LIMELIGHT GRABBERS
Here’s a list of movie-TV stars who have managed to rival the 90 legislators-franchise voters in exposure these days, positive or negative
Agot got more flak for her gentle pleading than plaudits from the vigilant netizens of this country.
You’d think only the 90 members of the House of Representatives who voted on the controversial ABS-CBN franchise renewal (which has turned out to be a non-renewal) are cast famously or infamously into the limelight these days of the almost unarguably more important matters about how the country can survive the pandemic.
But, no, showbiz idols deliberately or unintentionally get as much exposure as the House voters do, perhaps even more. And those get more are not even the legislators who were once showbiz idols.
Here’s a list of movie-TV stars who have managed to rival the 90 legislators-franchise voters in exposure these days, positive or negative.
1. Piolo Pascual and Bela
Padilla being mistaken for being pro-Duterte simply because they bothered to join filmmaker Joyce Bernal in a foray to Sagada to shoot materials for President Duterte’s State of the Nation Address (SoNA) scheduled on 27 July which Bernal is directing for the third time in a row.
Both deny being supporters of the President. Piolo was aware that Bernal was going to shoot footages for the SoNA but he joined out of a close friendship with Bernal, though without intending to be in Bernal’s shots for the SoNA.
On the other hand, Bela said she joined knowing only that she would be in a shoot for Litter of Light, a project of architect-environmentalist-civic worker Illac Diaz who is a close friend of Piolo’s. Bela shared that they were able to do the shots (but not in Sagada, which denied entry to Bernal’s team despite its being authorized by RTV Malacañang).
When Bela learned that her companions were proceeding to Sagada to take footages for the SoNA, she made haste to separate from them and went back to Manila all by her lonesome.
2. Gretchen Barretto passed off by a Twitter impostor as anti-Duterte. This is almost hilarious. Someone with the Twitter handle @realgretchenb posted a commendation
for the 11 legislators who favored franchise renewal and a denunciation of the 70 legislators who voted “yes” to non-renewal of the ABS-CBN franchise. The poseur capped his/her denunciation with the hashtag #OUSTDUTERTENOW. Someone sent the tweet to Gretchen’s Instagram and she immediately reacted to it by posting a screenshot of the tweet boldly labeled “FAKE.” The screengrab of the “fake” Twitter account used her name and her photo. The account also had a link to her real Instagram account @gretchenbarretto
on its profile page.
Barretto said on the same day that she has not made a single statement about the media company or the Congress.
She has also been open about having close ties with President Duterte, as she greeted him on his 75th birthday on 28 March.
“(Maraming salamat), sir,” she said via Instagram. “We deeply appreciate your friendship.”
Last October, the actress was accompanied by the President to the wake of her father, Miguel Barretto.
After Gretchen disowned the Twitter page, the account changed its name to “Not The Real Greta, Way Better.”
“(Unlike) the Real Greta, (I am not pro-evil,)” the account said in its profile description. “(X mark) DDSh*t”
3. Agot Isidro sizzled once more on social media not for another verbal attack on the President but for telling Jinkee Pacquiao “please have more sensitivity” when the actress caught sight of Jinkee’s Instagram posting of her and husband Manny Pacquiao’s very expensive
Hermes bikes (one for each of them). Here’s Agot’s post: “Alam namin na marami kayong pera. At kung ano ang gusto ninyong gawin sa pera na yun, wala kaming paki alam (We know you have so much money. And we don’t care how you spend your money).
“Pero marami rin ang walang trabaho at nagkukumahog humanap ng pera para may pakain sa kanilang pamilya. Puede ba, konting sensitivity man lang? #Nouveau (But there are so many jobless people who are scrounging food for their families. Can you have at least some sensitivity),” she added.
Her brief commentary merited a long shoot-back from the Pacquiaos’ showbiz manager, Arnold Vegafria. The manager highlighted how poor Pacquiao was and how hard he earned fame and fortune. He also stressed that the world boxing champ-senator has done so much more philanthropic acts than the ones publicized. Agot got more flak for her gentle pleading than plaudits from the vigilant netizens of this country.
On Twitter on 11 July, she clarified her
previous comment. “Sinabi ko naman na wala akong pakialam kung saan ginastos ang kaperahan. I’m sure marami na rin ang natulungan. Ang sa akin lang, kailangan ba namin makita yan, sa gitna nang paghihirap na dinaranas ng
nakararami? sensitivity ≠ accountability. Iba po yun. Ktnxbye (I said that I don’t care where she spends her money. I’m sure she has helped so many people. But do we need to see them (bikes) amidst the hardships being felt by many people? Sensitivity and accountability. They’re different. Okay, thanks, bye),” she tweeted.
She must have been told that it was her hashtag “nouveau” which incensed Jinkee; thus, her follow-up tweet, “Ah so sa nouveau triggered. Hindi sa insensitive. Ok, noted po. Last na ito (Oh, she was triggered by the word ‘nouveau’ and not the ‘insensitive’ word. Ok, I’ll take note. This is the last I will touch on the issue).”
More netizens loathed her controlled mirth. Showbiz, after all, is heavily starred by the nouveau riche. Most likely even the fans and the netizens are some of them.
So there. That’s partly how things have been taking a turn in Pinoy showbiz these post-aborted ABS-CBN franchise renewal days. Is it more acceptable than how politics and politicians have been messing up? More entertaining than the shows on public TV (since the more titillating ones are on digital streaming and cable channels)?