Who was the 'white lady' with Gabby on a US plane?

NEW YORK — Before the blind-item brigade beats me to it, I better tell the whole story, the truth and nothing but, about the “white lady” who was with Gabby Concepcion on a five-hour Continental Airlines flight from San Francisco to Houston, Texas last month. The two were photographed together during the flight and upon their arrival at the Sanfo airport, Filipinos who saw them must have concluded that Gabby was traveling with a non-showbiz girlfriend.

The whole thing is true, except that the girl with Gabby, whom I want to call a “white lady” because of her fair and flawless complexion, is not, repeat NOT, his girlfriend; neither is she Gabby’s friend who is a girl. They just happened to be seated beside each other during the flight and that was all there was to it.

I know who the “white lady” is. She’s Carleen Angelica Yap, who reigns as Miss Bohol International (she’s the fourth) from 2009 to 2010, chosen last year during the TBTK (Tigum Bol-anon sa Tibuok Kalibutan) celebration held every three years that attracts Boholanos from all over the world to come home. Into her mid-20s, Carleen is a registered nurse who graduated from the Holy Name University in Tagbilaran City (she was Miss HNU in 2006).

My friend Raoul Tidalgo (a Boholano with family members in Cebu and Butuan City, aside from those in Texas and Vancouver) and I had a reunion with Carleen when Betty Veloso-Garcia (a Boholana nurse residing in New Jersey and working at a hospital in The City That Never Sleeps, and TBTK president in 2006 and 2009) invited us for dinner and a stroll around Times Square during my recent trip to the Big Apple to interview the stars of RED (Bruce Willis and Morgan Freeman among them).

Betty was Carleen’s host during the New York part of her US visit which is among her prizes for winning Miss Bohol Int’l. Carleen is a charming “white lady,” unlike a previous title-holder who gave the TBTK organizers a big headache when she falsely claimed that she didn’t get her prizes.

“The truth,” said Betty, “is that she (the past winner) won P50,000 cash and other prizes but she forfeited the US trip because she dilly-dallied in getting a visa and her PAL ticket had expired. I even provided her the gown that she wore on the night she relinquished her crown and that was the same night she made her false claims.” Friends told Betty that she should have dethroned her that night and taken back the gown but Betty (Miss Bohol Provincial Hospital in 1991) was too nice and too well-mannered to do that.

Other “graduates” of the TBTK beauty contest include 2007 Bb. Pilipinas-World Anna Marie Igpit, 2009 Bb. Pilipinas first runner-up Rich Asuncion (real name: Richie Angalot) and Cathy Semperas (“wild card” in last year’s edition of Pinoy Big Brother won by Melason “Melai” Cantiveros).

Over a quick dinner at the coffee shop of Radisson Hotel in Manhattan, Carleen confirmed that she was the “white lady” with Gabby whom Carleen described as “a gentleman” who was surprised to learn that somebody as young as Carleen (not yet born when Gabby joined showbiz three decades ago), young enough to be his daughter, would know him.

“I told Sir Gabby that my mother is a big fan of his,” recalled Carleen, “and I got to know him through the DVDs of his movies that I would watch with my mom. “

Carleen learned that Gabby was going to Greenville, South Carolina, for a show, traveling with his musical director.

“He was practising his songs during the flight. He showed me pictures of his wife and kids, and gave me a keychain for my celfone. When we landed at the Sanfo airport, Sir Gabby and his musical director even bought a Starbucks mug for me. He was very nice. He even agreed to have his picture taken with me. Ang bait-bait niya!”

Besides Betty (and her husband Baby Garcia), while in this city Raoul also got in touch with old friends like visual artist Tito Estrada (who staged Masskara last Sept. 20, his second one-man show in NYC, held at the Philippine Center), Red and Alice Martinez (concert producers), Funfare’s Big Apple Correspondent Edmund Silvestre (of The Filipino Reporter), Ching Legarda (another concert producer, aunt of celebrity-lawyer Katrina Legarda), fashion-designer Bobby Yalong (now also an artist-writer) and, of course, the iconic Pilita Corrales impersonator Boots Babushka who is the star year after year of the Gay Pride Parade along Fifth Avenue (last held on June 27) which he rules with his daring (read: very revealing) outfit.

I love dropping by Boots’ Manhattan pad. I would walk into it looking lackluster and walk out of it “lots-luster” after Boots would give my bad hair a magical makeover, with “highlights” here and there to hide, ehem, premature white hair. No, Boots hasn’t turned his back on showbiz, his first love. He’s often invited to perform in affairs organized by Filipinos, spicing up his repertoire with his classic Pilita Corrales act complete with Pilita’s famous “bending backward” style when she hits a high note. (By the way, through Funfare, Boots is saying “Hi!” to friends back in Manila, particularly Letty Jimenez-Magsanoc of Inquirer whose late sister Inday “Ate Luds” Badiday was one of Boots’ BFFs; and to his Facebook friends Larry Leviste and Raul Ibañez.)

Raoul and I capped our brief Big Apple stay by watching A Little Night Music on Broadway, with the legendary Bernadette Peters playing the female lead Desiree Armfeldt, the same role that won for Catherine Zeta-Jones a Best Supporting Actress Tony. (Thank you, Jose Mari Chan, for the tickets!) Back home, I took time out to watch the Manila version of the Stephen Sondheim musical (inspired by the Ingmar Bergman film titled Smiles of a Summer Night), directed by Bobby Garcia with Dawn Zulueta as Desiree Armfeldt.

I regretted not having watched Catherine so I have no way of comparing how she played the role. I think Peters plays it in a more lusty and flirtatious style than did Dawn who was more tame and more wholesome. (By this time, Dawn should be in Singapore for the staging there of the same musical, getting a resounding applause the way she and the whole cast got during their month-long stint.)

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