After that brief meeting at Las Vegas, finally nagharap at nagkausap na si Lolit Solis at ang dati niyang alagang si Gabby Concepcion nitong Miyerkules sa pagbabalik-’Pinas at showbiz ng huli (alas-kuwatro ng hapon yun sa Anabel’s resto along Tomas Morato St., Quezon City, to be exact).
Being the writer assigned to the Startalk exclusive to be shown tomorrow, I begged off as I couldn’t make it to the supposed 3 p.m. appointed interview by Butch Francisco. I arrived at GMA 7 past 5 p.m. na, kung saan waiting pa rin ang Startalk staff kung pauunlakan nga ba ni Gabby ang paanyayang ’yon.
I bore witness, so did the other Startalk staff members, habang kausap ni ’Nay Lolit mismo si Rose Flaminiano, now Gabby’s manager, nung Startalk meeting namin last Monday committing her artist to an on-camera interview despite an indefinite schedule.
On the phone, puring-puri nga ni ’Nay Lolit si Rose for facilitating Gabby’s return amidst legal hassles. Kumbaga, it may have been an informal turnover, pero tanggap na ni ’Nay Lolit that she is Gabby’s showbiz past.
Then came their face-off at Anabel’s. In my lieu, tinext ko na lang sa aming executive producer na si Reylie Malalo ang set of questions for both ’Nay Lolit and Gabby with Butch as the interviewer. Pero mahigpit ang bilin: Not a single MFF scam-related question. Fine. I obliged even if I felt that to be able to establish their falling-out that eventually led to Gabby’s US migration, ang hindi makanti nang konti ang topic na ’yon was tantamount to altering history.
Back to the resto scene, kasama siyempre ni Gabby si Rose. What was supposed to have taken place, ’yun ngang interview with Gabby, did not materialize. May tatlong beses daw na nilalambing ni ’Nay Lolit ang dating alaga na magsimula na ang interview, but Gabby consistently declined. Hindi raw ’yon ang tamang panahon.
Walang nagawa ang standby crew, ready anytime to record on tape kung anuman ang mangyayari. Instead, nagkasya na lang sa iilang nakunang literate ang Startalk staff habang nag-uusap sina ‘‘Nay Lolit at Gabby for nearly two hours.
Was Gabby’s last-minute decision na huwag pakunan ng Startalk something the program should take against him? A big no, sabi na rin ng program manager na si Ms. Janine Piad-Nakar. ‘‘Let’s give it to Gabby. In fairness, he’s nice to us,’’ sey nito.
This time, let’s give it to ’Nay Lolit as she has a mouthful to say kung ano ang kanilang pinag-usapan ni Gabby. Let her talk on Startalk about SCAM, ang Solis-Concepcion at Anabel’s Meeting.