Daily Star Opinions: Twinkling with Ninfa Leonardia

I got a piece of very startling news yesterday. My friend, Norma Regidor, in San Francisco, U.S.A., called up excitedly saying she had just received a text message, supposedly from me, pleading for help in my predicament. According to my supposed text message, I was at the moment in Madrid, Spain, and had just lost my wallet and all my money, and was in a very confused and distressed state.

My supposed text message went on to say that my problem got worse because the management of the hotel – in Madrid, of course – where I was allegedly staying, confiscated my passport, personal effects and other documents, and would not release them until I had paid my bills! I was so desperately and unhappy, “my message” said, so I needed dear Norma’s help. Would she send me 1,400 euros so I could settle my bills and go home? I promised to pay as soon as I got back to the Philippines.

Norma had not yet finished reading out my supposed message when I concluded that my dear friend was being subjected to a common scam foisted on travelers, or on people with relatives abroad. Sometimes the ploy is to tell the relative, parent or spouse back here that the family member got involved in a crime and needed money for bail, or is in the hospital for a very serious malady and needs funds for an operation or treatment. Many have been duped this way, but how could the perpetrator in my case have picked on Norma?

Our conclusion was that the swindler was from Bacolod City, who knows how close Norma and my family are. The perpetrator even had the nerve to use the DAILY STAR email address in his extortion message. I wish we had the time and the resources to actually trace the call, so we could see who the culprit is. Of course Norma herself immediately saw the message for what it was, a scam in the making.

Why am I relating this in detail? Because there is a strong chance that similar characters will try this on some gullible people here who may fall for it. If they read this, they will be warned, and know what to do, that is, contact immediately the supposed victim, to verify the claims. In my case, I was just amused that I was “sent” to Madrid, which is one European city I missed, because my sister refused to proceed, even if we were scheduled to go there, as she was suffering from backaches. And now I get “swindled” there.

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But I also have good news about travelers, and this time it is about family friends from Vancouver, Canada, who are in town on a rare visit. Pete Rivera (his radio name during his heyday in Bacolod in the 1980s), and his wife, Eva, nee Serafin, are in town and getting in touch with relatives and friends, especially from the media here. Just imagine, Pete, whose real family name is Jimenez, of the well-known clan here, has not come home for 17 years, and I hear the reason is his love for airplanes. Eva, and their children, especially Sarah and Jonathan, now graduates already, have been visiting now and then, but Pete is content to burn the telephone wires, his calls sometimes lasting for hours.

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Still a naughty prankster, Pete has been calling and making his friends guess before identifying himself. He narrated that one of his latest tricks is to take a taxi and interview the drivers, if they knew a former radio personality named Pete Rivera. Some bluff and say they do, but can’t describe him or his program. But he hit the jackpot once, when he asked the same question of another cab driver. This one told him that, he does remember a Pete Rivera on the airplanes, and added that it was not his real name, but “Jimenez”. And, the driver also said, that Pete Rivera moved to Canada years ago and has not come back for sometime.

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The delighted Pete said he gave the driver a very generous tip. And when the fellow ask why, he practically curtseyed and said, “I am Pete Rivera”. Oh, he is really full of tricks, this Pete. And the other day, he went to the new Government Center of Bacolod, and, not finding his old friend, Bing, the mayor, he got the floor mop being used by the janitor, and mopped the lobby himself! I’m sure he keeps his sister, Josette Cuenca, with whom he is staying, in stitches all the time.

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It was also Pete and Eva, together with Vicky Rodriguez Lopez, who gave me a good time when I visited Canada. It was Pete who dared me into walking on the then wobbly Capilano Bridge, and take the cable car to the frostiest place in the state. That’s the kind of fun guy, he is. By the way, Eva attended her high school class alumni homecoming here recently, and was promptly declared Miss Golden Jubilee. I don’t know if she allowed Pete to be the “consorte”. He might have stolen the show, you see.*