Rico and Roxanne: Love you, hate you!

Do they love each other or do they hate each other?

The answer is yes, they love-hate each other – with a passion!

Are they putting on a show or are they for real?

"We’ve really been ‘together’ for two to three months," said RX 93.1 Monster Radio deejay Rico Robles and a registered nurse (from the Manila Central University), the sixth evictee from Big Brother’s house. "We have something very special."

"He did court me but I didn’t give him a chance," countered Roxanne Barcelo who volunteered to leave Big Brother’s house to attend her graduation last Saturday at Miriam College where she finished Communication Arts. "Hindi ko siya pinaasa."

While "inside," the two Pinoy Big Brother Celebrity Edition housemates amused followers of the reality-TV show with their fighting, hugging, laughing and making up...and more fighting, hugging, laughing and making up...making perceptive televiewers suspect that Rico and Roxanne were deliberately doing the ho-hum routine "for a show" – you know, mga KSP (as in Kulang Sa Pansin, roughly translated "attention deficit").

Outside Big Brother’s house, the two are still "at it." Seated four seats away from each other during a press lunch at ABS-CBN, Rico and Roxanne gave conflicting versions of their ("aborted?") love affair.

No, they didn’t meet at Big Brother’s house. Last year, Roxanne had her OJT (On the Job Training) under Rico at RX 93.1. Roxanne had a boyfriend at that time, Martin Gallego (a sales rep at the Imperial Palace Suites), with whom Roxanne broke up in November last year.

"That’s when Rico started courting me," said Roxanne who learned that Rico was joining PBB only a few days before they entered Big Brother’s house last Feb. 5. "But I never made him hope because I discovered that he had a girlfriend named Michelle."

Last January, Roxanne and her family attended the RX 93.1-sponsored premiere of Narnia, a sign that Rico was being accepted by Roxanne’s family, only for Roxanne to discover that Rico attended the premiere of the same movie a few days later with Michelle. Was Rico "double-timing" Roxanne?

"So before PBB," stressed Roxanne, "I put a ‘period’ to the courtship."

But Rico persisted. What followed was the love-hate routine played out on national television.

During PBB’s "lie-detector," Martin Gallego showed up as a "surprise" guest, introduced as Roxanne’s boyfriend. Asked how long he and Roxanne had been going steady, Martin was quoted as saying, "One year na kami noong Feb. 14," giving the impression that they were still "on."

"What Martin actually said was ‘dapat one year na kami noong Feb. 14,’ but word ‘dapat’ was edited out," said Roxanne, "making me appear like not only a two-timer but a three-timer. This much I can say: I’m not a liar, I’m not plastic and I’m not a three-timer."

Asked what the status between them is, Rico said, "It will be great if we could be friends. Do I love her? I care for her, I love her and I will go on courting her if her parents would let me. She’s worth fighting for."

Roxanne’s answer?

"I don’t believe in what he’s saying. I don’t think he’s sincere."

So that’s the situation these former housemates have fouind themselves in after 40 days and 40 nights inside Big Brother’s house.

"Ironic, isn’t it?" said Roxanne. "Look, 40 days and 40 nights. Di ba the Great Flood lasted that long?"

Remember Rudy Genaskey, Tom Jones of the Philippines?

Here’s another interesting item from Funfare’s New York correspondent Edmund Silvestre, news editor of The Filipino Reporter:

Fans of ’70s music icon Rudy Genaskey will be happy to hear that the Tom Jones of the Philippines will be home for the next three months. He’ll be attending to a family business in Angeles City, Pampanga, and at the same time scout for a music label to release his CD of mostly original songs.

"I’ll be happy to perform while there, to let people know na buhay pa ako," he said, laughing, from his Las Vegas home.

The former Vicor (and later Dyna) artist gained prominence in the ’70s with his TV show It’s Me Genaskey, and a string of movies and hit songs like Goodbye My Love Goodbye, Higher and Higher, and I’ll Never Fall In Love Again, a song he translated in Tagalog and is included in his 13-track new CD.

