One lucky lady

It was an event that went past two super typhoons (with one even making a U-turn), an earthquake and another failed Trillanes caper (with a Malacañang-imposed curfew that followed). But in the end, the 18th birthday party of Janella Marie Vitug Ejercito Estrada turned out to be a wonderful evening for the invited guests, family and especially the debutante, who has blossomed into a lovely lady — a spitting image of her beautiful mother, Precy, who has one of the loveliest faces I know.

Janella’s birthday was actually Nov. 23, except that a relative was getting married that time and it was exam week in school and so her parents, Sen. and Mrs. Jinggoy Ejercito Estrada, decided to hold it only last Nov. 30 at the Harbor Garden Tent of the Sofitel Philippine Plaza Hotel.

Reservations were initially made at the Manila Peninsula Hotel (gasp!), but everything was full and Sen. Jinggoy and wife Precy are now so thankful that they’ve been rejected at The Pen — otherwise they wouldn’t have had a debut party for their only daughter, Jel. Whew!

Janella’s 18th birthday party was actually creaseless (if there were kinks, none of the guests noticed). It was simple, but elegant and, more importantly, very meaningful for Janella and family.

Although it was an occasion that put showbiz and politics together, the affair proved to be very orderly — with everyone well-dressed and wearing their finest. And it wasn’t at all a circus, which is what usually happens when people from entertainment and politics meet.

From the world of politics, I saw Senators Manny Villar and Francis Pangilinan, who came with wife Sharon Cuneta (she’s so much slimmer now — thanks to her South Beach diet, she says), I also had a cheerful, unexpected reunion with old neighbors, former Sen. Francisco Tatad and wife, Fenny Cantero.

San Juan Mayor JV Ejercito and wife Hyacinth were also there, but they’re family. Also add to the family Pagsanjan Mayor ER Ejercito, who came with wife Maita.

The showbiz guest list, of course, was a lot longer, Sen. Bong Revilla and Lani Mercado, who brought their children, Bryan, Jolo, Inah and Ramboy (Janella is the goddaughter of Sen. Bong and she grew up with the Revilla kids — even traveling together abroad at times), Rudy Fernandez, wife Lorna Tolentino and sons Ralph and Renz, Eddie Garcia, Tonyboy Cojuangco and Gretchen Barretto, Eddie Gutierrez and Annabelle Rama, Ruffa Gutierrez, (who arrived shortly after her parents made their entrance), Isabel Rivas, Lily Monteverde, Tirso Cruz III and wife Lyn Ynchausti (their kids are the most polite I have ever met in  this business), Rustom Padilla and Bayani Agbayani (we were seatmates and we had a nice talk between us).

Probably to Janella’s relief, even if a lot of guests were showbiz and politics (that can’t be avoided that’s her bloodline), she still had all her friends, especially from school, and they all seem to be very nice kids, who really care for her.

Of course, there was family: Former President Joseph Estrada (who is Daddy Lo to Janella), former Sen. Loi Estrada (she is Mommy La to the grandkids), Uncle Jude Estrada, Aunt Jackie Ejercito and Uncle Beaver Lopez and the Vitugs, who gave their all-out support to make the party successful.

The best part of the occasion was the little program (hosted by Brad Turvey and later, by Jake Cuenca) that was so well put together, it proved to be great entertainment for all the guests. Most sentimental was the VTR message of aunt Jackie Ejercito-Lopez who recalled past memories — both good and bad. Sen. Loi’s message was truly meaningful because it carried pieces of advice for Janella on how to become an even better person. (Ninong Bong swears by how the debutante had always been a good kid.) Former President Estrada’s interview, however, was the most comical (Erap will always be Erap). He also admitted that of all the grandkids, Janella is his favorite (she has an edge over everyone else — she’s the first).

While the program was going on, there were live shots of everyone in the audience and all these were shown on the video walls that were set up in various parts of the venue. When close-up shots of Janella and Precy were interspersed with each other, confusion ensued among the guests because everyone had a difficult time telling which was the mother and which was the daughter. Mothers and daughters are supposed to look alike, but Precy and Janella look like they came from the very exact mold — a Xeroxed copy of each other. Also, you have to give it to Precy for looking so young still and this added to the confusion.

Toward the end of the mini-show, the debutante performed song numbers with brothers Jolo and Julian and the kids sang so well — like they were professionals. You knew that the audience truly enjoyed their singing and was not just being polite because they had beautiful singing voices. Later, when mother Precy went to sing for her daughter, everyone knew where the kids got their talent for singing.

Like most other debut parties, there were the traditional 18 roses, 18 shots and the formal dancing with the important men in Janella’s life. It proved to be one memorable evening where guests enjoyed themselves immensely.

Eighteen years ago, Janella came to this world. A week after her birth, there was a coup d’ etat staged by Gringo Honasan. Oh, she survived that and eventually grew up into a fine girl. Now that she was being introduced to formal society, another failed rebellion took place on the very eve of her debut party. But that important occasion in her life didn’t have any trace of the chaos that wrapped the metropolis the previous day. She is one lucky girl — okay, lady. But she is most fortunate that she has great parents in Sen. Jinggoy and Precy Ejercito Estrada, who love her and brought her up well. To Jel, Happy, Happy Birthday!