2023 Wrapped: The year in controversies
The year is coming to an end. It's quite sad because it means the book on controversies is about to be closed and it has been quite an eventful and colorful one, running the gamut from a birthday bash and a friendship fallout to an unholy hookup and Jesus drag.
Here’s a look back.
Alex Gonzaga gets her cake and smears it too
The actress-vlogger celebrated her 35th birthday in January in a private event with family and close friends. It was a happy affair until a video clip of the cake candle-blowing moment from the party went viral and created an uproar among the public, putting a different kind of bash in birthday bash.
Alex was called out for being rude and entitled for smearing icing on the face of the waiter who carried the cake. Though the server did not make a fuss, it was clear from the look on his face that it wasn’t really a pleasant surprise for him.
Online celebrity Janina Vela captured the common thought and sentiment of many. “Siguro mas-acceptable ito kung ka-close mo yung tao, pero dahil sa ‘power dynamics’ dito —Kuya as the server and Ms. Alex as the served—hindi niya magagawa yun,” she said in a post. “Service workers are our equals. It’s their job to serve, but it’s our job to give them the respect they deserve.”
The younger of the Gonzaga sisters did not immediately respond to the controversy. Instead, it was a self-identified “longtime publicist friend of the Gonzaga family” named Peter Ledesma who issued the first statement, two days after the incident. He claimed that the waiter involved was a long-time friend of Alex’s mother and the Soriano family, referring to the family of Paul Soriano, the husband of Alex’s sister Toni.
On the same day, online media sites carried a photo of Alex and Allan together in a private moment. It came with a short handwritten note allegedly from Allan that says Alex visited him at work the day after the party to apologize personally and that everything was okay between them.
The public was unconvinced and unplacated and continued the bashing spree. A day later, the birthday girl finally spoke up.
“On my birthday, God taught me a hard and important lesson,” she started her post. “Humility, kindness and better judgment. I am truly sorry, Kuya Allan.”
She continued with an apology to her family. “I am sorry for causing you pain and embarrassment. I will rise from this a wiser and better person.”
Apparently not. Only a few weeks later she made light of the incident in a birthday greeting post for her dad. “Pasensya ka na tinapay nalang muna mapapadala ko sayo pambirthday. Magiiwas iwas na rin kayo sa [cake] mahirap na.”
And for the second time in less than a month, she got canceled again.
Heart breaks up with glam team
Money is said to be the root of all evil. In the case of Heart Evangelista and her glam team of several years, it’s said to have caused their messy, apparently unamicable breakup.
Rumors about the falling out rooted in money matters started with an August edition of a chismis show on Youtube’s Marites University channel. Using unconfirmed showbiz buzz, one of the hosts said in a blind item report that the 38-year-old actress and international fashion star fired her longtime makeup artist Justin Soriano and hairstylist Jeck Aguilar for using her credit cards without her permission and pocketing talent fees she was supposed to have gotten from some projects.
Eagle-eyed social media users were quick to dig up an earlier social media post from Heart where she alludes to being ripped off, saying “Yung ready ka na sana mag Waldas Dahil may nang--o (sic) sayo pero nakalimutan mo may na 24 months to pay na pala sa card mo.”
By the time the blind item came out Heart and Justin-Jeck had already long unfollowed each other on social media. The trio had been working together since 2019, becoming very close friends in the process. Justin and Jack even stayed with Heart in Paris where her international career as a fashionista took off in recent years.
Justin quickly denied the rumors, noting that Heart's viral post was misinterpreted.
“Dear, siya lang ang nagma-maxout ng credit card nya,” he stated in a comment in one of his posts. “Wala kami paki sa credit card nya. Namisinterpret nyo [‘yung] TikTok nya na may 24 [months] siyang babayaran. Siya may gastos nun. Hello? Kita niyo naman siguro sa sinusuot niya every day, diba?”
He says, “The falling-out has nothing to do with money matters. Please, let’s stop making issues. We are over it already. Patahimikin na po natin ito.”
For her part, Heart chose not to address the issue head on but rather muse philosophical. "Life is like that,” she said in an interview. “Madami tayong pagdadaanan with our careers, with our personal life. But everything's for a reason, and everything is for us to be stronger so we can face anything else in life. So, I'm very happy.”
Final word: The smeared makeup and unglam look don’t look that good.
