HELEN GAMBOA
THIS must be a belated HAPPY BIRTHDAY greetings na pero gusto ko pa ring iparating ang taos-puso kong pagbati sa isa sa pinakamamahal kong nilalang sa mundo ng showbiz na si Tita Helen Gamboa who celebrated her nth birthday last Thursday evening sa Rizal Ballroom ng Makati Shangri-La Hotel.
Gosh! I arrived early, just a little over the real call time – 6 p.m. ang nakalagay sa invitation pero I arrived like 6:30 dahil tatakas naman ako by 8 p.m. to catch our “Mismo” program ni Papa Ahwel Paz sa DZMM.
Pagdating ko sa venue, nagkasalubong kami ni Papa Mario Dumaoal who was also on his way to the party at nu’ng papasok na kami, we bumped into our dear Tita Malou Choa-Fagar na meron lang pupuntahan sandali sa ground floor.
Nakasabay namin papasok si Pops Fernandez who was so gorgeous – napakaganda at super-sexy ni Pops today – parang dalaga lang ang katawan. Nagbubulungan kami ni Popsie pagpasok sa ballroom habang nakamasid sa ilang old pics ni Tita Helen.
“Mas kamukha ni Ninang (Ms. Helen) si Lala more than Ciara, right?” malambing na bulong ni Popsie which I also agreed. Of course, malaki rin ang hawig ni Ciara sa mom niya pero mas kamukha ni Lala ang mom niya in that particular pic.
Pagpasok namin ni Pops, we sat in our respective assigned tables – siya sa Table 22 while I was at Table 20. Maya-maya lang lumapit sa akin ni Ms. Mabel Sotto, asawa ng pinakaguwapong Sotto na si Maru, and she excitedly whispered to me that she watches our “Mismo” show every night, walang patid basta ba nasa bahay lang siya.
“Nagtatalo kami ni Maru madalas pag show niyo na. Gusto kasi niya sports pero ako naman, pagsapit ng 10 p.m. dapat sa “Mismo” na. Pinabababa ko siya kung gusto niyang manood ng sports dahil nakatutok na ako sa inyo. Pasimple rin naman siyang sumisilip sa inyo actually – hindi lang niya maamin dahil nagtatanong siya sa akin kung sino yung blind item. Ha-hahahaha!
“Ngayon, hintayin natin siya pagdating at ipagyayabang ko sa kaniya that we’re friends. Sabi ko kasi sa kaniya, gusto kitang makita in person. Ha-hahaha!” ang nakaka-flatter na sabi sa akin ng magandang si Mabel.
Then, the sisters of Tita Helen who are also our regular viewers came to my table and said hello to me – para sabihin lang nila that they all watch our program. Grabe ang kaligayahan ko that night, hindi ko akalaing these lovely ladies would watch us regularly. Kasi nga, simple lang ang program namin ni Papa Ahwel – we’re just truthful to our reporting. Ha-hahaha!
Lalo akong natawa when Ms. Eileen Macapagal, the wife of Joey de Leon, came to me and brought me to the table of her husband who was in the company of Vic Sotto, Tito Bobby Barreiro, and others. Ipinagmalaki ni Ms. Eileen na regular viewer din namin siya. Sobrang nakakatuwa. Feeling ko tuloy ako ang may birthday. Ha-hahaha!
“I watch your show every night dahil natutuwa ako sa inyo ng partner mong si Ahwel Paz who always wear different ribbons every day. Why I like your show, is because you are not biased. You speak your heart, pag me ayaw ka kahit kasamahan mo sa ABS-CBN ay pinipitik mo.
“You’re very special kay Tita Helen mo. Mahal na mahal ka niya and you’re one of the few showbiz friends niyang inimbitahan niya. Tiyak na matutuwa iyon pag nakita ka niya,” sabi ni Sen. Tito Sotto who knows very well that I love Tita Helen very much ever since pa. She’s been so kind to me and we have so much respect for each other.
Nakita ko sa party ang who’s who in and out of showbiz. Maliban sa Sotto and Gamboa family, I saw some senators there – sina Sen. Franklin Drilon and Gringo Honasan. I saw my dear Ate Beh, Ms. Divina Valencia, with very handsome son Virgil Labao.
Siyempre, nagbubulungan kami ni kafatid na Allan K na ka-tongits ko.
Tinanong ko siya kung may dala siyang baraha. Ha-hahaha! Nandoon din sina Jimmy Santos, Ruby Rordriguez at Wally Bayola na hindi ko napansin. Nakaalis na kasi ako nu’ng dumating si Wally Boy. Sabi nila nandoon din daw si Ms. Susan Roces and Sen. Grace Poe pero hindi ko nakita. Who caught my attention that night? Ms. Sharon Cuneta, the one and only Megastar. Why did she catch my attention? No offense meant to her, she was very lovely sa kaniyang gown pero aminin nating she’s really big pa rin. Alam naman nating very sensitive ang mga babae when it comes to their weight pero obvious talagang masyobis si Shawie.
Hindi nga siya ganoon ka-warm sa akin that night, siguro narinig niya kami minsan sa radio when we talked about her being heavy weight considering that she already lost 20 pounds daw. But her face is still very pretty – very charming.
Bandang 7:20 p.m. ay dumating na ang birthday celebrator with her three children – Lala, Ciara and Gian na kasama ang beautiful wife nito whose name I missed. Ang ganda ni Tita Helen – sobra! I came to her para batiin ko siya kasi nagpaplano na akong tumakas. Ang mahalaga ay malaman niyang I came to her party.
And I saw that sweet smile in her face as she said, “thank you Jobert for coming”. I felt so good.
Someone whispered to me that when I left, napakaraming naganap sa party ng mahal nating si Ms. Helen Gamboa. Ikinuwento raw niya that she had a stroke pala last year. Maraming salamat daw at nabuhay pa siya.
Na-stroke daw siya habang nasa taping, bigla na lang daw siyang nag-collapse or something. That time ay hindi raw siya nakakaalala ng names ng mga tao until she recuperated. Medyo mahina pa siyang kumilos ngayon dahil siguro nagti-therapy pa rin siya.
Hay naku, I just felt good to be part of this momentous event sa buhay ng mahal kong si Tita Helen Gamboa. Mwah!