Actor Bea Alonzo, 37, and unarguably super wealthy businessman Vincent Co, 45, are reportedly preparing to get married in Spain.

That’s according to a report on the website PEP.ph posted by the columnists branding themselves as Troika, namely, publicist-talent manager Noel Ferrer, freelance showbiz journos Gerry Olea and Gorgy Rula.

Although the impending wedding is unconfirmed, some showbiz followers do not find the choice of Spain as fully romantic. The wags suspect the choice is dictated mainly by convenience and the existence of divorce laws in Spain.

Both Alonzo and Co have good reasons to get married in Spain. Alonzo has been declared a legal resident of that country since 2022 as a “reward” for buying a real estate property there worth P30 million in Philippine currency. On the other hand, Co’s mega-wealthy family owns 50 percent of Bodegas Williams & Humbert, a 250-hectare winery in Andalucia, Spain. 

Spain’s divorce law is of the “no-fault” variety, which allows any one of a couple to file for divorce regardless of who is at fault in making the marriage rocky. A mutual consent divorce in Spain can be concluded within four to six months. 

The romance between Alonzo and Co is considered to be whirlwind so some people think it will not last till death do them part. 

But the business website report says Co is really madly in love with Alonzo and, happily for Co, his family likes Alonzo so they allowed their son to take Alonzo along to check out the property they invested in at Andalucia. The business reporter revealed that Co’s family and close friends know that relationship between Co and Alonzo is past courtship. There was no mention of staging a marriage the soonest possible. It’s the Troika of PEP that suspects a wedding is in the offing. 

The Troika divulged that some friends of theirs informed them that a photo studio that specializes in remarkable pre-nuptial pictorial has been commissioned to fly to Spain. And the only Pinoy couple they know to be sizzling there are Co and Alonzo. 

Co, whose full name is Ferdinand Vincent Pe Co, is the president of the Puregold supermarket chain since 2015. He is also top executive of about 20 other companies owned by his family. His parents are billionaire business couple Lucio Co and Susan Pe. Vincent, an only son, has three younger sisters. There are no online reports about his having married anyone before or his being romantically linked to any person. 

Business reporters describe Co as an extremely private person. Well, he must be willing to give up some of his privacy in the name of love. And that love is named Bea Alonzo. 

Linking Alonzo and Co in a romance began only on the first week of May when the news website InsiderPh.com chanced upon Co’s posts of photos with a woman not identified as Alonzo but was deduced by sharp-eyed netizens to be the actress. The photos were shot in Spain, and the report was filed by business journo Daxim Lucas.

An online report from another website has pointed out that Alonzo has posted several photos from Spain since 21 April, starting with endorsements of her own luggage brand, BASH Manila, while in Andalucia. She also has posts in Madrid during the Mutua Madrid Open, rooting for Filipino tennis player Alex Eala; in Seville, enjoying a glass of wine across Torre del Oro and Canal de Alfonso XIII; and in Ribera Del Duero, a “gem [...] famous for its amazing wines, giving Rioja a run for its money.”

A photo posted by Co in his private Instagram had him and Alonzo holding hands while walking on a beach identified in the caption to be in Andalucia. Both have their backs facing the camera.

However, sharp-eyed netizens found Instagram pics of Alonzo shot in Andalucia had her in an outfit exactly the same as the one worn by the woman with Co in his post. Even the length of the woman’s hair matched that of Alonzo.

Alonzo and Co were recently snapped together in an airport in Thailand. She once mentioned in a social media post that she had to go to Thailand for a pictorial. She did not say she was flying there with Co. 

Well, both Co and Alonzo have yet to breathe out a word about their romance. But trust showbiz and business journos to keep track of the romance reliably. 

If they do marry, all for good, if not for the better. They can stay married for as long as they are happy together. We all want happy people in showbiz so we can transcend all the sorrows of death, break-ups, betrayals, and the torture of watching silly movies and TV series that pretend to be serious and sensible, or even noble. 

If they do marry, let’s hope Alonzo will still want to have children, or at least one. Aside from the experience of being a wife of a man reputed to be far wealthier than she is, she may also want to experience child-bearing and being a mother. They are noble undertakings for women.