Page C2, lower right. Photo of me and Bo Sanchez. Coooooool. Thanks, Pam!

ONE. Comelec disqualifies gay political party. Jove Francisco, Jher, and Manuel Quezon III all weigh in on the issue.

Ganns thinks:

1) The Comelec must be blind to deny the influence of LGBT Filipinos on the nation, especially, with the sheer number of gay persons in media, government, and the rest of the sectors of society, so their grounds for disqualification are terribly inadequate. Abalos’ comments, in particular, are grossly offensive.

2) Precisely because LGBT Filipinos are influential in many sectors of society, one may ask, and a good number are, in fact, well-treated, if not revered, by society, can LGBT Filipinos be considered a marginalized group that requires party-list representation and a significant overhaul of the laws regarding certain civil liberties to which LGBT Filipinos are currently not entitled? If the logic behind granting them a party-list slot is because they are marginalized, i.e., discriminated against or at a disadvantage against the majority, shouldn’t most other sub-sectors be granted party-list opportunities?

Admittedly, gays are mistreated, but then again, all people are, in one way or the other, marginalized. Sexual orientation is just one facet of a person’s total identity, after all. For instance, there are no political parties representing me as a fat person (and believe me, we ARE marginalized, with everything from clothes to airline seats). I am just as discriminated against and laughed at as an obese Filipino as the rich gay musician next to me. Women and the differently abled and the urban poor and drug addicts have their party list representatives; why shouldn’t LBGT Filipinos and fat Filipinos?

TWO. Antonella Barba is lucky, says former Idol contestant. Frenchie Davis, a plus-sized Afro-American singer from American Idol’s second season, is hinting at racial discrimination in the case of the kid-gloved handling of season six contestant Antonella Barba, whose racy pictures online have not merited her a disqualification. Davis was disqualified after photos of her posing topless for an Internet site were discovered.

Ganns thinks: While Barba’s photographs are not risque as Davis’, the principle behind them is sound, and Barba should be disqualified. If an Idol contestant is found to have violated the policies of the Idol franchise, s/he should be disqualified. Period. Think Corey Clark, the Brittenaum (sp) twins, Frenchie Davis. When you let one slip through - like Bo Bice’s Smoking Gun expose, for instance - that could be a problem. Scott Savol and Sundance Head were up front and open about their run-ins with the law, and if the Idol franchise lets ‘em through, great. But if you pull one past Idol management, meh, boot you out. Barba’s not that great a singer anyway. Give her slot to Leslie Hunt so she can scat horrifyingly again. LOL

THREE. Academy Award-winner Jennifer Hudson has been given a day of her own!

Ganns thinks: Cathy and I just watched Dreamgirls and were blown away. Sure, many folks didn’t like it. But we did. Cathy cried several times, and I was riveted - a heckuva lot more than at, say, Phantom of the Opera, Rent, or Chicago, three other musicals-gone-silver-screen.

Hudson was luminous and popped off that stage. Beyonce was beautiful and sang - SANG! - her butt off just as greatly. A movie I’d watch again and again.

Wow, I just realized all three issues have something to do with fat. Man, I’m hungry.

The Philippine representatives to the Miss Universe, Miss World, and Miss International beauty pageants were selected the other night, and Cathy and I are absolutely thrilled that our personal bet, brilliant law student Anna Theresa ‘Tere’ Licaros bagged the Bb. Pilipinas - Universe plum.

Licaros struck us as our best bet for Miss Universe since Miriam Quiambao. She’s smart (summa cum laude in Broadcast Comm from UP Diliman!), she’s witty, and she has an exotic appeal that I think will play a big role when she competes for the Miss Universe crown this year. Apparently, Tere Licaros is a big overachiever, and we see no reason why Licaros can’t bring it on at the Miss Universe pageant! Come on, when was the last time we had a Miss Universe who was studying law? Give it up now, Mr. Trump, we present to you a true Filipina with beauty and brains.

Meanwhile, Bb. Pilipinas - World is Maggie Wilson, who, if made up and trained properly, could be the next Sharmaine Gutierrez. Bb. Pilipinas - International is equally exotic-looking Nadine Lee Cien Shami. Very Filipina-looking Liezel Verses was the first runner-up, while Chinese-hued Abigail Cruz was the second runner-up. (Bit surprised Ferniz Utatulum and Nicole Schmitz, and Tabitha Mendoza didn’t place, but whatever.)

We think we’ve got another good chance this year. Sana!

During lunch, I was about to cross Glorietta into the Landmark with two friends of mine, Tina and Red, when there seemed to be a scuffle a few hundred feet ahead of us. Four security guards appeared to be pushing this well-dressed gentleman towards the exit. He looked affluent enough, fit with a leather man-bag slung over his shoulder, and he was held at each elbow by one security guard.

We all stared as the three guards led him across the street into the Landmark, where the four disappeared into the throng of people. The consensus of the people talking around the area was that the fellow shoplifted an item, either from the Landmark or from Levi’s, which was the first boutique store to the right upon entering the Glorietta-Landmark entrance.

Based on what we saw, it seemed plausible, but we couldn’t believe it based on what the fellow was wearing and how he looked. Tsk tsk. Who says crooks have to be dingy and shifty-looking? *cough government officials cough*

I would not want Cathy to be Kris Aquino right now.

The wildly popular Philippine television personality almost went into labor yesterday, complaining of stomach pain that, according to The Buzz co-host Boy Abunda, doctors claimed was false labor brought about by stress.

Aquino was ordered to get immediate bed rest for the next few days, and virtually ordered to avoid any contact with media, resulting in her complete media blackout, including reading tabloids and watching television.

