ABS-CBN hands-off on the Bea-GeraldJulia brouhaha
All cards on the table and, like in the Kurosawa classic movie Rashomon, there are three sides to an issue, three arguments in the name of Truth.
Meanwhile, as netizens of all colors and opinions (some wellmeaning and some un-calledfor), have kept the social media burning, ABS-CBN/ Star Magic has remained mum on the brouhaha which is just as well so that it won’t be accused of taking sides even if some of its stars have declared where they stand.
To rehash, Bea fired the first “bullet” when she posted a cryptic message with no names insinuating that she was “cheated” on not just once but twice. Of course, everybody (correctly!) guessed that Bea was referring to boyfriend Gerard Anderson and his leading lady Julia Barretto in the shot-in-Japan movie Between Maybes.
In an interview by Ganiel Krishnan aired on TV Patrol the other day, Gerald cleared Julia’s name by saying that “no one else was the reason” even as he admitted that, yes, he had talked to Julia’s dad Dennis Padilla and, separately, Julia’s mom Marjorie Barretto. “She has a very beautiful family and nice family,” Gerald was quoted as saying. “One thing for sure is they’re very strong and united. It’s just unfortunate na nadamay and this happened, At least, they’re all together.”
Then, he confessed that he and Bea, with whom he went steady for three years, had been having “fight after fight after fight,” and, four weeks ago, “one big fight” in which they let out “all emotions and feelings.” According to Gerald, the relationship has become toxic, that it wasn’t healthy anymore and they were just hurting each other and, “you have to stay strong and disciplined para umiwas muna
sac om mu ni cation…um a bot sa point na ayawan na talaga.” No third party involved in the break-up, Gerald stressed.
According to Julia, neither was there any “third party” in her breakup with Joshua Garcia who has been stingy with his comments, only saying, as quoted in an ABS-CBN News report, “Syempre, naging karelasyon ko
rin si Julia. Nasasaktan ako for her, sa nangyayari. Pero, I think, makakabangon naman siya.”
Julia has broken her silence with a long monologue on her Instagram in which she addressed Bea: You can
play victim all you want, buy I refuse to be your victim.
For the benefit of those who are not social-media savvy, we are quoting Julia’s Instagram post verbatim: These past weeks, my faith, my patience and my strength were put to the test.
I have endured many harsh words hurled against me and my family everywhere on social media. It is exhausting and painful. While some might have forgotten, I am also human. I was attacked for two issues: 1. I cheated on my boyfriend. I was the cause of another relation2. ship’s breakup.
Let’s be clear: Josh and I had broken up four months ago. We have publicly admitted it together and we have cleared that there was no third party involved.
From now on, anything I do in my private and love life is not considered as cheating, and is none of anyone’s business.
Secondly, I believe Gerald has already made it clear that a third party was not the cause of the breakup.
I would like to dissociate myself from the breakup of Bea and Gerald. Their issues are entirely their own. However, since I was brought into this mess without a choice, this is what I have to say.
Your heartbreak should have been as private matter, but you have selfishly turned it into something of national concern.
Bea, you wanted to keep your hands clean by not mentioning me in your controversial post, but with a click of your finger, in your sly way, you have charged everybody to destroy me FOR YOU.
You have encouraged a culture of hate by purposely liking harmless photos, putting malice into the minds of many, which resulted in the outrage of insults against me.
You are a woman of great influence and following. You could have used that power to promote strength and grace in women, but instead, you’ve used that to promote social media irresponsibility. That is downright bullying.
You can play victim all you want, but I refuse to be your victim.
This post is not enough to sum up everything I went through. I took the time to step back and take a look at the situation that I am in. It is so hard to be human in this industry but I still have every intention to stay in this business that I love so much.
For the longest time, I’ve always dealt with everything in silence, but this time, I am forced to grow up.
I will not be sidetracked, derailed and be dictated by people’s judgments and opinions about me.
This is me setting myself free and getting my soul back.
Phl choirs, composer win in international competitions
The Chorus of Arts and Letters (or Artlets) conductor Mark Agpasa of the University of Santo Tomas (UST) clinched the Gold Prize in the Composition Competition at the 14th Busan Choral Festival and Competition (BCFC) in South Korea, besting 55 other composers from 29 countries.
Agpasa’s winning composition, Jubilate
Deo, a chorale work with a Southeast Asian music feeling with complex rhythmic patterns written for eight voices, will premiere at the 2019 BCFC, Oct. 16-19. He pocketed US $1,000 cash prize and an all-expense paid trip to Busan during the festival.
The UST Singers were also proclaimed Choir of the World Champion of Champions in an online voting contest, defeating 32 other choirs worldwide who were grand prize winners from 1987 to 2018.
Under the baton of conductor and Conservatory of Music alumnus Fidel Calalang, their winning pieces were Her Sacred Spirit Roars by American composer Eric Whitacre, and
Gabaqan, an ethnic-inspired contemporary number by Filipino composer Ruben Federizon.
The Choir of the World contest was launched by the LLangollen International Musical Eistedfodd, an annual music festival founded in 1947 which hosts one of the world’s oldest international choral competitions held in the village of Llangollen in North Wales, United Kingdom.
Another chorale group, the Cordillera Regional Science High School Glee Club (CRSHSGC) with Jayson Manuel Osong as the conductor, bagged gold medal in the Teenagers Category (Level 1) and another gold medal in the Championship Qualifier (Level 4) in the 8th Bali International Choir Festival held in Indonesia July 23-27.
Wearing the traditional ensembles of the Cordillerans, the chorale group acquired 81.65 points in the Folkloric Championship round which enabled them to clinch an additional gold medal from the competition. CRSHSGC from La Trinidad, Benguet is the first-ever high school from the Cordillera region that represented our country in an international choral tilt.
The festival was participated in by 99 choral groups from 15 countries, namely, the USA, Singapore, Italy, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam, South Korea, Spain, China, Slovenia, Thailand, India, Sri Lanka, and South Korea. The competitions were adjudged by 16 internationally acclaimed choral experts. — Reported by Celso de Guzman Caparas (E-mail reactions at rickylophilstar@gmail.com.)