The night Kring Kring twisted & shouted...

TACLOBAN CITY, Philippines — Cristina “Kring Kring” Gonzales-Romualdez, probably the prettiest councilor to serve (now on her second term) this city as councilor, obviously hasn’t lost her showbiz touch.

Tuesday night (June 28) when former Toto vocalist Bobby Kimball (with the Zoo Band, the last group Arnel Pineda performed with before he was recruited by Journey) had a show at the Tacloban Astrodome by-the-sea, Kimball invited Kring Kring to join him onstage to sing the Beatles’ Twist & Shout with him, to the delight of the SRO audience that included Kring Kring’s husband, Tacloban Mayor Alfred Romualdez, and Alfred’s cousins Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez and Sen. Bongbong Marcos.

No, it wasn’t in the original script. Minutes before the show, I told Danee Samonte (a.k.a. Steve O’Neal), the producer, to include Kring Kring as “added attraction” and it turned out to be a hit with Kring Kring singing with gusto while twisting and shouting as the audience clapped with approval.

Until she was told about the “plot,” Kring Kring suspected Alfred to be the “mastermind.” Alfred was also among the last to know.

It was Danee Samonte (a.k.a. Steve O’Neal) who asked Kimball to spring a ‘surprise’ on the unsuspecting Kring Kring by inviting her to sing with him. Photos by RAOUL TIDALGO

Her contemporaries are making a comeback, so would Kring Kring consider the idea if offered to do, maybe, a soap (as the aunt of, say, Marian Rivera)?

“Why not?,” said Kring Kring who is a veteran of more than 50 films. “I would love to.”

She said that she could easily adjust her schedule and shuttle between Tacloban and Manila (for a “possible” soap). Tacloban is now home to Kring Kring and Alfred with their daughters Sofia and Diana. Kring Kring runs a spa at an old building owned by the Romualdez family located right in the heart of this city (the spa has an outlet at the Robinsons Mall).

On Wednesday (June 29), the bisperas of the Feast of Sto. Niño, the annual Sangyaw Festival (now into its fifth year) parade was held around the city. Two days earlier, on June 27, the office of the governor held its own Pintados Festival (which preceded the Sangyaw by many years). Why two separate festivals?

“We invited them (the Pintados group) to join our Sangyaw so that we could have only one celebration but they refused,” said Mayor Alfred. “But I gave them a permit for June 27 just the same but I saw to it that we placed marks for the route of their parade. It’s the city celebrating its fiesta and we have the right to set the rules.”

Maybe next time, the two groups can join in a single celebration even just for the one big day, for the sake and in honor of the Sto. Niño.

This year’s Sangyaw was bigger than last year’s. Besides the city’s barangays, the parade included “guest” groups from neighboring places (from nearby Samar, etc.), honoring the Sto. Niño with impressive production numbers performed by dancers in colorful costumes, some of which were made of banig which the Leyte and Samar provinces are famous for.

“The number of guests has doubled,” said Kring Kring, seated on a makeshift stage in front of her main spa together with Mayor Alfred and Sen. Bongbong, and the dozen movie writers invited to cover the affair.

Star Power at the Sangyaw Parade was provided by Kapuso actors (from left) Richard Gutierrez, Ervic Vijandre and TJ Trinidad (partly hidden)

It was easy to see how much Taclobanons love the couple. They waved at Alfred and Kring Kring, took their pictures with their celfones, called their names at the same time that they were shouting, “Viva El Señor Sto. Niño!”

Incidentally, asked if she was eyeing a “higher” office in 2013, Kring Kring only smiled.

“It’s too early to talk about it,” she winked.

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