The earliest visitor at former President Corazon Aquino's tomb last August 1, the first anniversary of her death, was James Yap. James is married to Cory's youngest daughter, Kris, who has initiated legal steps to annul their five-year marriage. They have one son.
A stolen shot of the professional basketball star's visit to Manila Memorial Park, in Parañaque City, was sent by an anonymous sender via email to talent manager-writer Noel Ferrer. Noel handles the careers of Paolo Bediones, Ryan Agoncillo, Chris Tiu, Joross Gamboa, Rainier Castillo, and Marco Alcaraz, among others.
When Ferrer forwaded the email to PEP (Philippine Entertainment Portal), he included the notes of the anonymous sender.
The star player of Derby Ace arrived at the memorial park with a few friends at around "1:30 a.m.," and "halata na umiiwas na may makakita," the sender wrote.
The park usually opens at 5:00 a.m., so 1:30 a.m. was not a good time. The sender noted, "Pero dahil nakilala siya ng guard na siya si James Yap, pinapasok na siya."
James stayed there and prayed for "20 minutes," and the bystander who saw him described his expression as "malungkot ang mukha."
Thirteen hours later, his brother-in-law, President Benigno Simeon Aquino III, and his sisters-in-law arrived at the park. To explain Kris's absence, eldest daughter Ballsy told GMA-7 news, "Si Kris, may trabaho..."
Around 6:00 p.m. that same day, Kris appeared on The Buzz and granted her good friend and former co-host Boy Abunda an exclusive interview. One of the topics raised was James Yap's statement to the media that he had made a promise to Kris's mom: "Gagawin ko ang lahat para mabuo ang aking pamilya."
As expected, the host-actress addressed this directly: "First of all, I would like to make a request kay James. Mom was so good to you. 'Wag mo nang idamay ang mom. Nakikiusap ako kasi nananahimik na ang Mom sa langit. And if you also love Mom, don't bring her into this..."
This is the latest update in the continuing saga of Kris and James, and also a gist of what to expect from The First Noel, the upcoming blog of Mr. Noel Ferrer here in PEP. For similarly hot items and stories, please email TheFirstNoel@gmail.com.