'Galit-bati'

Author: Mario E. Bautista
Column: Freehand

AMONG those who kissed and made up during the wake of the late Douglas Quijano were Ruffa Gutierrez and mom Annabelle Rama, "14 Going Steady" batchmates Gretchen Barretto and Nadia Montenegro, and former lovers Pops Fernandez and Jomari Yllana. But there were also parties who continued to avoid each other: Kris Aquino and ex-lover Joey Marquez, Richard Gutierrez and Yes editor Joanne Maglipon who have a libel case in court between them.

We admire Pops for having a very positive attitude even if it's common knowledge that it's Jom who just suddenly broke up with her. Asked if she'd be willing to work with him, like his ex-wife Aiko Melendez who's working with him now in a movie, she said: "I'd love it. In this business, nothing is impossible naman, di ba? Jom sings at, malay mo, baka maging concert artist siya and we can even do a show together. You'll never know. "

LOLIT AGAINST KATRINA'S ACTIONS

Lolit Solis says she felt bad when Katrina Halili filed cases with the DoH and PRC to revoke the license of Dr. Vicki Belo due to medical malpractice. "Nakalimutan yata ni Katrina na siya ang unang nagkaatraso at may kasalanan kay Vicki dahil inahas niya ang boyfriend nito," she says. "I told her na ang dapat managot, si Hayden Kho, dahil kinunan nito ng video ang pagchuchugihan nila nang hindi niya alam. Just like her, biktima rin si Vicki. Kahit nga may atraso siya rito, kinuha pa rin siyang endorser ng Flawless. Tapos, ayan, gusto pa niyang matanggalan ng lisensiya. Sabi niya sa'kin, yun daw kasi ang gusto ng lawyer niya. Bakit? Wala ba siyang sariling pag-iisip?"

Katrina and Hayden faced each other again at the DOJ hearing last Friday. Dr. Belo came later with celebrity lawyer Adel Tamano, but Eric Chua, Bistek Rosario and Princess Velasco (who're all included in the case) were no shows and just sent their lawyers. Both Katrina and Hayden presented their affidavit and counter affidavit. Next hearings will be held on June 25, June 30, July 7 and 14. We believe that eventually, all parties involved would realize how time-consuming and tedious attending these cases could be and they would come to reach an amicable settlement. As Lolit says: "Sa totoo lang, malaking abala ang dumalo sa mga hearing lalo't busy kang tao, 'no?"

Dr. Belo is wondering why she's included in the watchlist of people prevented from traveling abroad when she says she'll never escape to anywhere just because of this case. "Gusto ko talagang i-pursue ang case to prove that I'm innocent," she says. "Kung tatakas ako, di hindi na lang sana ako bumalik from my two-week stay sa Europe. "

Dr. Belo has issued a formal statement about the accusation of Katrina that Hayden Kho is not well trained enough when he performed liposuction on her: "Dr. Hayden Kho is a graduate of the University of Sto. Tomas College of Medicine and Surgery and has performed over 300 liposuction procedures at the time he did Katrina Halili. As evidenced by numerous posters, billboards, TV appearances, and video and photographic materials, the results of Katrina's liposuction were more than satisfactory. There were no reports of any complaints from any parties after the procedure was completed. Based on every possible criteria, the liposuction performed on her may not be termed as anything but a complete success. "

Even the Philippine Medical Association issued their own statement about this: "At present, there is no formal residency or training program for liposuction procedure recognized by the PMA. Under the eight divisions of the PMA, there is no recognized specialist in doing liposuction. At most, affiliation is the only recognition given by the PMA, but it does not constitute as a specialty. There is no internal regulation under the PMA on who are recognized to practice liposuction in the Philippines. "

We ourselves believe that Katrina was ill advised when she filed this case against Dr. Belo, who performed so many other enhancement procedures on her to make her lovelier and sexier. As Lolit Solis says: "Lumalabas lang lalo na wala talaga siyang utang na loob. Dapat, yung sex video lang ang tutukan niya, pinasok pa niya pati ang pagpapa-lipo niya na nakinabang naman siya. Ano yun?"