Rudy is still as dashing as ever, according to his close pal Rolly Montemayor, also of Las Vegas. "Pinagkakaguluhan pa rin ‘yan ng mga babae at mga matrona pag kumakanta," said Rolly, a former cameraman for IBC-13 News. "Talagang Tom Jones pa rin ang dating."

Among his contemporaries are Victor Wood, Darius Razon, APO Hiking Society, Jojit Paredes, Carina Afable, Ronnie Henares, Rico Puno and Hajji Alejandro.

Rudy, who’s into real estate and performs every now and then in Filipino-American restaurants and lounges in Nevada, said he will probably sing several nights in his family-run Astro Park Drive-In Hotel in Balibago, Angeles City (tel. 045-893-7747), which has a restaurant-videoke bar; and do some TV guestings.

"I miss performing in the Philippines," said Rudy who moved to the US in 1980. "I don’t expect my fans to welcome me with open arms...but I hope they’ll give me a chance to share my music during my brief stay."

Rudy is the grandfather of model-actor Geryk Genaskey, husband of actress-singer Isabel Granada (now a mother of two).

It was in 2000 when Rudy last visited the country. But that visit gave him painful memories because his son, Allan, who managed the family’s business of surplus engines and transmission, took his own life.

But that experience gave him a chance to reassess his life and became closer to his family. In fact, he said he’ll make sure he’ll be back in Las Vegas by June to attend the high school graduation of his son, Adonis.

"Family comes first dapat," he said.

E.R. making Pagsanjan world-class tourist spot

Mayor Jeorge (E.R. Ejercito) Estregan Jr. of Pagsanjan, Laguna, is inviting everybody to the town’s Eighth Pagsanjan Bangkero Festival slated April 19 to 23 (Wednesday to Sunday), with "Ipakita sa Mundo, Basta’t Biyaheng Pinoy...Sa Pagsanjan ang Tuloy!" as this year’s theme.

Through this festival, now known in other parts of the world, Mayor Ejercito-Estregan hopes to firm up his town’s reputation as the tourist capital of Laguna.

Dedicated to the town’s patroness, Our Lady of Guadalupe, and to all the bangkeros the town is famous for (take note: shooting the rapids at the Pagsanjan Falls), the Bangkero Festival features vibrant and colorful activities such as the traditional boat race (regatta), fluvial and land parade (to be chosen is the Best River Float and Best Land Float), street dancing, trade fairs, sports events, dance contests and the search for Lakan at Binibining Pagsanjan/Fifth Ginoong Pagsanjan Bangkero.

"We have invited the Bayanihan Philippine National Dance Company," said Mayor E.R. "Also performing are the official cultural dance troupe of Pagsanjan, the Sining Katutubo Dance Assembly (SIKADA) and the XY Kids. This year’s festival promises to be bigger and better than those of the previous years."

(For inquiries about booking, call the Mayor’s Office at 049-808-4057 or 049-821-7950. Ask for Delto Michael Abarquez Jr., OIC-Tourism and municipal administrator.)

Watch out for Solace

Have you heard the song Never Easy being played on the radio these days? It sounds like a foreign release, doesn’t it?

The truth is that Never Easy is a local song done by the new group Solace.

The song has a world-class appeal – pop but not exactly pop, rock but not exactly rock. It has a different flavor. Oh, well, you have to hear it to understand what I’m trying to say.

Is Solace soundsville’s "next big thing?"

Let’s listen to what the deejays have to say:

• Louie D. of RX 93.1: The album is extremely well-done, both in terms of sound quality and layout. Each song is filled with energy poured into an old-school/new-school mix of musical styles showing."

• Jude Rocha also of RX 93.1: "It’s an effortless debut."

• Cris Hermosisima of NU 107: "The music grows on you. Once you hear the song, you’ll get hooked on it."

(E-mail reactions at [email protected])