Rufa’s ex blaming her
for problems with new gf

One writer has a bright idea: "Dapat, sabihan ni Peachy ang boyfriend niya ngayong si Erik Santos para sugurin si Rudy at komprontahin sa ginagawa nito sa kanya. Square na lang sila."

But Erik is about 5’7" and Rudy is 6’4." "O, magka-match naman sila, a."

John Lapus is now one of the hosts of GMA-7’s "The S-Files" but he still appears with ABS-CBN projects. He is in Star Cinema’s "Ang Cute ng Ina Mo" and in ASAP Live’s political satire, "Rock Da Vote." "Ang bait nga ng GMA, hindi sila over possessive," he says. "Isang paalam ko lang, yes agad. Hindi naman kasi direct rival ng ‘S Files’ ang projects ko with ABS, at payag pa silang i-plug ang shows kong ito sa ‘S Files.’ Ganun sila ka-generous."

Has he patched things up with Jobert Sucaldito of "The Buzz"? "Hindi, kasi hindi na kami magka-level. Host na ko ng ‘S-Files,’ siya, chuwariwap lang sa show nila. Even when I was with ‘The Buzz,’ hindi na kami magka-level, kasi associate producer na ako ng show, researcher lang siya. On cam na ako sa ‘Cristyperminute,’ siya, nagwawalis pa lang sa bahay ni Jojo Veloso."

Everyone around us says: Ang taray! John declares: "Hindi ako basta nagtataray. ‘Yun lang ang totoo kaya tigilan niya ko."

In "Rock Da Vote," he plays Cory and Kris Anino. Will he be touching on James Yap? "Yes. Lahat ng corporate shows na ginagawa ko, si Kris ang nire-request na spoof ko at siempre, hindi mawawala si James. In ‘Rock Da Vote,’ I also impersonate Madame Auring in a spoof of ‘Pinoy Big Brother’ na ikinulong kami nina Jon Santos, Candy Pangilinan, Tessie Tomas, Chokoleit and Pooh sa loob ng bahay ni Kuya."

Tessie, who’s also a Kapuso star in "Bahay Mo Ba ‘To," will be doing her Meldita act. "My wish is mapanood naman sana ako ni Mrs. Marcos kasi she has never seen me impersonate her," she says.

Tessie is also appearing in the CineMalaya digital film, "2,999." "It’s about the 3,000 shoes of Imelda but I don’t play her. I play the wife of a carpenter who died in the Manila Film Center disaster where workers were buried alive. My son, Marvin Agustin, steals a pair of shoes from Imelda kaya naging 2,999 na lang. It’s directed by Raul Jorolan with whom I’ve done several TV commercials. Aside from Mrs. Marcos, I’m also doing Mel Tiyanko in ‘Rock Da Vote’."

"Rock Da Vote," written by Joel Mercado, will run at the Music Museum for two weekends, April 13, 14, 20 and 21. You can get your tickets from Ticketworld at 891-9999. This ASAP Live’s third project after the concerts of Christian Bautista-Rachel Ann Go, and Piolo Pascual-Sam Milby.

The top patron of independent cinema is ABC-5 Chair Tonyboy Cojuangco who finances the annual Cinemalaya Digital Filmfest at the CCP for three years now. Starting this Saturday, March 24, 9 to 11 p.m., ABC-5 gives you the chance to show the entries in the first Cinemalaya filmfest starting with the best picture winner, "Pepot Artista," a musical comedy written and directed by Doy del Mundo, the award-winning scriptwriter of such films as "Maynila: Sa Mga Kuko ng Liwanag," "Mulanay" and "Markova." Doy is a friend of ours since we were both members of the Gawad Urian in the late ‘70s.

The film is about a 10-year old boy who dreams of being a movie star in the ‘70s. It’s a virtual tribute to the Nora Aunor-Tirso Cruz III love team as so many filmclips of their past movies are shown all throughout. The movie offers outstanding performances from Rio Locsin as the boy’s mother, Bituin Escalante and Epi Quizon as the boy’s foster parents after he ran away, and Nonie Buencamino in a surprise role. The film has a very hilarious not-to-be-missed sequence showing various child stars being interviewed on cam. Their answers are really so funny!

"Pepot Artista" won awards in the 2005 Singapore International Filmfest. It’s a labor of love for Doy, who is Department of Communications chair at La Salle, and many friends and students of his volunteered to work for free in "Pepot Artista." Other films to be shown on ABC-5 are "Roomboy" by Aloy Adlawan (with Meryll Soriano winning best actress for her role as a free spirited prostitute), "ICU Bed No. 7" by Rica Arevalo (with Eddie Garcia winning best actor as the father who had a heart attack), "Big Time" by Mario Cornejo (with great performances by Michael de Mesa and Jamie Wilson), "Sarong Banggi" by Emman de la Cruz (with Jaclyn Jose winning the Urian best actress award for her portrayal of a prostitute who had sex with her own son), "Pagdadalaga ni Maximo Oliveros" (shown in various interna-tional filmfests) and "Baryoke," "Lasponggols," "Isnatchers," and "Angelo the Bading Assassin."

Joey de Leon has a new show with ABC-5 after his "Teka Mona" was cancelled. This time, it’s an interactive game show, "Slingo," a co-production with Mojo Pacific Media to be aired starting this Saturday from 7 to 8 p.m. Patterned after the most popular casual online lottery gaming format, "Slingo" is a locally produced game show that is a combination of slot machine and bingo.

"It’s perfect for Filipinos since when I go to any mall, I see hundreds playing bingo," says Mojo president Garrett Openshaw. "I stayed here for almost a year to study Philippine TV and what kind of project is best for us and I think ‘Slingo’ fits the culture here well. This is bingo with a new twist. It uses the same 75 numbers in bingo but with an electronic board. There will be three sets of players with two players each. They have to compete first in answering trivia questions before they can play the actual game. One can win as much as P500,000 per game, but if the jackpot question is not answered, this will be rolled over to the next episode and it can reach up to millions until someone hits the jackpot. I’d like to thank ABC-5 for helping us tremendously in putting up the show and I hope it works well for both of us."

But Joey is hosting two other shows on Saturdays, "Eat Bulaga" and "Startalk" on GMA-7. Won’t this work against "Slingo"? "We got Joey to host ‘Slingo’ as he’s a brilliant host with high entertainment value. The fact that he’s seen in many other shows means he’s well accepted by the public and that will work well for us."

Two of Joey’s female co-hosts were present at the show’s launching at Yats Bar at PSE Tektite Penthouse. Margot Montano will play Debbie, the devil’s advocate who’ll try to steal the contestant’s winnings. Hilary Isaac (sister of Lumen in the Surf commercial) will be Joey’s sidekick. "There are four other girls as dancers and we got them after a series of auditions," adds Garrett. "Ultimately, we intend to market this innovative interactive game show in other countries and it’ll be nice to know that we started it here first in the Philippines."

Garrett is good-looking enough to be on cam rather than behind the camera. "But I’ve never wanted to act or host," he says. "After finishing my business course in college, I went to work as a production assistant in Las Vegas and Hollywood then got assigned in Shanghai."