Inside the house of Kuya

There must be something quite fascinating about how the paired actors Shuvee Etrata (of the Kapuso network) and singer Klarisse de Guzman  (of ABS-CBN) behaved towards each other and their fellow contestants while they were inside the house of Kuya on ABS-CBN’s ongoing Pinoy Big Brother Celebrity Collab Edition (PBB). That behavior seems to have engaged Kapuso investigative reporter Kara David to follow the reality show and express sadness about the duo’s elimination from the contest on 14 June.

An award-winning reporter about life on the edges of Pinoys in the country and in the diaspora, David is not given to making comments about showbiz events. David’s seemingly sudden interest on a Pinoy showbiz event prompted reporter Khrizztine Joy Baylon of the popular entertainment website PEP.ph to write about it. 

Baylon quoted David, thus: “Sobrang lungkot. Para sa akin, si Shuvee at Klarisse ang pinakatotoo sa loob ng bahay ni Kuya. Haaaay. Ang lungkot ko Talaga (Shuvee was very sad as far as I could tell. Inside the house of Big Brother).

“Salamat, Shuvee at Klarisse dahil na-inspire n’yo kaming lumaban. Sa buhay, manalo man o matalo… ang mahalaga, lumaban (Thanks, Shuvee and Klarisse. You inspired us to fight. If we win or not, what is important is that we fight)."

Etrata and De Guzman had to be eliminated because they got the lowest number of votes from netizens  among the duos who can be saved from eviction, following their nomination for eviction. Etrata and De Guzman earned only 32 percent of the votes for retention. 

The tandems of Dustin Yu and Bianca de Vera (known as “DusBi”) and AZ Martinez with  River Joseph (“AZVer”) were saved by netizens’ votes.

The showbiz idol Vice Ganda (of ABS-CBN) also reacted prominently towards De Guzman’s eviction. The main host of ABS-CBN’s It’s Showtime (which has also been airing on GMA-7 for more than a year now) serially posted on X (formerly Twitter) his reaction to the eviction. (Though Vice Ganda is a cross-dressing male gay, he has never claimed to be a trans woman, thus prompting us to use male pronouns to refer to him.)

He variously wrote on X in a mixture of Filipino and English: “Now that Klarisse is out of the PBB house, it’s time the we really start supporting this brilliant talent.

“Magandang exposure sa kanya ang PBB para mas makilala ng mga manunuod (The exposure she got on PBB was good. She'll get recognized more by the public).

“At tulad ng matagal ko ng hangad sana mas yakapin sya ng madla dahil may pambihira talaga syang talent (And like my longtime dream that she be accepted by the people because of her talent).

“Matagal na kong naniniwala at humahanga sa husay ni Klarisse. (I have long believed in her talent).

“Kaya ako na mismo ang nag-produce ng concert n’ya para mabigyan siya ng moment to shine. Dahil deserve niya. Di dapat masayang! (I am willing to produce her concert and give her a chance to shine).

Vice Ganda (a showbiz moniker coined from his real name Jose Marie Borja Viceral; yes, his second name unusually ends with an “e”) has really been acting like a father towards De Guzman for some years now. He produced De Guzman’s first-ever major concert on18 November 2022 at New Frontier Theater in Cubao, Quezon City.

In his recent X postings, Vice Ganda, 49, revealed that he had planned to produce a second concert for De Guzman way before she was asked to join the PBB collab edition with GMA-7.

He further confided about De Guzman: “'Di man sya ang maging Big Winner sobrang proud ako sa kanya (Even is she does not become a big winners. I am proud of her)."

Vice Ganda’s fatherly disposition towards De Guzman may be born from his knowledge that the singer has always been bisexual long before she “confessed” it to Kuya (Big Brother) as a PBB contestant. 

Eventually, even De Guzman’s girlfriend  since 2020, Trina, came out in public when ABS-CBN reporter MJ Felipe, interviewed De Guzman’s mother, Enobia De Guzman, about Klarisse’s being bisexual. (Trina has not revealed her surname and other details about herself.)

The mother revealed that she and her late husband knew about their daughter’s bisexuality. They had a heart-to-heart talk about it years ago upon Klarisse’s initiation when she began a relationship with Trina.

De Guzman, according to online Wikipedia, is 32, and Trina is in her late 20s. Both De Guzman and Trina are aware of beauty queen Michelle Dee’s admission of being a bisexual. (Since this report appears right after Fathers’ Day, we’ll point out that Dee’s father is former actor Derek Dee whose clan is closely identified with China Banking Corporation. Michelle’s mom is, of course, the well-known Miss International Melanie Marquez whose children have different fathers of varying nationalities).

Vice Ganda’s being fatherly (“sisterly,” if you wish) could possibly being questioned now by some people for his seeming apathy towards two gay friends of his who mysteriously dropped out of being co-hosts on It’s Showtime and in his comedy club in Quezon City, namely, MC and Lassy, who are close friends and performing partners. Their mysterious no-show began soon after Vice Ganda scolded MC for his alleged “uncooperative” behavior when Vice Ganda treated them and other friends to a vacation in a resort in Coron, Palawan. 

His scolding MC was recorded on video and posted on social media. They must have been all aware that they were being recorded. MC’s “uncooperativeness” refers to his decision to lock himself in a room to sleep even as he is allegedly aware of the group’s scheduled activities. MC reportedly always made the others wait for him to get up and out of the bedroom. Vice Ganda is among those waiting. 

Meanwhile, And The Breadwinner Is..., starring Vice Ganda, claims top spot in trending movies on Netflix Philippines since its debut on 12 June. Other Pinoy movies on the Top 10 are Uninvited of Vilma Santos and Aga Muhlach, and Everything About My Wife starring the real-life couple Jennylyn Mercado and Dennis Trillo.