Before Ogie Diaz, Xian Gaza, Boy Abunda, and even Cristy Fermin, there was Inday Badiday. She was the Queen of Intrigues. Although she said goodbye for good in 2003 at the age of 59, no one has dared claim her position in the entertainment world.

For the benefit of the Gen Zs and Gen Alphas, showbiz gossip in the past came from tabloids, the radio and television. There were no phones yet that dissected the lives of celebrities. But fake news had been around since forever.

TV was the principal source of entertainment before the advent of social media. Those who hungered for showbiz “tsismis” (from the Spanish word “chismes”) tuned in to the show of Inday Badiday. But who was Inday Badiday?

Her name resurfaced last week when Senator Miguel Zubiri made a statement about the Senate “being an Inday Badiday” (he meant full of intrigues) and how the institution had been turned into a circus. Inday Badiday’s grandson, former child star IC Mendoza, was not pleased with what Zubiri said and called out the senator.

That must have been the first time Inday Badiday’s name was mentioned again in public after more than two decades. .

Still a lady

Inday Badiday, however, still received deferential treatment till the end. Even if she dispensed gossip, she remained a lady. Her loyal followers most probably were unaware that her father, Col. Nicanor Jimenez, was once the head of the Philippine National Railways and was later appointed ambassador to Korea. Inday would have been thrilled no end had the K-Pop culture been around during her father’s Korean posting.

Her sister, Letty Magsanoc, was one of the most respected print journalists and should be emulated by media practitioners today. In fact, people could hardly believe back then that they were sisters since their fields were poles apart. But Ms. Magsanoc had conceded early on that Inday Badiday was the more popular one.

Inday Badiday’s legal name was Ma. Lourdes Jimenez Carvajal. Carvajal was the surname of her husband — although she never wanted to discuss him. She said she was a child bride — having married so young. The Carvajal marriage produced two children: Dolly Ann Carvajal, who also went into entertainment journalism, and Ricky Carvajal. Later in life, she got romantically involved with TV director Gene Palomo and had a daughter with him named Clara.

The woman behind the name

Since her Christian name is Lourdes, she was often called Ate Luds by people from showbiz. Her screen name, Inday Badiday, was the result of her being a military brat. Until her teenage years, her father, being a soldier, was assigned to various military camps in the archipelago.

In one of her father’s assignments in the south, there was a deranged woman neighbors called “Inda Badida.” When she entered showbiz, she remembered the village laughingstock Inda Badida. She played around with the name and thought that Inday Badiday would be perfect for a screen moniker. And she was right. It clicked in the world of entertainment.

Before she became Inday Badiday, she was a ballet dancer. While studying at the University of the Philippines Integrated School or UPIS, she took up ballet on the side. She was unable to focus on her ballet lessons though because, deep inside, her interest was show business.

Conquering Ameliagate

In her mid-twenties, Inday decided showbiz was going to be her world. She became a hanger-on in radio stations. She loved being in the presence of movie stars. Once, she accepted the difficult assignment of interviewing Amalia Fuentes. Difficult because, well, Amalia could be difficult, especially if she didn’t like the reporter assigned to interview her.

Again, this is for the benefit of the Gen Zs and Gen Alphas. Perhaps even some millennials. Until the 1970s, when there were no cellphones yet, a reporter had to lug around a heavy tape recorder that had open reels. It wasn’t even the portable tape recorder that had a cassette inside. That was how it was back in the day.

Inday had a morning appointment with Amalia at the actress’ Rolling Hills Village residence in New Manila — at No. 10 Green Hill Street to be exact. Amalia wasn’t home when Inday arrived at the appointed time. Lunchtime passed and there was still no Amalia. Inday had hoped she could at least be fed by the house help. But no such offer came.

She couldn’t excuse herself to eat outside because 1) She didn’t have a car to drive to the nearest restaurant and 2) There were no fast-food outlets then. She was in posh New Manila and there were no “carinderias” (eateries) nearby. And while we are on the subject of “carinderias,” in those days, roadside eateries were still called “karihan.”

But most important of all — what if she left to eat lunch and Amalia arrived? By the time Amalia returned home, it was already 4 p.m. In Inday’s own words, “kulay green na tingin ko sa kanya (She already looked green to me).” She was that hungry.

The wait was worth it though. Amalia gave her a good interview. In the first place, the late actress was hardly ever known to be a dull subject.

Inday eventually started encroaching into television. She would be assigned to cover showbiz events — like the debut party of Nora Aunor. But her biggest break came when she was made a backstage commentator during the 1972 Mr. and Miss Philippine Movies televised coronation night, today’s equivalent of the Box-Office King and Queen Awards.

By 1974, she was already given her own showbiz-oriented talk show called Nothing but the Truth. She actually served as moderator. The ones who did the questioning were the young showbiz reporters of that era. Lolit Solis and Ricky Lo were among them.

One time, her show got entangled in a libel case. In court, she was made to swear at the witness stand. When she was told to tell the truth and “nothing but the truth,” the courtroom roared in laughter. Her show, after all, was called Nothing but the Truth.

After Nothing but the Truth, Inday decided to do a reformat and began calling her program Would You Believe? Later, the show’s name became See-True. There was also a time when she anchored a drama anthology called In-daing. It was a dramatization of the real-life painful memories of showbiz personalities.

By the 1990s, Inday started to shake off her Queen of Intrigues image. On GMA, she hosted Eye to Eye, which was a combination of showbiz and public service. For a while, that program was even turned into a freak show. Remember the woman who gave birth to a milkfish? Inday turned that into a series of episodes. There was even a christening of the milkfish, which her show duly covered. In the end, the milkfish got restless in its basin filled with water and jumped — hilariously — straight into the mouth of the housecat.

Legacy

And so, that was the colorful life and career of Inday Badiday. Her own personal stories were far more interesting than the lives of the showbiz celebrities she featured in her programs. 

IC Mendoza’s public reaction to the statement of Miguel Zubiri who mentioned the name of Inday Badiday as part of the already widening political scandal in the country – hopefully – will not sidetrack the investigations being conducted in the Senate. Zubiri has apologized to Inday Badiday’s family – and it was a sincere apology. Besides, Zubiri uttered the name of Inday Badiday not in the same breath as “the circus.”

A few months ago, Senator Alan Peter Cayetano has already likened the Senate to a circus. And now, Zubiri is also calling the Senate that — a circus.

Yes, it cannot be denied anymore that the Senate had been turned into a circus. All the senators have to do right now is admit that they are actually the clowns in this circus.