deprived" wife (read: Yilmaz doesn’t give her enough money).

"I’m bothered by that write-up," complained Ruffa. "You know, I grew up in the States and I’ve been used to working since I was 12. When Yilmaz and I got married, I told him that I’m basically a working girl but I promised that I would devote my time to my family. And I did for four years when our two daughters were babies.

"I turned down a lot of offers at that time. But our kids are bigger now, big enough to be left home while I’m working, although I see to it that everytime I come home they are with me. Even if I live in Istanbul, I continue to get good offers — from Nestlé, Procter & Gamble, etc. — despite the emergence of younger stars. I’m honored, I’m flattered. I accept the offers with Yilmaz’s consent. The only thing he reminds me is to make sure that the offers are good."

It’s not sure yet if Ruffa will fly back home to Istanbul after her stint on The Buzz or Yilmaz will join her and their daughters here, like he did during the Christmas season last year.

Incidentally, on this Sunday’s The Buzz, Ruffa will pin down her mom, Annabelle Rama, for a "revealing" interview.

"I wonder If I can draw out from my mom anything that I didn’t know already," laughed Ruffa.

What Cher Calvin is now up to

Here’s a report from Baby K. Jimenez, Funfare’s L.A. correspondent:

Emmy awardee anchor woman Cher Calvin of the popular KTLAChannel 5’s Morning News First Edition, (Monday to Friday,  5 to 7 a.m.) is once more the talk of the town in the entertainment and film capital of the world, L.A.  Cher recently starred in The Vagina Monologues, Eve Ensler’s Obie Award-winning play that has become a staple of American pop culture. It was scheduled for one night only last March 2 at the Aratani/Japan America Theater and hailed as an important milestone for Asian-American arts.  It’s the first time the play’s 11-year history had an all-Pan-Asian ensemble. 

Cher was joined by actors Tamlyn Tomita (Joy Luck Club) and Amy Hill (American Girl) who, like Cher, were thrilled to jump on board.  Also topbilled was Kathy Uyen, the Vietnamese-American star of such movies as Asian Stories 3 and Thieu. The sold-out show’s proceeds went to the Center for the Pacific Asian Family, a Los Angeles-based women’s shelter that offers the country’s first multilingual and multicultural emergency hotline, shelter and transitional housing program.

Cher was also the grand master of ceremonies at the 21st Annual Installation and awards Banquet of of PABA (Philippine American Bar Association of Los Angeles) last March 8 held at the Beverly Hills Hotel.  Heading this year’s PABA is Benjamin J. Hofileña, Jr., an associate in McDermott Will & Emery’s Los Angeles office.  Another McDermott associate, Arnold Pamplona (he earned his J.D. cum laude from Loyola Law School-Los Angeles, and a B.S. and B.A. cum laude from Loyola Marymount University) was also installed as a member of PABA’s Board of Governors as well.

Believing in the importance of giving something back to her community, Cher is a spokesperson for Asians for Miracle Marrow Matches and Filipino Veterans Foundation.