ABS-CBN distancing itself from Cloudine's court cases

Looks like Parokya ni Edgar vocalist Chito Miranda has segued to a new love relationship. A reliable source tells me that Chito has a new housemate. A friend of my source visited Chito at his house and saw a girl emerging from his bedroom. The singer introduced the girl as his housemate. This comes as a shock to me. Does this mean that Chito has ditched Kaye Abad, the girl who sacrificed a promising acting career for him? That would be cruel, I think, discarding a relationship like an old rag. Poor Kaye; she's got no career, and no lovelife.

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ABS-CBN is distancing itself from the cases swirling around Claudine Barretto. Claudine has filed an P8 million suit against Ms. Jo Ann Maglipon of Yes and Hi Magazine for invasion of privacy. In turn, Ms. Maglipon sued the actress on eight counts of libel and a separate case against Ms. Maglipon's son, Pat M. Marcelo. "Filing the cases is Claudine's personal decision," the source said.

Another informant told me Ms. Connie Reyes is advising Claudine on the cases. "Connie's only one of them. There are others in the Christian community who are encouraging her to carry on with the cases." Is there a chance for a reconciliation? Or will Claudine ride on the publicity generated by the cases to promote her latest movie, "Dubai"?

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If we are to believe a friend of Aiko Melendez, the actress' new love interest, Jonard, is heaven-sent. "He's so kind and is every inch a gentleman," the friend enthused. "He's a far cry from Aiko's last boyfriend who's so rude. Once, I was sitting in Aiko's dressing room when a visitor came in. You know what? Aiko's boyfriend asked me to give up my seat for the visitor! Can you imagine the gall of the guy? As the man he should have volunteered his own seat."

Jonard indeed looks like the right man for Aiko. Once I bumped into the couple in Baclaran church and Aiko introduced me to him. Jonard struck me as a gentleman. He's cute too. I sincerely hope Aiko and Jonard hit it off. She deserves to be happy after her stormy marriage with Jomari Yllana.

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The stars of ABS-CBN rocked Davao City last week as they added glitter to the Kadayawan festival there. More than 80 of the network's talents flew to Davao for the live telecast of "ASAP '05." Not surprisingly their presence tied up traffic in the city. A crowd of 35,000 (according to estimates by security personnel) filled SM Davao's grounds where "ASAP '05" was staged. I was told some of the fans came from as far as General Santos and Cotabato City.

Among the stars who went to Davao was the cast of "Vietnam Rose" made up of Maricel Soriano, John Estrada, Angelica Panganiban; Anne Curtis with her co-stars in "Kampanerang Kuba," the Circle of 12 of the "Search For The Star In A Million," The Hunks Piolo Pascual, Diether Ocampo, Bernard Palanca, Jericho Rosales and Carlos Agassi, the cast of "Gulong Ng Palad" Kristine Hermosa and TJ Trinidad. They were joined by Bayani Agbayani, Vhong Navarro, Nina, Nyoy Volante, Karel Marquez and "ASAP 05's" own talents headed by Gary Valenciano.

The crowd didn't mind the noonday heat, screaming and swooning at the sight of their idols. They also scrambled for autographs and a chance to have their picture taken with the stars. Even the ABS-CBN people were surprised at the size of the crowd. Before the show, a presscon was held for local and Manila reporters at the NCCC Mall. The stars had to bear with a number of quirky questions from the Davao media. One reporter asked Bernard Palanca pointblank: "Is it true that you were not able to join the ASAP's US tour because you had to go into rehab?" It took several seconds for Bernard to recover and compose himself. The reason he missed the tour was because he was shooting for "Dubai."

ABS-CBN executive Ms. Charo Santos-Concio attended the presscon but only briefly. The day earlier Charo made the rounds of Davao's women's centers which provide shelter for battered and abused women. The Manila-based reporters were able to have a chat with Davao Mayor Rudy Duterte during the opening of the Inda-Indakan contest, the highlight of the Kadayawan festival. The festival was the mayor's idea. He said he wanted to promote Davao's rich cultural heritage. Tourism Secretary Ace Durano also attended the festival. I didn't know he looks like Polo Ravales.

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Finally, Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston are officially divorced. But it looks like marriage is not in the cards for either of the two. Not until October 2 anyway. A Los Angeles judge signed the divorce papers last week, but they don't take effect until October 2. After that date Brad or Jennifer are free to remarry. Brad has long been linked to Angelina Jolie, but neither of them wants to admit it. Brad's marriage to Jennifer lasted for five years.