Regine Velasquez was wedding singer and Ogie Alcasid reception host at Michelle van Eimeren nuptials
Even from overseas, Ogie and Regine took care of details of Kaya Natin ‘To, the December 5 concert fundraiser for typhoon Ondoy victimsStartalk spoke to couples Ogie Alcasid and Regine Velasquez at the airport last Wednesday, November 25. They had just returned from Australia, where they attended the wedding of Ogie’s ex-wife Michelle van Eimeren to Mark Murrow on November 21.

According to Regine, “It was beautiful. It was beautiful. Everybody was, all of us were very happy for the newlyweds.”

The two refused to give details about the wedding.

“Maybe it would be better not to talk since it’s over… besides that we don’t really know where the exact location is, I’m not from there,” Regine said. “The important thing is we witnessed such a beautiful wedding, the union of two people who really, really love each other. It was really good, it was wonderful.”

But he confirmed that he was the wedding singer and Ogie hosted the reception.

Ogie jokingly said, “Of course, as a host, there were only a few Filipinos there. My siblings. Of course, I was also a little challenged with my English.”

DAUGHTERS’ MAJOR ROLE IN WEDDING. Regarding his ex-wife, “I’ve never seen her this happy, fulfilled and you can’t describe the feelings.”

Their daughters Leila and Sarah gave their mommy away.

“I’m very proud of my daughters. I’m very, very proud of them,” said Ogie. “Of course, you want your children to be secure in their mother’s future husband. And Mark is a truly exceptional and great man.”

According to Regine, Ogie and Mark are close to each other.

“Whenever we’re there, Mark and Ogie are very, very close. As a matter of fact, Michelle and I joke that maybe they’re having an affair. But, no, they’re really that close.

“So for the kids, they know that they have two dads. For me, that’s how I feel. Although, when Ogie is there, Mark lets him be a dad. ‘Then you’ll see, he really takes care of them. He takes care of Michelle so, right, he’s such a great man.”

Regine has known about Michelle’s wedding plans for a long time.

“Even before the wedding, we’ve been talking about it. He showed me what he wanted. So, we talked and whenever we go there, that’s what we do, we talk a lot.

“Except for this visit, she’s a little bit busy, so I tried to help whenever I can. Washing dishes or trying to help her out with her makeup. Because, you know, she’s really alone. There’s no wedding coordinator, it’s just her and a few friends. Very, very close friends. They really worked hard on the wedding.”

UNUSUAL FOURSOME. Regine understands why others think her and Ogie’s closeness with Michelle and Mark is “weird.”

“We’re not expecting everybody to understand. But right now, for us, the most important thing is that we’re not doing this for anybody else. We’re not promoting a movie. We’re not recording an album, the four of us.

“We’re doing this really for their kids, for Leila and Sarah, to give them a semblance of normal life. As we all know, when this happens to a family, the children always suffer.”

While in Australia, Ogie and Regine are still organizing their benefit concert on December 5 for the victims of typhoon Ondoy.

According to Regine, “Ogie arranged everything from overseas. Even a month ago. You know, Ogie did this, he wrote the song, to encourage people. To give hope to people. We didn’t do it to be famous. It wasn’t like that. And he’s the only one who was able to do that.

“And you know what? All the artists who said yes to Kaya Natin ‘To, first, they did it because they wanted to help and they wanted to, that is, to tell people that there’s hope. Kaya natin ‘to.

“Second, it was because Ogie asked them. I guess that’s how they respect Ogie.”