Entertainment personalities are hogging headlines of late. Lamentably, news about these artists do not bring that swelling kind of Pinoy pride but rather salacious and scandalous thoughts as they involve allegations of murder, acts of lasciviousness and woke-ism. The tempests these stars are in the middle of are their own ghastly creations and consequences of their personal choices.

Dial M for murder

All over the news, whether print and broadcast, is the precarious situation of one-time matinee idol John Wayne Sace. The former ABS-CBN star is the prime suspect of the murder of a close friend. Where is Annalise Keating when you really need her? Viola Davis, help Mr. Sace, please!

Because of this shocking development on Sace, seasoned broadcast journalist Bernadette Sembrano recollected the level of difficulty she encountered during the one-on-one interview with the actor. She admitted in a social media post that it took a long time for her to process what transpired during the conversation and how perplexed she was with regard to Sace’s navigation of his life what with all its baggage, contradictions and givens.

Another esteemed gentleman broadcaster, Julius Babao, spilled the tea, specifically the many times he reached out to Sace, with words of encouragement and support. His best was not good enough to convince the troubled man to enter a rehabilitation program and, once finished his term, to leave the forsaken community where he resided, which Sace declined.

We saw the CCTV footages. We are all aware of eye witnesses who pinpointed him as the culprit.

What made this whole event difficult to watch, most especially in all the videos and photos where we get to see John Wayne, poker-faced, devoid of emotion, no hint of remorse in his eyes. The manner he projects himself was as if he was doing the ultimate sacrifice and needed to protect his loved ones who supposedly were the targets of the dead man’s wrath and revenge. In layman’s terms, “inunahan niya lang (moving a step ahead).”

Also alarming is that during the interview on national television, there seemed to be no presence of a legal counsel specifically that moment when Sace was telling his version of truth to a pack of news reporters. Did Sace even understand the Miranda Rights read to him by the policeman during his capture in a hotel?

 And where was Sace’s immediate family or next of kin, the reason for his actions? No room for speculation or theorizing here since it is the prerogative of his family on how they plan to deal with this situation.

Are there lessons from the sorry fate of this falling star? Of course! However, before we even enumerate them, let us allow the wheels of justice to turn.