Vilma in 2016: Goodbye, politics?

Curtain-raisers:

• BREAKING NEWS: Derek Ramsay (photo) may babalikan. Anytime now, as soon as the whole thing is finalized, there will be a big announcement about Derek going back to something. In the meantime, all Funfare could give are three guesses: 1). back to an old love, 2). back to an old “home,” and 3). back to an old show. Happy guessing!

• Isabelle Daza (photo) had her farewell appearance on Eat, Bulaga! (the show that made her what she is now) last Saturday, making Ryzza Mae Dizon cry and cry. Now a Kapamilya, Isabelle texted Funfare why she’s jumping ober da bakod: “It was a very difficult decision. I have been with them for three years and I’ve made great friends. They really have become family to me and a lot of what I am today is because of them. But I guess I wanted to try something different and expand my horizons for new challenges.” Will ABS-CBN put Isabelle on Bulaga rival It’s Showtime? Ouch! That would be adding insult (salt!) to injury!

• Could it be true that the long-time hosts of a show ( I won’t say what kind) don’t see eye-to-eye? But since they are professional, they don’t show it on air, although if you are perceptive, you can spot it in their body language. Don’t they look at each other at the end of the “live” show? There’s your clue!

When Batangas Gov. Vilma Santos faced movie writers at a post-birthday lunch-presscon yesterday at Regal Ma-

triarch Mother Lily Monteverde’s events place on Valencia St., Quezon City, she was back to her old bubbly self — that is, with her acidity stabilized, other symptoms (mostly psychosomatic triggered by her prolonged grieving over the sudden death of Aida Fandialan, her accountant/ Girl Friday) gone and minus what she called “my Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer look” caused by a scratched pimple that sidelined her for weeks, insulated at home.

Hosted by Mother Lily and her daughter Roselle Monteverde, the affair also served as launch for Batangas’ annual Ala

Eh Festival (part of the province’s 433rd founding anniversary) from Dec. 1 to 8, of which Mother Lily is a staunch supporter, she being an adopted daughter of the province. The two ladies’ friendship goes a long way, extending beyond politics and showbiz. It was Mother Lily’s Regal Films that produced Relasyon, directed by Ishmael Bernal with Christopher de Leon as Vilma’s leading man, which won for Vilma Best Actress grand slam.

“We are like sisters,” said Mother Lily who put up an Imperial Resort Hotel in Taal and supports scholars in the province.

Said Vilma, “Mother Lily will always be a dear friend. I don’t have to remind her what she can do to help our province. She has been helping us without being asked to.”

In passing, Mother Lily told Funfare that although Vilma is on her last term as governor of Batangas, she should think