Pasensya na, minsan lang ako magsulat sa wikang Filipino, balu-baluktot pa.  – Marocharim

“Totoong tao.”  “Matapang.”  Ilan lamang iyan sa mga bansag ngayon sa isang taong dati nating kilala bilang Rustom Padilla.  Ngunit ayon sa babae sa telebisyon, “patay” na daw si Rustom; ang dati nating kinikilalang makisig at matipunong bida ay ngayon naging bidang bading… transgender… kung anuman ang kanyang sekswalidad.  Ang pagpapakatotoo niya: hindi siya si Rustom, kundi si “Bebe Gandanghari.”

Hanga ako kay Rustom.  Di madaling bagay na maging isang bading- o transgender – sa isang lipunang kumukutya sa mga taong hindi maikakahon sa “lalake” o “babae.”  Naniniwala akong matagal na proseso at pag-iisip ang kanyang dinaanan, at hanga ako na bagamat siya’y kutyain, siya’y naninindigan sa kanyang ginawa.  Iiwan ko na lamang kay Rustom – kay Bebe – ang kanyang pansariling dahilan sa kanyang desisyon sa buhay.  Wala akong hinihingi para sa kanya kundi ang kanyang kalusugan.

Ngunit sadyang nakalulungkot isipin na ang pagpapakatotoo niya – bilang isang babae – ay siya lamang “pagpapakatotoo” ng aking pagiging isang “hipokrito.”  Kailan nga ba ako magiging “totoong tao?”  Kailang nga ba ako magiging “totoo?”  Ang katotohanan nga ba ng aking pagkatao ay nasusukat sa aking sekswalidad?

Magiging totoong tao ka nga ba kung ikaw ay umamin at lumantad sa pagiging isang bading?  Ang sekswalidad nga ba ng isang tao ang siyang tanging sukat ng pagkatao?

Continue reading →

Let’s digress from all of this politics and brouhaha about blogging and talk about showbiz.  After all, I am a showbiz blogger.

(Is that lightning I see and thunder I hear?  Oh fishsticks.)

PEP.ph, which is a fine, fine source of objective information about the entertainment industry, has news that Rustom Padilla – who starred in such films as “Gagay: Prinsesa ng Brownout,” “Mistah: Mga Mandirigma,” “Marami Ka Pang Kakaining Bigas,” and “Yamashita: The Tiger’s Treasure,” former hubby of Carmina Villaroel – is now Binibining “Bibi” Gandanghari.

Woman, model, character, human being, actress, gay… but note: anything BUT Rustom Padilla.  Forget whatever idea you have of Rustom right now – yes, down to that “Wheel of Fortune” schtick – and say hello to Bebe Gandanghari.

Yes, Bebe Gandanghari.  Not Rustom Padilla.

For all intents and purposes of translation: “Lady Beautiful King.”  Sounds anime.

Here’s what the former (?) Rustom Padilla – now Bebe Gandanghari – had to say in that fine example of entertainment broadcast journalism, “Startalk:”

I’d really appreciate if you call me Bebe.  Rustom’s not here.  Bebe’s here, she’s alive and kicking!  Bebe’s a character that people are gonna watch and I’m gonna portray… so, Bebe’s here to stay.

“Bebe…” that’s pronounced “Bi-Bi.”

OK, we all know that Rustom Padilla is gay, is out of the closet, and is happy with where and who he is.  No question there.  The problem is that there’s a bit of confusion – at least to me – whether it is proper to treat Rustom – or Bebe – as a woman or as a man.  I know that Rustom – or Bebe – should be treated as a lovable and capable human being, but it makes things all the more confusing, at least for me.

I don’t know whether this qualifies for “facepalm” or “headscratch;” I have nothing against gay people, but I’m not sure whether Bebe Gandanghari is:

• Gay.
• An actual woman.
• Actually Rustom.
• A character played by Rustom.
• Not Rustom, that Rustom is in fact “dead,” and that Bebe Gandanghari is a “transformation” of the former Rustom Padilla.
• The aliens have invaded, dismembered and discombobulated the guy who starred opposite Alice Dixon in “The Jessica Alfaro Story,” sent him to some alien genetic engineering laboratory, and sent us the secret to universal peace: Bebe Gandanghari.

