Chasing Krista

Totoo ba ang tsismis? The rumor that spread the other Thursday was that Krista and father Mat Ranillo III were holding a press conference at Annabel’s restaurant that evening. Were they back? That was the big question in my head because as per Mat’s last text to me that time, they were still in Los Angeles. They couldn’t have slipped back into the country that quietly. Not in this country.

But being a good soldier, I just followed instructions: Interview Krista and Mat. San Miguel Corp. was hosting the event and I had to be there.

Almost as an afterthought, I was also told. By the way, we have no invitation. I would be there as a gatecrasher. The entertainment press, always so colorful, coined a term for it: Gaca.

Since it was my first time as a gatecrasher, I asked tips from the Startalk staff. Rule No. 1: I wasn’t supposed to show up at once because my presence could scare Mat and Krista away and escape through the backdoor. I was made to stay in my vehicle and wait for word when to arm myself and attack.

But my car is no luxury vehicle and has no amenities to keep me entertained, except for the AM/FM radio. I swear it doesn’t even have a stereo!

When I got bored, I got off the vehicle and hid behind a Ford van parked in front of Annabel’s. While I was able to deal with the pesky mosquitoes, I was no match to the perseverance of the panhandlers tugging at my coattails asking for their Christmas presents. They were doubling in number and before they could quadruple, I screamed for help from the Startalk staff. They said it was okay for me to get inside the restaurant.

At the garden area where the event was going to take place, my jaws dropped when I saw the name of the company that was hosting the press conference. No, it wasn’t San Miguel, but Shimmian surgical center, the direct competitor of Belo Medical Group and Flawless, which I endorse. Uh-oh. I’m dead meat.

Since I was not an official guest (I finally found a subtler term for gatecrasher), I opted to stay hidden in a corner away from the reception table. It was then that I realized that no one — not The Buzz, TV Patrol, SNN, Showbiz Central and Unang Hirit/24 Oras’ Lhar Santiago (towering among us with his magnificent height) — was invited. But we were all there and were all gatecrashers to this event. Welcome to polite society!

While some of the organizers were asking me to have dinner, I politely declined and held on to the last thread of decency I could hang on to. It was bad enough that I was a gatecrasher. But for me to have the temerity to actually sit down and eat would have been the peak of impropriety.

I waited it out with Startalk’s Gorgy Rula and Mylene de Leon, my former segment producer in Showbiz Lingo, and who is now with The Buzz. More than an hour must have passed and I distinctly heard my esophagus growling — like the big intestines were already starting to feast on the poor, defenseless smaller ones.

Fortunately, we were in the path of the waiters who were carrying platters of kropek. I snitched a piece when a server walked past me and he wasn’t looking. I was at the point of stealing more crumbs when another wait staff plopped down a small plate of kropek in front of me and it was clear that he did that out of sheer pity and charity (thank you, Annabel’s for having the kind heart to feed the hungry). 

 When it was clear that there would be no Mat and Krista, we trooped to the owners of the company, Drs. Levi John and Anna Marie Lansangan, who are husband and wife. Poor couple didn’t know what hit them. The battalion of TV crew present swooped down on them — wanting them to shed light on the Manny Pacquiao-Krista Ranillo issue. Of course, they didn’t know anything. They didn’t even know that their endorsers would be no-shows. As it turned out, the event was arranged two months ago and father and daughter both confirmed. But you know how it is in a country like this when an Ondoy can change the path of our lives in just a matter of minutes. Two months ago, the Manny-Krista issue wasn’t burning hot yet, but it’s a different story now.

I myself pitied the couple because they were so nice, but clueless about the mysteries of show business. I hope Dr. Vicki Belo and Flawless lady boss Rubby Sy wouldn’t mind my having said that about the competition. Dr. Anna Marie did acknowledge the improvements Belo and Flawless had done for me, but nevertheless was kind enough to have extended an invitation for me to try out their clinic. Thanks, Doc, but really I am a hundred percent satisfied with the services of Belo and Flawless. I am Belo and Flawless forever. And with all the effort exerted for that non-story (no Mat and Krista!), I got so stressed out, so Flawless and Belo, see you very soon.

As it turned out, father and daughter flew in and managed to dodge media early last Sunday morning. As for all the TV crew that gathered Thursday night at the press conference — all uninvited — we wanted to kick ourselves in the head for believing the rumor that Mat and Krista would be present that evening (when actually they were still in L.A.).

Lesson to be learned: Don’t believe every bit of gossip you hear. That’s why it’s called tsismis.