The cat is out of the bag that Alfonso ?Alvin? Lim is the third party in the split between Commission on Elections Chair Andy Bautista and wife, Patricia ?Tish? Cruz-Bautista.
Lim was the long-time boyfriend of renowned chef and Cibo owner Margarita ?Gaita? Fores, cousin of former Interior Secretary Mar Roxas.
The two uncouples used to hang out together as Tish and Gaita were not only friends but business partners.
Interestingly, Tish?s mother, socialite Baby Cruz had the same experience with her friend and business partner, the late Dona Luisa ?Ising? Madrigal-Vasquez, daughter of Don Vicente Madrigal, who used to be the richest Filipino.
Baby and Ising owned and ran Innovations & Concepts Inc. , the master franchise holder for Asia of French beauty salon, Franck Provost.
Baby and her late husband, banker Jess Cruz, also hang out with Ising and her husband, real estate developer Danny Vasquez. The two jet-setting couples clicked even though the Cruzes were 20 years younger than the Vazquezes.
Danny and Jess played pool together while Ising and Baby shopped together.
In a report by the Philippine Star, Danny said:?Ising was a Blue Lady but when she had a problem with Mrs. Marcos, all her friends avoided her. She had only one friend and that was Baby. That?s why they became so close.?
In the same article, Baby said:
?Ising was saying, ?Oh my God,? she?s as young as my niece, and her niece was actually my classmate in school. At first I was afraid, you know naman before, they?re older than you. I was in my twenties.?
The foursome, however, became a threesome when Jess died in 1986. But the friendship endured and flourished.
In a report by the Philippine Daily Inquirer, Ising was aware of the nasty gossip of the closeness between Danny and Baby.
?When Baby told Ising about rumors linking her to Vazquez, Ising replied, ?Wala akong pakialam. Pabayaan mo na?,? the Inquirer reported.
Baby claimed that the dying Ising told her to take care of Danny.
Baby married Danny last year or six months after Ising died. Tish did not attend but her husband and their four sons did.
The fates of the mother and daughter mirror each other except only one had a happy, ever after ending. So far.
