Real life soap operas

This past week, we were treated, or shall I say subjected, to two real life soap operas in the news. One was the headline grabbing family feud between a seemingly spoiled little rich girl actress and a rising senator aspiring to one day be the president of our country; and the other, a once again tearful daughter of a former president on the news again sharing all of her personal problems on national television for everyone to see.

I am actually quite appalled at the level of media attention both of these stories have gotten. Both have been splashed on the front page and have garnered their share of television and radio airplay. Both have set the country’s tongues wagging and both don’t look like they are going to die down any time soon. It’s seriously quite sad how much attention we are giving these two issues simply because they are happening in the lives of people deemed “famous” in the country.

Would we truly care if our neighbors had a spat with their daughter because they did not approve of her choice of beau? Hardly. But since this is what is happening between Heart Evangelista and Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero, it is suddenly worthy of being national news. So big in fact, that it was actually on the cover of a major national daily. A photo of Heart, clad only in beach wear, on tiptoes giving her paramour a kiss on the beach was soon seen all over the Internet and on many social networking blogs.

The story: Heart’s parents, Reynaldo and Cecile Ongpauco have come out to publicly voice their opinion against her beau, Escudero. According to them, they believe he is a drunk and an opportunist who is only using their daughter. They shared their disapproval with the nation in the hopes of reaching their child (through guilt perhaps?) to make her end things with the incumbent senator. But of course, that was not the end of the story, the other side fired back. Chiz claimed he was just caught in the middle of a family feud and Heart took to the media to tell her parents that she was standing by her man and to leave them alone and just be happy for her.

Such a simple story and yet it became the center of attention for several days. I honestly don’t understand how a family feud, which happens quite often in the Philippines, has become newspaper worthy, perhaps because it is between a movie actress and a senator. But if you think about it, this is not the first time this story has been seen in the news. Just replace the name Chiz Escudero with Daniel Matsunaga or Jericho Rosales and you have the exact same story. Heart’s parents disapproving of her taste in men and asking her to break up with the person she claims to love. Two out of three times the story has ended with Heart acquiescing to her parents’ wishes and leaving the said boyfriend. Will it end up the same this time?

According to her — vehemently no. She claims, once again on national TV, that she will not leave the senator and that he is very good to her and they are happy. I suppose only time will tell if this relationship will work out. One thing that will always remain true though is that there is definitely a taint to it. I don’t side with either party, I wouldn’t even be writing about this had it not been shoved down my throat from all angles, but I do think Heart is old enough to make her own decisions — be they right or wrong. She is already a grown woman and whom she eventually ends up with is her choice. Her parents obviously want what’s best for her, but they can only give her their guidance, they can’t make up her mind. And it’s obvious that the one that is hurting most in this situation is their relationship with their daughter.

Again, only time will tell what will happen there. I am actually more curious to see if any of this will have any political backlash. There have certainly been some bad things said about Escudero who, up until now, had such a good boy, boy-next-door, trustworthy image in the public. Now he has been called a drunkard, an opportunist, and blatantly rude. While Heart stands by her man and says her parents are lying, the words have already been said and can’t be taken back. The question is, why would her parents lie 100% to the entire country? One can’t help but think if there is a measure of truth in it.

Alongside the Heart-Chiz-Ongpauco drama comes yet another family feud, which I honestly thought, was over and done with. Another unlucky in love famous actress/host Kris Aquino was all over the news once again tearfully telling the entire nation her woes. According to the news, she filed for a restraining order against her ex-husband after she felt “threatened” when he made inappropriate advances against her in the home late last year. Frankly, it’s difficult to imagine Kris feeling threatened by anything or anyone, but that’s her story and she’s sticking with it.

The problem stems from the classic custody battle between the couple and the official division of their conjugal property. The news claims Kris wants her son to use the name Aquino instead of Yap among other issues of the same nature. Again, what should be a private affair between families has become national news. This is also another story we have already seen before. When Kris faced problems with a former flame, she appeared on television, family in tow, crying her heart out as well and spilling all of her secrets. So the tears and drama are, in fact, nothing new, it’s just the issues that have changed. The “shocker” here was that she claimed to be officially resigning from show business and all her commitments with television. Should this be true, many who are not fans, would see it as a blessing. However, I would not hold my breath.

What is more curious is if Kris truly intends to quit show business to “focus on Bimby” and be more there for him then why would all the rumors be circulating that she is running for Governor of Tarlac? Wouldn’t politics take up just as much of her time as entertainment? She would still be all over the media just in another capacity. Was it truly too much to hope for that she would retire to a quiet family life away from the public eye? Well, again, only time will tell what will ultimately happen there. As far as show business goes, the network has already claimed that despite what has happened Kris will still fulfill her commitments. I guess we’ll see.

The unfortunate truth though is that throughout all of this back and forth and he said she said, the one who is truly hurting is Bimby. Sadly caught in the middle of Kris and James, he can’t help but have a front row seat to his mother and father fighting it out like rabid dogs whether it be through their own words or through those of their lawyers. It’s the ultimate game of emotional blackmail and the poor boy is an unwitting pawn right smack in the middle. I truly hope for his sake that they work it out somehow.