PIOLO THE REAL GABRIEL?

LAST Saturday, viewers of ABS-CBN's "Nasaan Ka Maruja?" were surprised with the sudden appearance of Piolo Pascual at the end of the episode. Does it mean that Kristine Hermosa as Cristy/Maruja made a mistake in thinking that Derek Ramsey is the man from her past that she always sees in her dreams, Gabriel?

Is Piolo the real Gabriel?

These questions will be answered in the show's next episodes. It was also shown that Maruja is about to be wed in church but Piolo comes along and they run away, then someone shoots them both. If Piolo is Gabriel, then does that mean that he also died? "There will be some big twists in the remaining six episodes of the show," says ABS exec Nini Matilac. "From the start, Piolo was really our dream choice for this role, but he's leaving for Paris, so we thought he might be busy. But when he returned, we talked to him at nagkaroon siya ng free time so he's been taping for us in Batangas for two weeks now. "

Why did Piolo accept the role when he's more of a special guest star? "Sabay ito at yung offer to also guest in 'May Bukas Pa'," he says. "I chose 'Maruja' kasi marami nang ibang nag-guest sa 'May Bukas Pa' at baka maging guest na lang ako in a primetime soap, eh sa August pa ang start ng 'Lovers in Paris' namin ni KC Concepcion. Also, I want to work with Kristine again kasi the last time I worked with her was 10 years ago in 'Sa Sandaling Kailangan Mo Ako', where I played contravida na inaagaw siya kay Marvin Agustin. "

It's the show that made the public took notice of him and it's a steady climb to stardom from there on. "I'm also doing a movie with Kristine so it's nice to work with her again. She's in my top three sa most beautiful faces in local showbiz. " Who are the other two? "Sa akin na lang yun at baka magkaselosan pa if I'd say their names. But si Kristine, kahit saang angle mo kunan, maganda talaga. Most of my scenes in 'Maruja' are with her and Derek, puro flashbacks. I also sang the show's theme song, 'I'll Be Seeing You', at dahil doon, bibigyan daw ako ng own album ko of old standards for easy listening. "

Piolo is also busy with the coming release of the movie he produced that was shown at the Cannes Filmfest, "Maynila", a twinbill combining Bernal's "Manila By Night" and Brocka's "Jaguar", directed by Raya Martin and Adolf Alix. The first episode stars him with Rosanna Roces and Angelica Panganiban. The second stars him with Iza Calzado, Jay Manalo, Alex de Rossi, Baron Geisler, Katherine Luna and Anita Linda. This will be released nationwide on July 29. He's now also co-producing "Kimmy Dora (Kambal sa Kiyeme)", the launching flick of Eugene Domingo, with Dingdong Dantes as leading man, directed by Joyce Bernal. How was his experience in Cannes? "It's something I will never forget. We shared the red carpet with international stars at ang feeling ko, ako si Brad Pitt. Ang sarap ng feeling na makasama ka sa ganun. It's more than what I prayed for. "

RICHARD NO SHOW AT GMA'S 59TH ANNIVERSARY

THOSE who watched GMA7's 59th anniversary show at the Araneta Coliseum last Friday night, "One Glamorous Night: Greater and Grateful at 59", are wondering why Richard Gutierrez, the star of it's highest rating primetime show now, "Zorro," was a no-show, unlike Dingdong Dantes who had a big part with girlfriend Marian Rivera.

