Kisses: Goodbye, Marco!Hello, Tony… or Donny?

Asked in a recent interview with Funfare what her ideal guy was, Kisses Delavin enumerated the many qualities that could win her nod, foremost of which is “respect for elders.” Taking a cue from that, it’s believable that Kisses was hurt when Fil-Italian Marco Gallo, her loveteam-mate since their PBB (Pinoy Big Brother) days, “ignored” her parents, Gilbert and Carrie, in one occasion so she decided to drop him (like the proverbial hot potato?). 

It’s understandable because Kisses, known as PBB’s “Miracle Baby of Masbate” (she was conceived after her mom suffered eight miscarriages), probably values the feelings of her parents more than anybody’s. An only child, Kisses is so precious to Gilbert and Carrie that they handle her with care (like a Dresden Doll) and, even if Kisses has turned 18 early this year, they accompany her anywhere she goes.

“Someone who respects and loves his parents no matter what,” Kisses added. “Someone who loves God more than he loves himself; someone who is full of himself; someone who has no pretension, who won’t fool a girl; and who is sincere, consistent, kind and good-mannered.”

Did her loveteam-mate (referring to Marco) possess most, if not all, of those qualities?

“Only time will tell,” said Kisses.

Said to being eyed as Kisses’ new partner are either Tony Labrusca (left, a head-turner in the Kapamilya adventure series La Luna Sangre), who presented Kisses with a bouquet of roses during her debut album launch last week, and Donny Pangilinan (far right), son of Maricel Laxa and Anthony Pangilinan who escorted Kisses during her debut early this year.

Well, time “has told” whatever, and Kisses confirmed to Funfare during a casual chat last Saturday, “Marco and I are no longer a pair. We will have our own partners soon daw but no names yet.”

Kissables (how her fans are called) can perhaps choose between two “kissable” eligibles: Tony Labrusca or Donny Pangilinan who, according to Kapamilya sources, both have the qualities of Kisses‘ “ideal guy.”

When Kisses launched her eponymous debut album (which had sold more than 15,000 copies before the launch) at SM North’s Skydome last week, Marco was not present (neither expected nor invited). It was Tony (a head-turner in the Kapamilya adventure series La Luna Sangre) who showed up and offered Kisses a bouquet of roses.

The son of Maricel Laxa and Anthony Pangilinan, Donny is “sincere, consistent, kind and good-mannered” just like her other siblings who were raised to “respect their elders.” It was Donny who escorted Kisses as she walked to the stage during her debut and they made a handsome pair. 

Okay, Kissables, take your pick.

Rico is FrontRow’s valuable asset

Right: Rico Barrera in Napoli, Italy, one of the countries he visits in his capacity as one of the top sales distributors of FrontRow, a company dealing in distribution of supplements. Left: Rico is also one of FrontRow’s early celebrity millionaires, together with Robin Kelly Ocampo (inset, top, who used to work at ABS-CBN as tour guide), both called ‘assets’ by FrontRow co-founder RS Francisco (inset, above).

Because now you see him (on both the small and big screens, that is), now you don’t, Rico Barrera has been making people wonder what he has been up to after he “graduated” from the very first edition of PBB (Pinoy Big Brother) in 2005.

“Actually,” Rico told Funfare, “I’ve been doing mostly indies,” the recent one being Balatkayo in which he plays Aiko Melendez’s lover. “I play an OFW in Singapore where I met Aiko’s character, also an OFW whose husband (Polo Ravales) is working in Dubai where he has a lover.”

The role was familiar to Rico who worked as a waiter in Japan for six months before he joined PBB. Now 32, Rico is a Business Management undergraduate (UST) who also worked as flight attendant at Air Asia and Tiger Air for two years each.

For five years now, Rico has been with FrontRow which was founded by RS Francisco and his schoolmate Sam Verzosa, a company that markets supplements including vitamins, and those for slimming, whitening and anti-aging.

“Rico was the first model for our products who appeared in the ad of our first product, Luxxe Protect,” said RS. “He’s our first celebrity millionaire, now a member of FrontRow’s Millionaires Club. He’s one of the top sales directors for the past three years, and the head of the international team in Europe, UAE and Singapore.” (According to RS, another FrontRow asset from showbiz is Robin Kelly Ocampo who used to work at ABS-CBN as tour guide.)

“Although I do projects every now and then because I really love showbiz,” said Rico, “FrontRow is my full-time job that requires me to travel abroad for speaking engagements.”

(E-mail reactions at [email protected]. For more updates, photos and videos, visit www.philstar.com/funfare or follow me on Instagram @therealrickylo.)