Ben Madilynn
Makailang-beses nang bumisita ang K-drama star na si Lee Seung Gi sa Pilipinas dahil sa imbitasyon ng negosyanteng si Luis “Chavit” Singson.
Si Lee Seung Gi ay celebrity endorser ng Korean restaurant na BB.Q Chicken kung saan may ilang pag-aaring franchise stores ang pamilya Singson.
Kaya nagkaroon ng pagkakataon si Richelle Singson, anak ni Chavit, na personal na makilala si Lee Seung Gi.
Hindi raw masasabing K-drama fan si Richelle, pero kilala niya si Lee Seung Gi.
“Yeah, we met him, and he promotes BB.Q Chicken, I’m familiar with his movies,” saad ni Richelle sa panayam ng PEP.ph (Philippine Entertainment Portal).
Ilan sa mga K-drama series ni Lee Seung Gi ay ang My Girlfriend Is A Gumiho (2010), The King 2 Hearts (2012), A Korean Odyssey (2017–2018), Vagabond (2019), Mouse (2021) at The Law Cafe (2022).
Ano ang pakiramdam na ang dating napapanood lamang niya sa K-drama series ay nakaharap at nakausap niya?
“I was surprised because he’s very humble,” bulalas ni Richelle.
“Mga Korean, kasi napakabait nila, hindi sila arrogant, so they’re very respectful, he was like that when I met him, when we met him.”
Sa pagbubukas nila ng 12th branch ng BB.Q, chicken, tinanong namin si Richelle Singson kung bakit sila na-involve sa Korean restaurant business.
Lahad ni Richelle: “We have a lot of partnerships with Korea, so we have businesses in real estate, in aviation and defense with a lot of our Korean business partners.
“So we were introduced also to the retail sector, and that’s when BB.Q Chicken was introduced to us.
“Because BB.Q Chicken is, I think, in almost 60 countries and then 4,000 restaurants now worldwide.
“So they wanted to enter into the Philippine market, and then they also said that the chicken market here is very lucrative, so that’s why we said, ‘Okay, let’s bring BB.Q Chicken in here.”
May plano silang kumuha ng local celebrity bilang brand ambassador ng BB.Q Chicken?
“Eventually, yes. So for example, we had a campaign on introducing local chefs to mix it with our menu sa BB.Q [chicken].
“So si Chef Tatung Sarthou, who’s a local chef, nag-create siya ng parang adobo burger for BB.Q Chicken, so it was a collaboration.
“So, we’re starting to localize our menu, and then eventually, we will also have a local celebrity endorser,” wika pa ni Richelle.
Proud si Richelle sa pagsasabing matagumpay ang lahat ng kanilang franchise stores dito sa Pilipinas.
“We are targeting to build around three hundred restaurants in the next five years,” dagdag pang sinabi ni Richelle.
Nakausap siya ng PEP nitong Agosto 9, 2024, sa opening ng bago nilang BB.Q Chicken branch sa Festival Mall sa Alabang.
Pag-aari ng kapatid ni Richelle na si Carleen Singson ang naturang branch.
“Per branch gusto niya [Chavit] isa lang ang nagma-manage. This one is kay Carleen,” paliwanag ni Richelle.
Walang branch ng BB.Q Chicken si Richelle.
“I don’t have one. I’m taking care of so many things e,” paliwanag niya.
Masaya raw siya na sumuporta sa mga kapatid niya.
“We all support each other.”
Si Richelle ay kasalukuyang representative ng Ako Ilocano Ako Partylist, at muli siyang tatakbo sa susunod na eleksyon.
ON BEING CHAVIT SINGSON’S DAUGHTER
Kinumusta naman namin kay Richelle kung paano maging anak ng isang Chavit Singson.
Kuwento niya: “It’s good. With us, yung mga anak niya, he’s very good with instilling the proper values sa amin.
“Always talking about ‘family values is the most important.’
“Time and responsibility and credibility is the most important, and then, kanya-kanya kaming mga responsibilities.”
At kahit raw hindi na sila magkakasama sa iisang bahay ay may bonding moment sila palagi.
“Yeah, definitely. His house, lahat kami pupunta dun almost every day, nagkikita-kita kami lahat dun magkakapatid.”
Ano ang payo ng ama niya ang tumatak kay Richelle?
“He always says credibility is something you have to take care of because once it’s ruined, you can never take it back.
“And also, he always says that time is gold, which is true. Because time goes by so quickly, so you always have to finish right away anything that you started.”
ON MISS UNIVERSE PHILIPPINES
Naging hurado si Richelle sa Miss Universe 2018 na ginanap sa Thailand kung saan nanalo ang kinatawan ng Pilipinas na si Catriona Gray.
Ang Miss Universe 2017 na si Demi Leigh Nel-Peters ng South Africa —na asawa na ngayon ng American football player na si Tim Tebow—ang nagsalin ng korona kay Catriona.
Ang ama ni Richelle ang major sponsor ng 65th Miss Universe na ginanap sa Mall of Asia Arena, Pasay City, noong January 23, 2017.
Noong panahong iyon, may usap-usapan na plano ni Chavit na bilhin ang Miss Universe franchise.
Ang Miss Universe Philippines franchise ay nasa ilalim ng Binibining Pilipinas Charities Inc. (BPCI) sa loob ng 55 taon. Ang chair ng BPCI ay si Stella Marquez Araneta.
Hanggang sa noong December 2019, opisyal na nailipat ang Miss Universe Philippines franchise sa Miss Universe Philippines Organization.
Ang Miss Universe Philippines Organization ay pinamumunuan ni Shamcey Supsup bilang national director.
Tanong kay Richelle, hindi ba nila naisip na bilhin ang Miss Universe franchise?
Sagot ni Richelle: “There’s no point e, kasi we’re just fully supportive naman of Miss Universe and there are people in place already running it.
“Pero anytime that they need help, we’re always just there to assist them and support them, connect them to whatever sponsors that they need.
“We’re still very much involved, just not a formal responsibility, kasi mahirap din yung responsibility that they have, e.
“They have to mount so many shows, they have to make sure they sell to so many sponsors. Event production is very hard.”