"Wala namang ginagawang show sina Dingdong at Marian ngayon kaya they have all the time to rehearse for the produc-tion numbers," someone tells us. "Si Richard, nagte-taping araw-araw ng 'Zorro' on location either sa Batangas o sa Bulacan kaya he has no time to rehearse. Kung minsan, what they tape today, it's aired agad in the same night. Also, Friday is the last night of the wake of the late Douglas Quijano, who's Richard's manager when it comes to his endorsements, so Richard chose to attend his wake na lang after his taping. "

Richard admits there's pressure on him and his "Zorro" co-stars and crew to make the show even more exciting than ever now that it tops the ratings every night. "Siempre, ayaw naming bumitiw ang viewers sa panonood ng show kaya naman we're doing our best to make each episode worth-watching," he says.

This week starts with Ramon's (TJ Trinidad) demolition of the houses of the Indios as their land will be used for an irrigation project, but the caballeros come along to rescue the indios and they fight with Ramon's guardia civils. Zorro also appears to show he's one with the caballeros in their fight against the oppressive Spaniards.

At the mansion of Donya Chiquita (Jaclyn Jose), she continues to make life difficult for Lolita (Rhian Ramos) and her mom Catalina (Pinky Marquez) who work for her as househelps. Lolita sees an album of photos revealing the truth about her dark past and they are able to escape because of this, but Chiquita asks Ramon to kill them as they might reveal her secret. Lolita meets Antonio (Richard) secretly and they kiss. She tells him she wants to tell her parents about their love for each other and he's elated by this. But a new complication arises when pirates led by Lima Wong attack the town to confront Shi Hong for stealing a map to a buried treasure from them. They take Shi Hong and Lolita hostage in their black ship. Zorro comes to Lolita's rescue.

JACKIE DENIES PUNISHMENT

WE told Jackie Rice she's one of the winners in Starstruck who is truly deserving and we're happy to see her active again in "Kung Aagawin Mo ang Lahat sa Akin," which starts airing this afternoon replacing "Dapat Ka Bang Mahalin", after she was punished by GMA7 for misbehaving. "That's not true, I was not punished," she says. "I was also in "Dyesebel" and "Babaeng Hinugot sa Aking Tadyang. " Hindi lang ako nabibigyan ng tamang project. "

Movie writers around us snickered when she said this. How can she deny that she was reprimanded when it was officially reported that she was suspended then, along with her contemporary, Iwa Moto? Iwa does not deny this at all. At any rate, Jackie is back and she seems ready now that she's 19 to go sexy this time as she even did a sexy pictorial as cover girl for the next issue of Maxim's which belongs to the ABS groups of publications. The role she plays in "Kung Aagawin" as the sister of Maxene Magalona was not in the original. "Idinagdag lang ang character ko para mas kumapal ang story ng conflict between Maxene and Glaiza de Castro na siyang umaaapi sa amin. "

TASADAY STORY: REAL OR FAKE?

IN tonight's 'I Witness", Kara David shows what happened to the Tasaday tribe, cave-dwelling people discovered in a remote rainforest in Cotabato in 1971 who live in the Paleolithic lifestyle using crude tools of stone and wood while hunting animals. This was hailed by the international media as one of the greatest anthropologic discoveries that time, declaring the 26 members of the tribe as living proofs that prehistoric life is still in existence in the Philippines back then. But news reports came out later that the Tasaday story was just a hoax created to boost the growing worldwide popularity of the Marcos regime. Since then, no news was ever heard about the Tasadays again... until now. Kara David becomes the first Filipino journalist to ever set foot on the Tasaday enclave 30 years after its much publicized discovery. Kara climbs mountains and crosses several rivers in Mindanao to reach the Tasaday's current dwelling, the town of Tosofu in Lake Sebu in South Cotabato. Kara meets Lobo, the 12-year old Tasaday poster boy who now acts as the tribe's chieftain. Lobo relates how their life was after they were labeled as a hoax by the foreign media. Kara also meets Dul, one of the oldest members of the tribe. He leads Kara and her I-Witness crew to the infamous caves where they were discovered and put them to international prominence during the '70s. Find out if the Tasaday story is real or fake tonight at "I-Witness" after "Saksi".

Source: People's Journal