Jessa on Rufa Mae tell-all Yes! interview: Bunch of lies!

So you think that the “love triangle” involving Rufa Mae Quinto and now Mr. and Mrs. Dingdong Avanzado (nee Jessa Zaragoza) has had a closure, with Jessa emerging as the “winner”?

Think again.

In the latest issue of Yes! magazine, Rufa Mae chronicles her colorful love life in a tell-all interview, mincing no words as she talks about, at random now, Jay Manalo, Jason Webb, Rudy Hatfield, San Juan City Mayor JV Ejercito, Sen. Bong Revilla, Dennis Trillo, Erik Santos and, that’s it, Dingdong Avanzado who is now based in California with Jessa and their four-year-old daughter Jayda. (The couple has just moved from Vallejo to a new house in a valley, according to Jessa, “near the American Canyon.”)

Zoom in on Dingdong, and Jessa too, against whom Rufa Mae has some issues to raise, to wit:

• Her relationship with Dingdong, which they were able to keep from the media for a while, caused Rufa Mae “major pains.” She admitted that Dingdong was part of her “teenage fantasies” and that her being a “starlet na se-sexy-sexy,” in contrast to Dingdong’s being a La Sallista, made Dingdong’s family look down on her.

• She had a violent clash with Dingdong, capped with an exchange of sampalan, during his birthday party at his home over another girl (whom Rufa Mae identified as Dingdong’s girlfriend). They broke up but reconciled after three months.

• Not long after that, a “super typhoon” happened in Rufa Mae’s love life when Dingdong’s attention and affection shifted to Jessa whom Rufa Mae described as her “closest friend.” Said Rufa Mae, “Mag-best-friend kami dati. Araw-araw kaming nagtsitsikahan.”

• Rufa Mae said that she found herself “begging” to Jessa to let go of Dingdong whom Rufa Mae said she loved so much, and even offered to introduce another guy to Jessa in return. She added that Jessa promised but forgot all about it. (Jessa and Dingdong got married on March 18, 2001.)

• In July last year, while on a stopover on the way to Australia for a concert, Jessa and Dingdong guested on the GMA Sunday show Showbiz Central in which Rufa Mae is a co-host manning (with Mo Twister) the “hot seat” portion at which Jessa and Dingdong were placed. Rufa Mae asked Dingdong pointblank, “Bakit si Jessa ang pinili mo?” Dingdong said, “Alam mo at alam na rin ng tao, kung ano ‘yong reason kung bakit ko pinili si Jessa...” The trio did a production number together, giving everybody the impression that they had let bygones be bygones, that they were putting a “closure” to whatever transpired among them.

Or so everybody thought.

“A bunch of lies!” a fuming Jessa called Funfare all the way from California after she — and Dingdong — read the Yes! mag in the Internet (later, a relative sent them a copy). “Her interview was a tell-all, all right, but it was based on lies. I can’t imagine that somebody could tell such brazen lies...Nalula ako sa pagtatahi-tahi niya ng mga kasinungalingan.”

Speaking for herself and Dingdong (who has opted to keep mum), Jessa, who turned 29 on Jan. 31, has this to say:

“Enough is enough! For the longest time, I kept quiet; I tried to put up a ‘sweet’ front, nagpaka-martyr ako. But she has gone far; marami na siyang natatapakan, not only Dingdong and me but also Dingdong’s family. I’m speaking up now because I don’t want our daughter, when she grows up, to ask me if it’s true that her dad and I have ‘fooled’ somebody.

“No, Rufa Mae has never been Dingdong’s girlfriend; they were just dating, pa-go-out, go-out, ganoon. They were never ‘exclusive’ to each other. It was she who fooled Dingdong and not the other way around. Siya ang nanloko, hindi siya niloko.

“You know why Dingdong stayed away from her? Because at the time they were dating, he caught her several times with other men; suma-sama siya sa iba’t-ibang lalaki. One time, Dingdong caught her in her room with an actor-politician, though not ‘in the act.’ In another incident, Dingdong caught her with a popular action star.

