The birthday boy, Richard Gutierrez, reminisces his secret agent persona in the hit action TV series Lupin. Donning a slick suit complete with an angsty expression, the 24-year-old young drama-action hero proves why he was chosen for the tough role.

Gracing the catwalk, Richard is not just celebrating his 24^th birthday together with identical twin Raymond Gutierrez. As revealed during the special celebration, Chard is also celebrating his 7^th year anniversary in show business. The fireworks in the background salute his achievements in such a short span of time.

Birthday boy Raymond Gutierrez amiably played host in the television special given by GMA-7, dubbed as A Handsome Journey, to his twin brother. Unlike his brother, Raymond prefers  hosting jobs more than acting.

 

"Hosting lang talaga," says Raymond to PEP (Philippine Entertainment Portal) in an interview after the program. "Ang focus ko dito talaga," he firmly added. Currently, Raymond is hosting Showbiz Central and was recently chosen to host the upcoming season of Pinoy Idol.

Two bigwigs in the field of showbiz and retailing, Mother Lily Monteverde of Regal Entertainment and Ben Chan of Bench, are on hand to show their support to the twins.

 

Richard is one of Mother Lily's favorite young stars, casting him in a handful of movies already. On the endorsement side, we all know that both Richard and Raymond are Bench models.

The veteran and the young blood: Standing side-by-side, Richard Gutierrez and Richard Gomez seem to represent the past and future of show business.

 

The young Richard however contests such notion by saying that he still has a long way to go to achieve even half of Mr. Gomez's achievements.

The dynamic singing comedy duo of Ogie Alcasid and Janno Gibbs lend their presence to greet Richard and Raymond. Ogie and Janno recalled that they worked with the identical twins in the movie Feel na Feel back in 1990.

Ogie and Janno serenade the birthday celebrant with a song containing lyrics laced with personal information about Richard. The number was utterly hilarious and entertaining!

Bianca King and Rhian Ramos, two women close to Richard, perform a special number. Bianca and Richard worked together in Mulawin in 2004 while Rhian was paired with Richard in Captain Barbell's TV version in 2006.

Chynna Ortaleza—who was Richard's first onscreen love interest in the youth-oriented show Click—Bianca King, Richard Gutierrez, Isabel Oli and Rhian Ramos share a fun moment after their upbeat dance number.

Ruffa Gutierrez, dressed to the nines and with a red Channel bag to boot, greets brother Raymond and seizes the moment for their photograph together.

The gorgeous girls of Kamandag—Ehra Madrigal, Maxene Magalona and Jewel Mische—during a girl- bonding moment while waiting for their cue to go  on stage for a sexy dance number with Richard Gutierrez.

Beauteous Bianca King was spotted by PEP (Philippine Entertainment Portal) with rumored boyfriend, Champ Lui Pio of the popular rock band, Hale.

Richard huddles with Kamandag and BFGF director Mark Reyes. Mark has nothing but praises for Richard whom he describes as "very professional and a down-to-earth guy."

Richard admitted that he is very close with young actress Jewel Mische. "I think it should come from him," smiles Jewel when asked by PEP (Philippine Entertainment Portal) if she and Richard are indeed going out. Pressed for a more direct answer, "Yeah, we do," relented a blushing Jewel.

Proving that all's well between them, Raymond amiably grilled his brother and questioned him on some personal matters.

 

"Mas takot ako kay daddy," reveals Richard, "kasi si mommy laging galit, so sanay na ‘ko. Pero si daddy minsan lang magalit kaya ‘pag nagalit ibig sabihin totoo talaga."

Richard's smile faded  the moment he was strapped into the lie-detector. "Ba't ba ko pumayag na magpa-lie-detector?" asked Richard to no one in particular the moment the apparatus was brought to the stage.

Raymond, looking very delighted, took the opportunity to grill his twin brother. The test stunt was culled from John "Sweet" Lapus' Showbiz Central segment, "Don't Lie To Me."

 

Most of the questions came from elder sister Ruffa Gutierrez, prompting Raymond to tell his brother, "Richard, don't lie to Ate" after each question.

Exacting revenge, Richard this time questions Raymond, who is now the one on the hot seat.

 

During the interrogation, Raymond revealed that he is not dating anyone in particular, at least for the moment.

Asked about her birthday wish for Richard, Ehra Madrigal says: "Alam ko matagal na niyang gustong mag-direk ng film, kaka-workshop lang niya so hopefully makagawa na siya ng short film or movie soon."

 

She also revealed what a pleasure it is to work with the good-looking actor. "Even before, karamihan ng soaps ko I've been working with Chard. Sobrang okay kasi sobra siyang maalaga sa lahat. He's very focused, he's very passionate about work and okay kasi ‘yong tratuhan naming, parang barkada so kumportable na akong ka-eksena siya, hindi na yong parang mai-ilang ka."

Leading the toast for his two boys, proud dad Eddie Gutierrez first advised Richard and Raymond to love and respect their fans and the senior stars. "Kasi ako man ay senior star na rin," he quipped.

 

Eddie led the celebratory salute. "Sa lahat ng mga nandito ngayon thanks a lot for coming, for supporting my kids... thank you very much. Now I would like to propose a toast to Richard and Raymond."

It runs in the blood: The Gutierrez brothers in full force—Elvis, Raymond, Ritchie Paul and Richard—are all natural crowd drawers and the camera loves them.

The entire Gutierrez family—Annabelle Rama, Eddie Gutierrez, Ruffa, Richard, Raymond, half-brother Ramon Christopher, Ritchie Paul and Elvis—say thank you to everyone who took time out to join the celebration.

Is she the one? Despite the number of women being linked to him at the moment, Richard said that young actress and Kamandag co-star Jewel Mische is the person closest to him.

Better late than never: Young action star Mark Anthony Fernandez arrives a few minutes after the special program has ended. It doesn't matter though as the actual party goes on until early morning.