The reason for the stress? Aquino’s husband, basketball player James Yap, has been accused of having an affair with a beauty clinic facial attendant going by the name of as Hope, who appeared on the GMA-7 talk show Star Talk to reveal details of her purported affair with Yap. A full interview with Hope is scheduled to air on Saturday.

While this is none of my business, I will say three things:

• Yap has admitted to ‘mistakes,’ but what these mistakes are and the extent of the mistake are not known, so I suggest we just let James and Kris be, and instead pray they can work things out.
• Marital infidelity is a serious, serious issue - but staying by an unfaithful man shows a strength of character rare in these times. I applaud Kris’ decision to try and work it out.
• Aquino’s daily shooting schedule, while not as hectic as others’, is very taxing for a woman in her sixth month of pregnancy. She doesn’t need the extra cash; ABS-CBN and her brother Noynoy, for whom she promised to campaign, should allow her to take time off to devote herself to enjoying the last few months of pregnancy. Take a tip from Sharon Cuneta when she was pregnant, Kris, and rest. Your brother should win on his own, and Channel 2 should come up with something new. Nothing is worth losing your baby and/or your marriage.

Some people, including my wife, are not fans of Kris Aquino. Me, I love the woman. So what is in her best interests, should, in my opinion, shape her activities for the next few months.

Rest, Kris, and work on your pregnancy and marriage. What do you say? Deal, or no deal?

It’s half past 12 in the morning. I can’t believe I’m still awake. The perils of taking work home with you, I suppose.

Anyway, I glanced at Technorati’s hottest search terms and found the name ‘Tammy Nyp’ at #2. I had no idea who this woman was, so I Googled her only to find she is the latest female student to have a sex tape leak onto the Internet.

The Philippines had its fair share of ’scandals,’ starting with ‘the original’ La Salle scandal (that was retitled AMA Scandal, Benilde Scandal, and a host of other school scandals). Weeks later, every Filipino porno flick was retitled with the word ’scandal’ and distributed in pirated format or through the Internet.

Later on, when alleged sex tapes of Filipino celebrities surfaced, including supposed videos of Ethel Booba and Paolo Bediones among them, it became the rage amongst Filipino pornographers to find celebrity lookalikes and film them in sex scenes, later on released as celebrity sex scandals.

Meanwhile, the two parties involved in every sex tape have to live with a certain amount of embarrassment, especially the lady. It’s a shame, really; each girl is someone’s daughter, someone’s wife or girlfriend, someone’s loved one. It’s a terrible thing to be exposed like that. I can’t say it puzzles me why anyone would do that to someone else who, in the eyes of another person, is a prized person. But that’s the world we live in, I guess.
Whether it is a Paris Hilton sex tape, a Tammy Nyp sex tape, a Colin Farrell sex tape, an Aubrey Miles sex tape, or a Tommy and Pamela sex tape, what is glaringly obvious is that there is obviously a growing clamor for pornographic material. With the advent of the You online generation, where materials like these can be distributed freely through email, pornographic video content websites, even mobile phones, the lesson to be learned here is clear: If you don’t want your sex tape to ever get out, don’t make a sex tape.

Looking for links to any of the sex tapes mentioned in this blog post? Don’t expect them here.

I find the sticker combination below offensive in a black humor type of way. I shot this photo along the streets of Manila, when my car ended up behind a white jeep-type van with these two stickers. The first, a black sticker, reads, “Police.” [I didn't notice if the van had a red license plate, which would indicate it belonged to the government.]

The second sticker - this one gets me - reads PRO-Girls, a take on the popular PRO-Guns stickers of the mid-90s(Peaceful, Responsible Owners of Guns). This one, of course, read, “Peaceful, Responsible Owners of Girls.”

Oprah would have a fit.

I confess I have not seen the grainy Saddam Hussein execution video via mobile phone. I do not intend to. I do, however, join the Vatican, the Italian government, the British government - even the Cuban government, whose statement obviously reflects their solidly anti-American stance - in deploring the widespread dissemination of Saddam’s execution video.

This isn’t a commentary against the death penalty, nor is it a commentary against the governments of America or Iraq. It’s a commentary, if you will, on the desensitivitization of the general populace, whose blood lust and/or curiosity has fueled the rapid spread of a barbaric act caught on video.

Update: Apparently, several boys have committed suicide, unintentionally for the most part, in copycat Saddam hangings. What did I tell you? Footage like that shouldn’t be shown!

Read more

I can’t find information on this online, so just to help promote good efforts to do something about the situation of stand-up comedy in this country, which relies heavily on drag queens, toilet humor, and gender-offensive jokes, I encourage all Filipino stand-up comedians to try out for the Ultimate Stand-up Comedy Challenge!

Complete information after the jump. Read more

Yesterday, Cathy and I took time off from all the Christmas revelry to watch Carlo Vergara’s Zsa Zsa Zaturnnah Ze Moveeh at the SM North EDSA Cinema 6. It was the first Filipino MMFF film I’d seen since Mano Po years ago. (Image lifted off the official movie website - a shame that this particular pic isn’t available for wallpaper.)

I’ve supported Carver’s exceptionally funny graphic novel since I bought a copy of the comic book years back, and was apprehensive about the film, knowing how Filipino movies tend to let me down. I’ve even given away copies of the comic book to friends for Christmas. Not to support the gay subculture or anything, but I just think Zaturnnah is a funny, moving piece of literature. One of my favorite reading materials of all time - never fails to make me laugh. The film, therefore, had a lot to live to. My review after the jump. Read more