I didn’t know seasoned actress Tanya Gomez is from Tanauan City in Batangas until Zeny Marcelo-Poe—common-law-wife of the late actor Conrad Poe, half- brother of FPJ—broke the information to me.
“Alam mo bang ‘yong nagi-guest mo sa virtual forum mo sa Zoom, ‘yong naging artista ko rin noon nang ako’y make-up artist pa (Didn’t you know that the one you have been guesting in your virtual forum on Zoom, the one who was also my artist when I was still a make-up artist),” Zeny recalled one morning last week in our online chat.
“Sino (Who?)” I asked.
“’Yong si ano (That one),” she groped for the description of the name of the artist.
“Sino nga (Who must she be?),” I stressed.
“’Yong nakasuot Maria Clara sa (The one donning Maria Clara in your) social media mo,” Marcelo-Poe hinted.
“Sino do’n (Who must she be among them?),” I traced on her thoughts. “’Yong naka-Maria Clara sa pelikula tungkol sa batang si (The one in Maria Clara in the movie about the young) Dr. Jose Rizal,” I pointed out.
“Oo (Yes),” she agreed.
“A, si (Oh!) Tanya Gomez,” I followed the thread of Zeny’s thoughts.
“Taga-Tanauan City siya sa Batangas. Marudo rin. Pinsan siya ni Zanjoe Marudo (She’s from Tanauan. She’s also a Marudo),” said Marcelo-Poe.
“So, si Tanya ay pinsan din ng mga kasosyo mo sa negosyo na mga taga-Tanauan? Di ba, sa kanila ka sumakay nang makipag-birthday ka sa nanay ni Angelica Jones na si Beth Jones (Tanya is a cousin of your business partners from Tanauan, right? These people are the ones you rode with when you attended the birthday party of Beth Jones, Angelica Jones’ mom?),” I emphasized.
“Yes,” Zeny replied.