Save the date: 2 weddings in island paradise mix-up

By: Leila B. Salaverria, Marinel R. Cruz - 10 years ago

‘THEY CAN HAVE BALESIN,’ says TV personality Cesca Litton. Sen. Chiz Escudero and actress Heart Evangelista during an interview with the INQUIRER last week when the couple said their wedding datewas tentatively on Feb. 14, also Cesca’s altar date with Tyke Kalaw at Balesin Island Club in Quezon province. ARNOLD ALMACEN

MANILA, Philippines–Heart Evangelista and Chiz Escudero can have Balesin.

Television personality Cesca Litton, who said on Tuesday that her wedding plans with cager Tyke Kalaw were dashed in favor of the coming Escudero-Evangelista nuptials, posted on her Twitter account later that same day that she was off to find an “awesome” place outside of the exclusive island resort in Quezon province.

Sen. Francis Escudero on Wednesday confirmed that he and actress Heart Evangelista were set to wed on Feb. 15 next year in Balesin Island Club. Litton and Kalaw had their sights on the same weekend, in the same resort.

Actually, Litton said, she and Kalaw had made arrangements last May for nuptials, cocktails and a reception based on an assurance made twice by resort managers that the date sought, Feb. 14, was “available.”

The case caught fire in social media last week, after one Ria Gamboa chided Balesin Island Club on Facebook for bumping off a friend’s wedding “to accommodate a celebrity-politician couple.”

On Tuesday, Litton came out on television via a statement confirming that she was the “friend.” She provided details of discussions with the resort that, she said, had gone as far as “rooming,” food tasting and table layouts.

Second round of oculars

The talks started in May, she recounted, when she and Kalaw visited the island. “We went back last month with our [wedding] coordinator and stylist for a second round of oculars … and sat down with the managers to discuss logistics.”

On Saturday, Aug. 30, Litton related, she got a call from her coordinator saying that Escudero and Evangelista had spoken to the resort owner to have their event booked for the dates that included Feb. 14.

“I honestly don’t know why there are [people] dragging us into this,” Escudero told the Inquirer in a text message. “We decided our wedding date, Feb. 15, only yesterday (Tuesday) afternoon. “Whatever problem they may have with Balesin … is a matter that is solely between them.”

But with the new date (Feb. 15), the Escudero-Evangelista couple may have given way to the Litton-Kalaw couple nuptial. In an earlier interview with the Inquirer, Escudero said that Feb. 14 was a tentative date.

Roberto Ongpin, owner of the island and chair of the developer Alphaland, learned about the commotion from a daughter and a nephew, who had read the Facebook post.

He issued a statement from Europe on Wednesday, denying that another wedding was bumped off.

In his statement, posted on the Balesin website, Ongpin said he personally invited his friends Escudero and Evangelista to hold their wedding in his resort, over dinner, shortly after they returned from a trip to Paris.

This was before Escudero and Evangelista announced their formal engagement (the senator proposed on Aug. 23), Ongpin added.

When the couple confirmed the date, Ongpin said, he checked with the resort’s reservation desk and was told that Feb. 14 had not been booked. Thus, he said, he instructed the staff to block off that weekend.

Reserve entire village

On Instagram on Tuesday, Kalaw posted his own account. After what he called “a pencil booking” in May, he said, they tried to make a down payment to reserve “the entire Balesin village.”

The down payment was not accepted, Kalaw said; instead, they were told to wait for Ongpin’s approval. “They said he [had been] informed. I was furious … when I [learned why] we were disapproved. They (Evangelista and Escudero) knew Ongpin and we did not. That is what it came down to.”

Ongpin, in his statement, hinted at a possible compromise: As long as the wedding parties consisted of just a few hundred guests, more than one could be held in the resort, “even during the peak season.”

‘Stop bugging my fiancée’

On Instagram on Tuesday, Kalaw said all that he wanted was for everyone to “stop bugging my fiancée, so we can plan our amazing wedding.”

Litton said, on the same Instagram page, where she also posted a snapshot of herself and Kalaw: “I think God has better plans for [us] outside of Balesin. I don’t care where we get married. I just want you by my side for the rest of my life. I love you so much.”