Sen. Bong & Mayor Lani give their hearts away

Curtain-raisers:

Will the much-delayed 2020 Miss Universe pageant be held in Costa Rica? “Hopefully,” according to beauty-pageant enthusiast Louie H. who relayed the news that Gustavo Segura, Costa Rica’s Minister of Tourism, is in talks with the Miss Universe Organization (MUO). “The first meeting was attended by the private sector and members of ICT (Instituto Costarricense de Turismo or Costa Rican Tourism Institute). The ICT appreciated how the Miss U pageant has evolved into a pageant which celebrates woman empowerment and leadership as well as spreads the correct values,” reported Louie H. Pending the resolution of certain concerns, the pageant is slated end of this year when the pandemic shall have been over.

Rejoinder to the recent item about him, from John Lesaca: My dad (Reynaldo M. Lesaca Sr., bless his soul) was an intelligent and brilliant engineer. He was able to travel all over the world because of scholarship grants, and later on with my mom as a UNEP director. As a student of John Hopkins University, he was able to interview the eminent physicist Albert Einstein and they discussed his Theory of Relativity. I remember his stories and he tried to explain to me about e=mc2 but I had to stop him and remind him that I am a musician, hahaha!!! Carlos P. Romulo was the first Filipino to correspond with Einstein. My dad was the first Filipino to talk to Einstein face to face.

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Last Feb. 14, Sen. Bong Revilla and his wife, Bacoor City Mayor Lani Mercado, gave their hearts away to hundreds of people who attended Kap’s Amazing Valentine’s Giveaway which was kicked off in September last year to mark Bong’s birthday. The event has been so successful that the couple decided to hold it every month (October, November and during the Christmas season). Lani herself once again opened her heart to her “one and only” by giving Bong a bouquet of roses accompanied by a dedication that made Bong cry. May forever, as they say!

The event also served as thanksgiving for Lani who got a health scare. Last Feb. 4, Lani accompanied Bong for his regular executive check-up, only to end up herself being asked to undergo certain tests. Bong asked posthaste for prayers on his Facebook page and was greatly relieved that there was nothing serious about Lani.

Bong and Lani during the Feb. 13-14 celebration of Kap’s Amazing Valentine’s Giveaway, following the earlier event on Chinese New Year.

He related that Lani underwent an angiogram to check a “konting bara” in her valve. A medical procedure cleared it to smoothen the flow of blood in that valve. No need to do angioplasty, the doctors informed the couple. Bong underwent colonoscopy and endoscopy, and the results were negative.

“I’m back, back to work,” were Lani’s first words as soon as she got home, welcomed by their children. “God is good,” seconded Bong.

Lani is taking some medication and promises to slow down a bit, avoid stress, follow a healthy diet and exercise regularly.

The couple is joined by Benjie Paras, one of the celebrity guests during the virtual event.

During the two Kap’s Amazing events, Feb. 13 (day after the start of the Chinese Lunar Year of the Ox) and 14 (Valentine’s Day), Lani was her usual self, happily helping Bong conduct the parlor games with cash prizes and goodies at stake. Also on hand to entertain the people were the couple’s son Cavite Vice. Gov. Jolo Revilla, Benjie Paras and Jimmy Santos.

Reported Bong in his Facebook page, “As usual, our followers and supporters didn’t fail us. In response, we also didn’t fail them. We are happy that, again, we made many people happy.”

More gadgets were given away, more cash prizes won (by simply calling a number as they watched the proceedings on Facebook, https://facebook.com/bongrevillajrph). The online attendees exceeded the records of the previous events. In two days, there were more than 1.2 engagements, 105.3 shares, 774.4 comments and 349 reactions. Some P2M worth of cash and kind were given away, bringing the total (of the whole events) to P22M. Back home that Sunday (Valentine’s Day), Bong was greeted with another big surprise from Lani who prepared a dinner with other members of the family in attendance. That, too, made Bong cry.

Time to laugh

Here’s a post-Chinese Lunar Year (of the Ox) contribution from my good friend Narciso Chan:

Some interesting Chinese names:

• Born at night — Andy Lim

• Born blind — Kenneth Sy

• Born fat — Bob Uy

• Born tiny — Kathy Ting

• Born on Sunday— Lyn Go

• Born with picture — Lara Huan

• Born with sweets — Ken Dy

• Born secretly — Tina Go

• Born normal — Nat Ting Wong

• Born abnormal — Sam Ting Wong

• Born choosy — Ma. Pee Lee

• Born during merienda time — Sio May.

Disclaimer from Narciso, “Any similarity to names of people is purely coincidental. No malice intended. Gong Xi Fa Cai!!!”

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