This is getting quite confusing, really.

Continue reading →

You see folks, I can’t talk about politics and translate lyrics all the time.  Sometimes I just have to sit back, put the problems of this country behind me for a time, and enjoy showbiz.

At the invitation of my good friend Flowell Galindez, I got invited into a grand press conference/tribute dinner for the cast and crew of ABS-CBN’s latest teleserye, “Tayong Dalawa,” starring Jake Cuenca, Gerald Anderson, and Kim Chiu.

My mission: to take a picture of Jake Cuenca for a friend.  Gwapo nya daw kasi. I don’t know about that, since I cannot make an objective opinion about male gwapo-ness even if I tried.  Besides, I can’t take a good picture for the life of me.

I had to leave early owing to the burnination in my lungs, but I did manage to chronicle my little adventure at Treatino, Greenhills with my bad photography with a camera I don’t keep in a proper camera case.

Continue reading →

The Christmas break has been a time for me to catch up on my TV viewing habits, which has been on hold for quite a while because I don’t have a TV yet in the apartment.  It is often the case that I end up crushing on a lot of leading ladies in soap operas; there was Angelica Panganiban in “Iisa Pa Lamang,” Rhian Ramos in “Lalola,” and of course, Anne Curtis in “Dyosa.”

Courtesy of Flow, an autographed picture of Anne is now hanging on the wall of my pad.  Save for the glow-in-the-dark stars left by the previous tenant, that’s my only decoration for the place.  Not that there’s anything wrong with my choice of decor; if all I had in a castle was a poster of Anne, I would absolutely have no problem with that.

I never really paid much attention to Cristine Reyes, but that cute smile and those mesmerizing eyes are now keeping me glued to the TV screen every time “Eva Fonda” is on.  It’s not because Cristine shows off her nice legs every time she wears those denim skirts (OK, that has something to do with something), but there’s something about Eva that’s so seductive: for one, she doesn’t have the arms of her sister Ara Mina.  For two, she has the cutest smile I’ve ever seen.  For three, she’s just so damn cute for a sexy star.

My mom and my sister are rather perplexed that I’m riveted to the TV screen every time “Eva Fonda” is on.  My Christmas crushables now include Cristine Reyes.  Which begged them to ask: “Sino ba talaga, si Anne o si Cristine?” For the first time in my life, I couldn’t make my mind up about a woman.  Sheesh.

OK, I’m wearing a red shirt today, but I almost always wear some article of black clothing.  Many people have asked me why that’s so.  Believe me, it’s not a fashion statement.  Rather, it means something to me.  I’m not a big believer of semiotics, but I believe there’s something more to me wearing black.  I could write about it, but black is today’s Video of the Week.

Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Johnny Cash:

MAN IN BLACK
Johnny Cash

Well, you wonder why I always dress in black,
Why you never see bright colors on my back,
And why does my appearance seem to have a somber tone.
Well, there’s a reason for the things that I have on.

I wear the black for the poor and the beaten down,
Livin’ in the hopeless, hungry side of town,
I wear it for the prisoner who has long paid for his crime,
But is there because he’s a victim of the times.

I wear the black for those who never read,
Or listened to the words that Jesus said,
About the road to happiness through love and charity,
Why, you’d think He’s talking straight to you and me.

Well, we’re doin’ mighty fine, I do suppose,
In our streak of lightnin’ cars and fancy clothes,
But just so we’re reminded of the ones who are held back,
Up front there ought to be a Man In Black.

I wear it for the sick and lonely old,
For the reckless ones whose bad trip left them cold,
I wear the black in mournin’ for the lives that could have been,
Each week we lose a hundred fine young men.

And I wear it for the thousands who have died,
Believing that the Lord was on their side,
I wear it for another hundred thousand who have died,
Believing that we all were on their side.

Well, there’s things that never will be right I know,
And things need changin’ everywhere you go,
But ’til we start to make a move to make a few things right,
You’ll never see me wear a suit of white.

