Scamming celeb couple
Another A-list couple was mired in controversy last week. David Bunevacz and Jessica Rodriguez flew to the US last week amidst allegations they scammed their business partners of huge amounts of money.
Beaten up
David, a former athlete, and ex-CEO of Beverly Hills 6750, an elite cosmetic surgery clinic catering to Manila's high society, was reported to have been beaten up by his associates after he couldn't explain why company funds are being used for personal expenses.
Good life
Insiders at the clinic say the couple has an insatiable appetite for the good life, and suspicions from their business partners grew after several high profile purchases were made known to the public, including a new BMW X5, which David gave to Jessica as an anniversary gift.
Clinic employees say David was asked to return the money; but refused to do so, prompting his partners to take more drastic action.
Meanwhile, the couple has filed a complaint with the authorities against their former associates, confirming earlier reports that David was indeed beaten up. The couple, however, still refutes allegations they embezzled money from the company.
Manila ratings rumble
ABS CBN has filed a multi-million lawsuit against AGB Nielsen Philippines for alleged tampering of the research firm's nationwide ratings surveys.
An informant was supposed to have approached ABS CBN saying another network (which was unnamed in the lawsuit) paid him to bribe meter households to influence ratings results.
Bribe
In a statement, GMA said: "The alleged informant of ABS-CBN must be referring to a station other than GMA Network in the case it filed against AGB Nielsen.
"It does not make sense that the informant who claimed he was hired to locate and bribe metered households should do so in Bacolod, considering that no separate ratings data for Bacolod are being released by AGB yet."
Discredit
So, the ratings war rages on between the country's biggest TV stations. And it's getting uglier and uglier with kibitzers saying the recent lawsuit is an attempt to discredit AGB Nielsen.
Showbiz Tsismis publishes results for Mega Manila, the chief barometer for the country's advertisers for programme reach, as well as the biggest area in terms of the number of households with TV sets.
No complaints from either station have been made against Mega Manila ratings. So here are last week's results for daytime programming as promised.
Insatiable Gretchen denies split with Tony
High profile celebrity couple Gretchen Barretto and Tony Cojuangco were rumoured to have split last week, but the actress was quick to deny the story, sending a text message to our Manila mole saying, "I am not separated. I will stay with Tony till the end of time.
"Our relationship has flaws, like everyone else's. We continue to understand the unexplainable (sic). That to us, is what commitment and unconditional love is all about. Only a few are blessed with such."
Rumour
Despite the denial, the rumour has lingered in showbiz circles, and Gretchen as always seem to be at the eye of the storm. Gretchen was allegedly spotted getting cosy with a much younger, more good looking man.
When will Gretchen ever be satisfied? She wanted money, she got it (thanks to Tony); she wanted fame, she still has it; ah, maybe she now needs a good-looking prince to complete her fairy tale.
