CELEBRITIES IN THE NEWS

It is odd but amusing that several local celebrities are now in the big news, fighting not as much in "intrigue shows," like Boy Abunda's "The Buzz" (no ad or promotion intended), as inside our courts of law.  The cases between Nadia Montenegro and Annabel Rama, Amalia Fuentes and (again!) Annabel Rama, Amalia Fuentes (again!) and Ruffa Gutierrez, estranged  sweethearts Andi Eigenman and Albie Casinos and, very recently, journalist Ramon Tulfo against Claudine Barreto and Raymart Santiago -- ah, the real litany is longer -- are just examples.  It's a good thing that the public won't ever give a damn at whatever may happen at the end of these disputes, except probably to say, "ah, to hell with their lies, egos and arrogance."  But it would certainly be not necessarily so with respect to another showbiz personality, Roderick Paulate, who along with a co-councilor in Quezon City,  is now under investigation by the Ombudsman for making money out of "ghost employees" (Yahoo!News, 5/10/2012).

According to the news report, Paulate and Councilor Francisco Calalay Jr. made payments to 59 "job order personnel" from July to November 2010, with a combined total of P3.3 million in wages,  based on allegedly spurious personnel data sheets and payroll.  While it is yet too early to conclude any truth to the charges, I always believe that whenever and  wherever  there is smoke there is always fire.  To be honest, the interim findings of the Ombudsman -- to wit: the fictitious personnel do not have birth certificate records in the National Statistics Office, are not registered voters of Quezon City, have not secured clearances from the National Bureau of Investigation, are not known in the respective barangays where they allegedly reside and that the indicated addresses where they purportedly reside do not exist  (indeed, basic information accompanying all legitimate employee records) -- should be enough smoke coming from a true fire.  At any rate, I still do give Paulate the fullest benefit of the doubt, at least by virtue of the fact, incidentally, that it was from his name that I had christened my eldest son, Roderick,  many, many years ago.

As things are, I take pride in saying that, except for Fernando Poe Jr., I have never voted for any movie personality aspiring for public office.  Even as I did mourn FPJ's passing, I'm happy this personal stand of mine will never be proven wrong any more.  I have always asked myself what farther popularity a celebrity would still wish in life;  I have always believed that his gross earnings may never be matched by his legitimate compensation as a public official.   Well, that is of course barring any ulterior motive to dip his hands into government coffers.