I’d love to wear a rainbow every day,
And tell the world that everything’s OK,
But I’ll try to carry off a little darkness on my back,
‘Till things are brighter, I’m the Man In Black.

I won’t make some complicated and convoluted excuse for it: I am very showbiz.  Whenever I have nothing better to do, I keep abreast of local showbiz news, or ogle at billboards.  Some people chalk it up to repression, but I’ve been following local showbiz for so long now that I think (italicized, boldfaced, and underlined) I can have a career in being a showbiz intrigero.

I was talking with a friend the other day about how difficult it is to name ten Filipino male celebrities who would make it to a top ten list of crushables.  There are three problems with this scenario:

1. I’d have to be a girl or be gay to have an opinion on that (no offense).
2. You would automatically have an opinion that a male celebrity of any nationality is very probably gay (it’s easy to name ten local celebrities who have had the gay card played against them).
3. The bulk of our local male celebrities strike me to be dockworker macho (OMFG).

That idea got me thinking into making this week’s completely subjective X-List of my local celebrity crushes.  Pictures are linked as source… and no, this has absolutely nothing to do with politics.

Continue reading →

Let us deal with a question of national interest: was ABS-CBN right in suspending Cristy Fermin for two months?

Yeah… we can’t be high-brow all the time.  This question comes from a guy:

• Whose favorite love team is Rovic-Eds in “Tabing Ilog”
• Who has an unhealthy showbiz crushing on Anne Curtis (I swear, I could look at those billboards all day)
• Who thinks that Angelica Panganiban should stick to being Scarlet and stop that “Banana Split” shtick
• Who believes that a proper mathematical representation of love teams would be Rico-Claudine > JC-Rhian > Wowie-Juday > Spongebob-Patrick > Bruce-Wendy
• Who thinks that Pauleen Luna looks WAAAY too much like Janelle Jamer (yes, the former Wowowee girl)

Yes, I am a regular showbiz fanatic.  If I had my way, I’ll stop writing about politics together and I’ll keep writing showbiz entries.  If I had my way, I’ll be the Philippine blogosphere’s equivalent to Billy Bush.

Anyway, I think this whole Cristy Fermin-Nadia Montenegro war started when Gabby Concepcion came back here.  I have nothing personal against Gabo – I still remember those “Shawee-Gabby” games back in the schoolyard – but they weren’t kidding when they talked about a “monster comeback.”  When Gabby returned, all hell broke loose.

Fast-track to this week, when ABS-CBN management slapped a hefty two-month suspension on Manay Cristy.  From what I read, it seems that Manay Cristy went just a tad too far in saying that Nadia had a baby when she was still in-the-know, had it delivered at a Pasig hospital, and then months later presented said child to the world as her adopted kid.  So bye-bye for now to Manay Cristy.

Earlier I went on a short blog-hop of countless sites where a lot of Fermin-bashing has been going on: it seems to me that Cristy Fermin has become our equivalent to the Antichrist.  I wouldn’t be surprised if people will demand the return of the garrote just for Cristy’s purposes, or have her lynched.

Although I’ll be rather surprised to see if anyone has the idea to carve out a couple of logs, put Cristy in it, feed her honey and milk, and throw her into some dank marsh somewhere in the dengue-infested cesspools of the MWSS and have her consumed from the inside-out.  Ah, yes: good old scaphism, look it up.

Hmmm… for someone who’s a self-confessed has-been, Nadia’s been appearing a whole lot on TV these days… I’m just saying.

If you asked me, it couldn’t possibly end this way.  The saga shouldn’t end this way.  It’s just so… corny, for ABS-CBN to stop the madness in such a corporate fashion.  The least I expected was a bitchslap in front of a nationwide audience.  I expected that, in their rage, these two non-entities in my perennial showbizzy thoughts would grab Jobert Sucaldito and use his hair to strangle the life out of that motherfuckin’ bitch.

I’ll leave you to make up your mind about the point of reference, but this is just a stupid way to end it.  I was expecting more along the lines of Japanese deathmatch wrestling.  Cristy Fermin and Nadia Montenegro: no ropes 200-volt double hair double barbed wire double land mine glass-crush death match.

I’ll pay to see that one.