Where will Kris go from here?

It was, I must say, anti-climactic. I’m referring to Kris Aquino’s announcement last Sunday on The Buzz that she was quitting the show for reasons of, well, delicadeza.

As you know, The Buzz (co-anchored by Boy Abunda) dissects showbiz issues, intrigues and controversies. After what she has just gone through – and survived – Kris said she wouldn’t anymore fit the format of the show, she being outspoken and unbridled. What if an issue involving her breaks, will she just keep quiet? Very "un-Kris Aquino," ‘no?

Besides, added Kris, she wanted to keep peace in her life and within her family.

Good decision, isn’t it?

Kris will go on hosting the reformatted Game KNB (Next Level Na) and co-hosting Morning Girls (with Korina Sanchez), two shows that are not "intrigue-oriented."

In the wake of the not just an eye-opener but a shocker of an incident that led to her break-up with Joey Marquez amidst a national scandal and the brouhaha’s subsequent out-of-court settlement, there will be major changes in Kris’ career, including quitting the movies altogether, with Regal Films’ Mano Po 2 (entry to this December’s Metro Filmfest) as her last movie.

On or before December, Kris will finalize her new career path. She’ll make ground-breaking decisions which Funfare is not at liberty to divulge just yet.

As usual, I’m giving you three guesses:

• She’ll go into a long retreat with the Pink Sisters (whom her mom, former President Cory Aquino, seeks out all the time, especially in moments of crisis).

• She’ll go abroad for a much-needed, well-deserved break, or

• She’ll make a "surprise" announcement that she’s running (for what office?) in the 2004 elections.

So sorry but the answer is "none of the above."

Just between you and me: By December, there might be some movement in the ABS-CBN hierarchy which will be felt throughout the company, from top to bottom. A Funfare Bohol Avenue DPA confided that FMG (as Federico M. Garcia is fondly known) might retire as president and Chief Operating Officer (COO) of ABS-CBN and Charo Santos-Concio, incumbent Executive Vice President, might take over.

If that happens, Charo will have to quit as host of the long-running, multi-awarded and top-rated drama show Maalaala Mo Kaya and pass on the "chair" to Ate Kris. With her checkered life and career and intelligence, plus her being well-versed on issues around the world, Kris will fit that role as counselor Ate Charo to a T. She’ll be dishing out pieces of advice and words of wisdom not so much from the prepared script as from her own experience(s).

ABS-CBN might also give her an administrative position.

Incidentally, I’d like to correct a rumor that Kris and Joey had dinner Friday night at an "expensive restaurant." It didn’t happen, according to Joey’s manager Douglas Quijano who said that Joey was at the Parañaque City Hall at that time; while Kris was taping for a tribute to Inday Badiday aired on GMA 7 over the weekend.

A variation of that rumor, which started to spread Saturday afternoon (even casually mentioned on Startalk), said that Kris and Joey (with some companions) were spotted entering a resort in Nasugbu, Batangas, beside which Joey’s sister Via Marquez-Hoffman owns a vacation house. The rumor was based on the mere "sighting" of a convoy of four vehicles.

A Funfare DPA said that Joey and his children, but without Kris, did take a breather in Nasugbu. Joey also needs to unwind, you know.

When I got wind of that rumor at 5:30 Saturday (Oct. 4) afternoon, I called Dolor Guevarra without telling her what the call was about. Asked where she was, Dolor said she was in Binondo (since noontime) supervising in her capacity as line-producer the shooting of Mano Po 2. Present were, among other stars, Zsa Zsa Padilla and Kris Aquino. That’s when I told Dolor about the rumor that Kris and Joey (and company) were seen arriving in Nasugbu at around 2:30 that afternoon.

"She has been on the set since noontime," said Dolor. "She taped for the Inday Badiday tribute the whole night and she overslept. When she woke up, she prepared na for our shooting here."

It turned out that whoever saw that "convoy of four vehicles" entering the Nasugbu resort made conclusions, since the same vehicles were used by the un-couple during their Nasugbu breaks in happier times.

So, there. Kris and Joey are not seeing each other again – and they should not.

What Now, Alma Moreno?

And now that Kris and Joey have settled things amicably, what will happen to the alleged "concubinage case" Joey’s estranged wife Alma Moreno was reportedly filing against Joey and Kris? Was it, ehem, "co-terminus" with the Kris-Joey brouhaha on which Alma hitchhiked (along with some starlets) to her own 15 minutes of fame?

Let’s wait and see what Madame Alma’s next move will be.

Meanwhile, a lot of people have been "scolding" me for making Melanie Marquez take full credit – take a bow, again, Melanie! – for all those quotable quotes that provided the comic relief when the Kris-Joey issue was raging (you know, "Don’t judge my brother; he’s not a book!" and many more).

They reminded me that Alma has her own memorable quotations, such as:

• Asked what she has to say about sex and violence in movies, Alma quipped, "Piano nga hindi ako marunong tumugtog, violins pa kaya!"

• Alma and company at the drive-thru area of McDo, ordering sandwiches.

Counter Boy: Big Mac or what?

Alma: Big Mac for me Small Mac for Vandolph.

Counter Boy: For dine-in or for take-out?

Alma: For Vandolph.

True or not, Alma should be happy that such "witticisms" are attributed to her. It simply means one thing: Like Melanie, she’s highly quotable.

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