Nasty

No, this has nothing to do with Ms. Janet Jackson’s song that peaked at number three on Billboard’s American Top 40 chart during the mid-’80s.

This DAILY TRIBUNE columnist chose the song’s title because it is the most apt word to describe all the nasty things currently happening in Philippine show business, which include the big tea shared on social media by personality Christian Gaza about Alden Richards, actors and netizens calling out the uncouth manner of questioning by seasoned entertainment reporter Gorgy Rula directed at a prepubescent star, and Imelda Sweigheart and her statements against gay people in general and the transgender community in particular.

With all this nastiness sprouting like mushrooms and feeding greedy rumor mongers, one cannot help but wonder: Whatever happened to choosing kindness, fairness and the truth?

Credibility

There is no need to repeat what Gaza posted about actor Alden Richards. The social media personality makes a living from gossip and scandals. The more salacious his posts, the more traction and monetization they generate.

Gaza is no saint. Under his belt are his own set of scandals that are too many to enumerate — a P2.6-million coffee shop investment scam, his escape from the Philippines as a fugitive since 2018, the CARE Fund being flagged by the SEC as an unauthorized and unregistered investment scheme, and the cryptocurrency Xian Coin, which the SEC called out and issued a cease-and-desist order against to protect the public from being defrauded. And there is more. Gaza’s words cannot and must never be accepted as the kind of truth that all of us cannot handle. His credibility and morality are on the lesser-than and zero side.

Whether Faulkerson Jr. chooses not to dignify Gaza’s online shenanigans and makes silence his best defense, or lets his legal counsel do the talking, the matter will be made public at the most appropriate time.

Richards’ close friends and allies from the entertainment press and new media have expressed their support for the actor, highlighting in their posts and reports his kindness, good nature and financial stability.

What baffles me, though, as I write this column on a Sunday, is that no statement from his Kapusong totoo network, GMA 7, where he is one of its prime talents, has come to the fore.

Gaza will carry on as he milks this situation dry, and we can expect more explosive revelations. The ball is in Alden Richards’ court now. To sue or not to sue the social media entity — that is the question.

Lente

Seasoned entertainment reporter Gorgy Rula deleted a Facebook post that was obviously an expression of his sentiments about the setback he presently faces. He went out of town to be with friends.

Actor Kristofer Martin, a GMA talent, shared in a social media post that he experienced the same kind of questioning from Rula when he was 14 years old. Comedienne and actress Tuesday Vargas also had a mouthful to say on social media as she condemned the reporter’s errant behavior.

And the plot thickens because of this fact: Rula is one of the founding members of LENTE, the League of Entertainment Narratives for Truth and Ethics, which operates under the Film Academy of the Philippines (FAP).

Two of the organization’s major aims are to professionalize entertainment reporting and promote ethical journalism. His question to the 12-year-old child actor Kanye Avendano — “Pag lumaki ka ba, magbi-Vivamax ka?” — went against the lofty aims of this newly formed group. Rula reportedly dismissed the incident as a “joke.” The entertainment group, with a misnomer for a name, kept its lips sealed about the matter.

With this reality, must we take LENTE seriously and believe that its members and leadership truly understand what it takes to be “professional” and “ethical”?

Big words they cannot even bite, swallow, digest and comprehend?

Pink

In the case of beauty queen Imelda Sweigheart versus the trans community, we know who the culprit is. Those who felt they were alluded to and attacked retaliated with a lot of curses and mudslinging on their respective social media platforms. It was a “matira ang matibay” kind of online exchange that escalated.

A handful of trans community members addressed the matter of Sweigheart’s laban sa mga operada with essays filled with intelligence, sense, dignity and tact. Lamentably, they were overshadowed and outnumbered by those who employed an eye-for-an-eye, tooth-for-a-tooth warpath.

Whatever gains the trans and queer members of the community have made, and their pleas for acceptance, understanding, equality and opportunities, are not just affected but diminished. It can also be seen that there is no prominent leader or voice of reason who can pacify the more aggressive and opinionated members of the community.

The “I told you so” members of society, who are still confused and grappling with the idea of what they want and what they are fighting for, are now not only convinced but also believe that all this nastiness and noise amount to aggression and entitlement, emotional corruption and moral decay.

I am gay, but I don’t subscribe to all the queerness, entitlement, provocation and the combative attitude of ramming home the take-it-or-leave-it message that says, “Mga bakla kami, kayo na ang mag-adjust, bahala na kayo diyan (We’re gay — you’re the ones who need to adjust; that’s your problem now).”

In the next few hours and days, we will know the truth. I am keeping my fingers crossed that when it happens, we know how to handle it.