Luka gets condemned for their not-your-father’s version of Ama Namin
How do you know you’ve made a real mark? When you’re responsible for the third most-searched topic on the internet for the entire year.
A total of 17 local government units (as of August) including Manila and Nueva Ecija in Luzon, Cebu and Bohol in Visayas, and Cagayan de Oro and Bukidnon in Mindanao declared the drag artist Pura Luka Vega, whose real name is Amadeus Fernando Pagente, officially unwelcome in their territories.
The proclamations don’t really bear any legal consequences. As freedom of travel is a right guaranteed to all by the Constitution, Pura can still freely visit these places, whether as Amadeus or Luka, without being arrested or anything of the sort. The persona non grata declaration is merely a political move borne from the personal sentiments of officials as well as their reading of the general sentiments of their constituents.
What bears actual legal weight are the criminal cases that have been filed against them. There were a total of seven including one from The Philippines for Jesus Movement together with some other Christian groups for breaching a law that prohibits “indecent or immoral plays, scenes, acts or shows” that “offend any race or religion.” The charges carry a jail term of up to 12 years, as well as potential fines. Another is from a group of Black Nazarene devotees whose charges were based on violations of Article 201 of the Revised Penal Code and the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012.
Pagente was arrested in October under the latter case and remained in police custody for 3 days until posting the P72,000 bail.
In case you were living under a rock in July 2023: The act in question was Pura’s controversial performance of the Ama Namin (Our Father) in full Black Nazarene drag (the artist’s character of choice) set to a punk-rock version of the song inside a nightclub.
That’s a perfect trifecta of no-nos for the traditionally religious set right there, seen for the first time in this part of the Catholic world. Naturally, the condemnations came swiftly and unequivocally, with both lay people and the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines calling it “blasphemous” and disrespectful to the church.
Support for Pura has also been strong and comes mostly from the LGBTQIA+ community and human rights and freedoms advocates, with some saying they are exercising their freedom of expression.
Pura defended themself, saying in a post that the performance was their way of praising God. “I understand that people call my performance blasphemous, offensive or regrettable,” they wrote. “However, they shouldn’t tell me how I practice my faith or how I do my drag. That performance was not for you to begin with. It is my experience and my expression, of having been denied my rights.”
The artist remains unapologetic, saying they had “done nothing wrong” and that their arrest highlighted “the degree of homophobia” in the Philippines.
Final word: One of the court cases has been dismissed. It remains to be seen if Pura will get their prayer wishes granted for the six cases that remain and if the CBCP and some of those who were offended by their act have or can forgive them for their trespasses.
An actor was allegedly having an affair with his co-stars
For a while there it was looking like 2023 was leaving us without any sex scandal. So props to the informant for not letting us down and for dropping not just one but two bombshells almost at the last minute.
There’s beauty queen Bianca Manalo, beauty titlist-host-comedian Herlene Budol, and GMA actor Rob Gomez, who has a newborn daughter with his girlfriend. It’s neither a threesome nor a triangle but more of a quadrangle by association with Bianca’s boyfriend, Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, as the fourth character.
The bombshells came via social media posts on Rob’s own Instagram page containing private messages that appeared to be between Rob and Bianca and between Rob and Herlene. The former seems to be about an early morning meet-up that may or may not be wholesome.
The public seems to have decided it’s the latter, giving color to Bianca’s “He’s not here. He’s in Valenzuela” line and making it one of 2023’s quotable quotes.
Of course, the 37-year-old 2009 Binibining Pilipinas Universe winner protested the insinuation. She said the visit was not a tryst: Rob was simply dropping off his Christmas gift for her before she flew out of the country for a vacation. Sen. Win immediately followed with a short statement, branding news of the meet-up as fake and saying nothing of the sort will “divide us apart (sic).”
Single girl Herlene used the comedian card in an attempt to free herself from the Other Woman tag people have labeled on her. She claims her “kain ko ikawwww” reply to Rob’s “kain kita” message was said in jest being the comedian that she is both onscreen and off.
In both cases there was no denial about the conversations: Bianca and Herlene only noted they were private and putting them out in public was an invasion of their privacy.
That may be true but if not for this infraction the world would not have been blessed with one of the best quotable quotes of 2023 courtesy of vlogger-influencer Christian Gaza: “Sa GMA ka lang makakakita ng isang artista na may issue pero hindi mo kilala.”
Final word: Let’s see if 2024 can top that.