Who’s P-Noy’s secret date?

It was just a dinner, according to Pres. Noynoy Aquino, and not a date.

With that presidential clarification, Bianca Manalo’s, ehem, “15 minutes of fame” abruptly ended. Back to showbiz.

In fairness to Bianca, she made it clear that during the headline-hogging dinner with P-Noy she was with a group but people wondered if it could develop into something…romantic?...especially since P-Noy is fancy-free and so is Bianca who hasn’t been linked to anybody else after she broke up with John Prats last year.

But I don’t think it’s right for Bianca to tell the media to stop talking about it already because in the first place she was the one who broke the news when she guested on The Buzz two Sundays ago.

Really now, any woman can claim to have had dinner with the President who has dinner with varied groups anyway, but if it’s a beautiful girl saying that, then it takes on an entirely different meaning. Well, you know…

However, a Funfare Update DPA said that P-Noy’s real (but still very secret date) is a pretty lady from the south. They started communicating in November last year and had a dinner date in Malacañang (see, no “leak” on that story!) when she came to Manila. The question is: Are they still in touch?

Said the DPA, “That I don’t know. I’ll find out.”

Marian and manager part ways…amicably?

When APT Entertainment, Inc., headed by Tony Tuviera, called a presscon yesterday to make an “important announcement,” invited media guys wondered what it could be. The “important announcement” was a little shocker: Marian Rivera has signed up with APT as her new manager.

Why, what happened between Marian and Popoy Caritativo, her manager for the last seven years?

According to Popoy in a text message to Funfare Update, “It’s sad pero ganoon siguro talaga. I just have to let go and let God. Thanks so much.”

Marian, who didn’t have any contract with Popoy (but only some kind of a “gentleman’s agreement” which can be equally binding between mutually trusting friends), said that she talked to Popoy about it and exchanged text messages with him before she wrote him a formal letter. Popoy replied, “Kung ‘yan ang desisyon mo, iri-respeto ko.”

But showbiz insiders claim that the parting was “unpleasant,” even if APT guys described Marian’s move as a “homecoming” because it was APT that discovered Marian and paved the way for her being cast in GMA shows like Kung Mamahalin Mo Lang Ako (2005), Agawin Mo Man ang Lahat (2005) and Pinakamamahal (2006). Then, Popoy became her manager.

Actually, Marian is in the stable of Triple A, APT’s sister company which manages the likes of Andrea Torres, Erika Padilla, Julia Clarete and a few others.

“Mr. Tuviera is like a father to Marian,” said an APT man. “He’s always there for her, and for his other talents as well, every time they need advice.”

Elizabeth mugging victim in Las Vegas

Poor Elizabeth Oropeza, she never suspected that a “Samaritan” she bumped into at a mall in Las Vegas was actually a mugger.

“The man pretended to accidentally bump Elizabeth,” my Sacramento, California friend Nestor Guerrero told Funfare Update. “Elizabeth dropped her bag and spilled its contents. The man pretended to help her and it was only when she got home that Elizabeth discovered that her wallet was missing, with some $2,000 in it and other valuables.”

Elizabeth reported the matter to the police and she did get back her wallet but minus its contents.

Nestor said that Elizabeth, who is taking a break in Sacramento to meet friends, is enrolled in a school for “holistic healing” in Florida. She actually holds a degree (acquired from a Philippine school) in that field.

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