“She was never my best friend. We were just co-workers in some movies. I never ‘stole’ Dingdong from her. When I started going steady with Dingdong, he was free, and so was I. She did ask me a ‘favor,’ that is, to pretend that I liked Dingdong and then to drop him, para daw masaktan si Dingdong at makaganti siya. Why would I do that?

“I don’t need this issue, but maybe she does. Dingdong and I are happy with our life in the States. We get offers to do concerts. I am defending ourselves to protect our daughter. Two years from now, our daughter may be old enough and read (Rufa Mae’s) story at ayokong iisipin ng anak namin na kami ng dad niya ay may nilokong tao. It’s something that every mother would do, something Rufa Mae will never understand because she’s not a mother.”

Jessa’s parting words to Rufa Mae?

“Sumusobra ka nang babae ka! Sinungaling ka!”

Ouch!!!

SkyCable airs side on issue with Solar

Late last year, Funfare reported that Solar was moving its programs  from SkyCable to, among other channels, RJTV. I didn’t know that there’s an ongoing “issue” between Sky and Solar, until I got the following statement from Sky, quoted below in full:

Much has been said about the withdrawal of certain channels from SkyCable’s programming line-up. Due to a gentleman’s agreement by and between the senior management of Sky and Solar not to discuss commercial negotiations nor to exploit this issue, and to ensure an amicable separation, we have stayed silent on this.  It is unfortunate that other personnel in Solar have decided not to honor the agreement, prompting us to come forth with our position.

We understand how much the NBA matters to our subscribers, so it was with much regret that we had to let it go.

Upon contract renewal, we wanted to retain four of the six channels in Solar’s bundle.  The four channels we wanted to keep INCLUDED Basketball TV and Solar Sports. Unfortunately, Solar adopted an “all 6 channels or nothing” position.  We recognize that it is their right to adopt such a position.  Regrettably, we could not accept their position, as is also our right.

Solar leased SBN 21, RPN 9 and RJ 29 which are all free television channels we carry.  This development has allowed us to continue carriage of three Solar channels — ETC, Crime/Suspense and Second Avenue.  We worked closely with Solar to ensure the clear reception and seamless transition from the original free television programming to theirs.

We have not closed our doors to dealing with Solar.  We continue to deal with Solar and their affiliates for the carriage of other channels. We carry ShopTV (owned by William Tieng’s daughter), and are discussing carriage of the Pacquiao-Marquez fight in March.

SkyCable’s programming line-up is constantly being upgraded. With the loss of three Solar channels, we now provide six new channels at no additional cost to the subscriber.  With the addition of Balls, AXN Beyond, Kidsco, FoxCrime, Maxxx and Velvet, and the moving of Disney from Gold to Silver, we are hopeful that the larger majority of our customers will stay happy.

While some are exhorting switching to our competitor due to our loss of these channels, SkyCable continues to carry channels that are NOT AVAILABLE on other cable services including Teleradyo, ANC, Balls, AXN Beyond, Cinemax, Kidsco, Hero, Animax, Starworld, AXN, FoxCrime, Maxxx, Lifestyle Network, Velvet, Star Movies, Cinema One, Asian Food Channel, Makisig, etc.  Moving to our competitor ensures the loss of these invaluable first-rate channels, which would be a great injustice to any cable subscriber.

We have taken substantial steps to ensure that we inform our subscribers about the programming changes which took effect on Jan. 1, 2008.  From August 2007, we have been actively informing the public about the impending channel changes. These include full-page announcement print ads in the top dailies, press conferences, regular press releases, on-air announcement plugs which were shown on top cable channels such as CNN, AXN, Discovery Channel, Cartoon Network, among others.  To ensure that SkyCable subscribers would be directly informed of the developments, letters to the subscribers were mailed out in the first week of November 2007. Despite a minimum requirement of the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) to provide 30-day notice to subscribers, SkyCable committed itself to informing the public five months before the actual changes took place.  

The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) has granted pay television franchises to more than 800 companies in the Philippines.  Four of them operate in Metro Manila, one of which is SkyCable.  We are operating in a free market where competition exists, and shall continue to do while the law provides for such.

As it has always been our privilege and duty, SkyCable will continue to work towards programming enhancements to provide our subscribers with the best channels and programs available today.  It is our commitment to our subscribers, to our stakeholders, and to the general public.

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