Bea Alonzo Fashion Evolution

When she was 13, Bea Alonzo visited the ABS-CBN compound in Quezon City for the first time.

- Jocelyn T. Valle

The year was 2001, and Bea was then known only by her real name Phylbert Angelli Ranollo and by her nickname Tisay, because of her strong mestiza features. She had come with her grandmother and her aunt all the way from their place in Taguig City to audition for a slot in the network’s artist agency. At that time, the agency was named the ABSCBN Talent Management and Development Center, or simply Talent Center. It now goes by the name Star Magic.

In the July 2013 issue of YES! Magazine, in which Bea’s modern Asian home was featured, the TV and movie star remembered with amusement how she looked like during that 2001 trip to the Kapamilya network. She said she was wearing a black tube top and blue jeans, with a belt that carried an image of the frog Kero-Keroppi, a Japanese cartoon character. Bea wore her hair in tiny braids and had thick baby powder on her face as makeup.

Bea also recalled that the audition dates had already passed, but she still took her chances. As fate would have it, the showbiz hopeful rode in the same elevator with Mariole Alberto, who until now, along with Johnny “Mr. M” Manahan, runs Star Magic. Mariole asked the teenaged girl if she was going to the audition. When Tisay said yes, Mariole volunteered to take the auditionee to Mr. M’s office.

Tisay’s meeting with Mr. M turned out to be the start of her acting career. She was signed up by Star Magic and was given the screen name Bea Alonzo.