Kyline, Barbie and Ruffa bloom solo

It’s fabulous to hear actress Kyline Alcantara mightily intoning these days: “Always choose yourself. Ikaw muna, bago ‘yung ibang tao (Yourself before others). And every time you get lost, palagi mo lang hanapin ang sarili mo (always look for yourself).”

Alcantara made that declaration at the media huddle recently for the new show on GMA7 Beauty Empire, which she banners with beauty queen-actress Ruffa Gutierrez and now solo star Barbie Forteza. 

The latter duo are also sparkling and elegant survivors of bittersweet romances, just like Alcantara.  She had it with cager-actor Kobe Paras while Forteza had it with actor Jak Roberto.

On the other hand, Gutierrez quietly announced a few days ago that she and boyfriend politician-actor have not been on speaking terms for some weeks now. The gap between them seems to have been caused by her openly talking about refreshed communications with ex-husband Yilmas Bektas whom she has even invited to come to the Philippines to visit their now adult daughters Venice and Lorin. Gutierrez is not acting frantic about the gap with Bautista who has troubles on his own nowadays as a backlash of his political ties as three-term mayor of Quezon City in the past.

 Alcantara seems happy these days not being linked with anyone. Over years past, she was practically frantic falling out of love with actor Mavy Legaspi and falling for Paras whom she even took in to live with her and her family for sometime.

 Forteza, always giggly, impishly talks about a lingering closeness with actor-businessman David Licauco who is more engrossed with promoting his new restaurants than dating anyone. She sincerely sounds okay and not just pretending to be after she broke up with Roberto who is now busier showing off his newly built four-storey house.

 Alcantara and Forteza seem to be doing very well listening to notes about living and loving from their Ate Ruffa off-camera during tapings for Beauty Empire.

Our girl superstars are also more preoccupied with their careers than with their rumored boyfriends, such as Bea Alonzo with Puregold business tycoon Vincent Co and Karhryn Bernardo with Lucena City Mayor Mark Alcala. 

The one happily enjoying being wooed by a smashingly good-looking newbie actor is Kapuso network’s Shuvee Etrata. She has just been evicted from Pinoy Big Brother Collab edition of ABS-CBN and GMA 7 and was met at the exit with a bunch of flowers by the towering Fil-Am Anthony Constantino of GMA Sparkle stars. 

 She rues losing the opportunity to win a house if she had emerged winner with Big Brother house partner, singer Klarisse de Guzman, but her exit has made her aware of how the Pinoy showbiz followers root for her. She could be the Kapuso network’s next build-up star, a turn which can lead to her earning enough oppurtunities to buy her family in Cebu a house of their own. She loves being wooed by some seemingly devasting guy but she seems to be the kind who would not allow her self to be ruined by a noisy romance.

Lonely biz boys

It’s the lonely showbiz boys in foreign lands who seem to be getting into trouble these days.

 Ju Hak-nyeon, a member of South Korea’s The Boyz, has left the K-pop group and terminated his contract with his agency over a “personal issue,” the agency said Wednesday, 18 June.

 One Hundred Label, the group’s management agency, said in an official statement that it had suspended Ju’s activities immediately upon learning of the issue and had since confirmed the facts.

 Ju, 26, denies paying for sex while he was in Japan in May. He allegedly met a former Japanese adult video actress in Japan last month.

 “We immediately took the measure of suspending activities after receiving information that Ju Haknyeon was recently involved in a private life issue, and took the time to thoroughly check the facts,” the agency said.

 Another K-pop member previously kicked out from his band, NCT, is being sought by a prosecution court for an imprisonment of seven years for rape.

 Former NCT member Taeil (real name Moon Taeil), 31, and two others, are facing charges of aggravated rape in South Korea. The three are accused of sexually assaulting an intoxicated female Chinese tourist at about 4 a.m. on 13 June last year.

 On 18 June last year, the 26th Criminal Division of the Seoul Central District Court held the first trial for Taeil and two others surnamed Lee and Hong for charges of aggravated rape under the Korean law Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment of Sexual Crimes.

Article 4 (aggravated rape) of the law states that “a person who commits a crime prescribed in Article 297 [rape] of the Criminal Act, carrying any weapon or other dangerous object or jointly with any other persons, shall be punished by imprisonment with labor for an indefinite term or for at least seven years,” according to the Korea Legislation Research Institute.

Besides the seven-year prison sentence, the prosecution also asked the court to order the three accused to complete a sexual violence treatment program and disclose their personal information, and impose a 10-year employment restriction.

 Life must be hard and harsh in South Korea despite its being a world-renowned country for its entertainment idols who may be on top for a year or two and then suddenly dropped to oblivion. Some go through mysterious deaths, mysterious lingering ailments. The mysterious deaths may be un-acknowledge suicide, some by drug overdoze.

 In the Philippines, we may be hounded by lingering ex-presidents, impeachable vice presidents, predominantly corrupt government and military officials. But we wallow with noisy joy in wealth and poverty and sickness. And we thrive in deep faith and shallow religion. We are alive and seemingly forever aroused.