As a sign of near-resignation, sa text message ni Gretchen Barretto kay Ricky Lo that got published in Philippine Star last June 20, ay nagdesisyon ang aktres na mangibang-bansa (muna). Tinawag ni Greta na isa na naman blown-up story ang kinasangkutan niyang “credit card issue,” and her every move under public scrutiny.
Nowhere in Greta’s text message did she mention kung saang bansa niya balak pumunta, kailan at kung sino’ng kasama niya.
In a separate item, napag-alaman na defective daw ang magnet ng kanyang credit card that Greta chose to bring from among her good-as-cash (and international at that) cards. When used daw kasi, peso rin ang katumbas ng ide-debit sa kanya. Never in dollars.
Sounds practical. But not when the credit cardholder is a Gretchen Barretto who wouldn’t care less if her dinner bill amounted anywhere from rupee to rupiah, from dinar to bolivar. Si Gretchen ito who has a charming and wealthy Tony Boy Cojuangco for a partner, from whose lips (or mouth) nagmula ang mga katagang, “We own the bank.”
Hindi na nga isyu rito kung magkano ‘yung inabot na bill which was too cheap for a dinner na P4,300 partaken of by five persons at a plush hotel in Makati City. It could be twice as much, or multiplied by ten na kayang-kayang bayaran ni Greta since “we own the bank.”
Si Ruffa Gutierrez na rin ang maysabi na hindi rin dapat gawing isyu if it was she who footed the tab. Madalas naman daw kasi silang ilibre ni Greta. Neither was Marjorie’s no effort na magbayad also a big deal, buti sana if they dined out somewhere in Caloocan City, let the lady councilor take care of the bill. Huwag na rin si Pops Fernandez, with her tiny lips, surely, she barely ate. Lalong huwag nang iasa du’n sa kasama nilang non-showbiz friend named Josie, ikumpleto mo muna ang pangalan niya as she might not have enjoyed a complete Thai meal just as well.
Back to Greta, kinagalitan pa raw siya ni Tony Boy when he arrived to their rescue at the hotel. Nadamay na rin si Yilmaz Bektas. Ina-assure naman daw ni Greta si Ruffa that all was well, pero binalaan niya ito na mag-ingat sa kasama whom Greta suspected to have uploaded the news on the internet.
Naninindigan si Greta na “exag” ang kuwento, kesyo minamanmanan daw ang kanyang bawat kilos. Hence, short of saying na para matahimik muna ay aalis muna siya ng bansa. Take it from her revival Fly Me To the Moon. Its 238,857 mile-distance from the earth might help.