Gabby Concepcion back in the Philippines

Thirteen years following a self-imposed "exile" in the United States following the 1994 Manila Film Festival scandal, Gabby Concepcion is back in the Philippines to visit his family and take on showbiz once again.

Gabby Concepcion left the Philippines in 1995 after the Manila Film Fest scandal, in which he was involved in charges of deceit and estafa after he and co-star Ruffa Gutierrez were wrongly given acting awards. The issue erupted when it was later learned that the real winners were supposed to be Edu Manzano and Aiko Melendez.

"A subsequent investigation showed that several awards presenters, including Miss Mauritius Viveka Babajee and Rocky Gutierrez, conspired to switch the real envelopes containing the real winners’ names, with other envelopes prepared by [Concepcion's then manager] Lolit Solis. The fake envelopes contained the names of Concepcion and Gutierrez." Lolit Solis was apparently the mastermind of the whole Manila Film Festival scandal plot.

Concepcion arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport at 3:26 a.m. on Sunday, 03/30/08 on board a Boeing 744 airplane of the Philippine Airlines Flight from San Francisco, USA. He was reportedly accompanied by movie producer Rose Flaminiano of FLT Films and was greeted by his fans who brought along a welcome banner and flowers for him.

He mentioned that he was in the country to spend time with his dad Rolly Concepcion, who is struggling with serious illness, and to attend the birthday of KC Concepcion, his daughter with Philippine showbiz mega star Sharon Cuneta.

"Concepcion was supposed to play the lead male character in a GMA Films project [pending titles My Holiday-Off (The Love Cruise) or ITALY (I Trust And Love You)] to be shot in Europe but backed out after he allegedly did not like the script. According to GMA Films president Annette Gozon-Abrogar, Concepcion is still under contract with film company. Concepcion said in a live “The Buzz” interview on Sunday he would honor the commitment."

Concepcion is apparently also on the way to becoming a "kapamilya" with ABS-CBN. Gabby Concepcion will make his first appearance in ABS-CBN, where his daughter and ex-wife [KC Concepcion and Sharon Cuneta] are premiere talents. Reportedly, an MMK (Maalaala Mo Kaya) episode and a teleserye are already in the works.



Sources:
ABS-CBN News
GMA News
Gabby Concepcion Arrival Video from GMA News
Gabby Concepcion Picture from Yes! Magazine