Martin Nievera reacts to Pops-Jomari breakup

“I would not work with him again.” This quotable quote comes from Martin Nievera. He was referring to Jomari Yllana, the former love interest of Martin’s ex, Pops Fernandez.

Martin was reacting to reports that money was the reason Jomari and Pops broke up. He said he had no issue with Jomari before, but his outlook had changed after Jomari reportedly failed to pay the amount he borrowed from Pops. Martin and Pops had bannered a concert last February that was co-produced by Jomari.

But interviewed by Boy Abunda in Showbiz News Ngayon, Pops denied that money was the issue behind the split-up. She said the relationship failed to withstand the pressures it was subjected to.

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Music helped ease the grief throughout the last rites for master rapper Francis Magalona last week. But the tears eventually fell at the eulogy when his family, friends and comrades in the entertainment industry paid their final tribute and last goodbye to the music icon.

Good buddy Michael V. even tried to inject some levity to the proceedings by recounting Francis’ obsession for acquiring men’s underwear. Francis, he said, didn’t want to be caught in an embarrassing situation. If he had an accident, for example, Francis didn’t want the nurse in the hospital to see him wearing frayed briefs, Michael V. said.

Yet, Michael failed to hold back the tears at the end of his eulogy. “I love you, brod,” he declared.

I could not help but admire Pia Magalona for her strength and poise. I’m sure she was grieving inside but she never showed it publicly.

Several days earlier, the Eraserheads also paid tribute to Francis when the band played Superproxy at their concert, Eraserheads: The Final Set. Superproxy was a collaborative work between Francis and the Eraserheads. He was in fact supposed to sing it himself at the concert. He would have loved performing with the Eheads one last time.

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Ai-Ai delas Alas missed several episodes of the morning show Ruffa and Ai after coming down with a kidney infection and gastritis. The irrepressible comedian had to spend several days at the Far Eastern University Nicanor Reyes Medical Foundation hospital and was scheduled to be discharged last Friday.

“My gastritis acted up again and my UTI (Urinary Tract Infection) went up to my kidney so my kidney became inflamed,” delas Alas explained in an interview.

She said she had to stay in hospital a few days more to prevent a relapse. Temporarily taking over Ai-Ai’s slot is Charlene Gonzales.

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The woman accused for trying to snatch the daughter of Claudine Barretto and Raymart Santiago is an avid fan of Judy Ann Santos. According to the police report on Joanne Castro, she was badgering the househelp of Claudine to get information about Juday.

Charges of unjust vexation have been filed against Castro after she tried to pick up Claudine’s daughter from her school, telling school officials she had been asked to do so by the actress. The school authorities became suspicious and checked with Claudine. It was a good thing that they did.

Claudine and Raymart were disappointed that Castro was not charged with kidnapping, Police explained that no actual abduction had taken place.

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Angel Locsin may have given a spectacular performance as an outstanding college student that ended up a nude dancer and a street stray in a recent episode of “Maalaala Mo Kaya,” but officials of University of the Philippines Los Baños were not impressed. Angel portrayed Reema, who supposedly graduated summa cum laude from UPLB. Because she can’t find a job, she had to work as a stripper and eventually ended up living in the street.

According to one report, a UPLB official wrote ABS-CBN saying that the school didn’t have any summa cum laude who fell into hard times. Replying through an official statement, ABS-CBN admitted that the writers and researchers of “Maalaala Mo Kaya” were remiss in not verifying with UPLB if the story of Reema that the letter-sender had submitted to show checked out. “MMK sincerely apologizes for the oversight,” ABS-CBN said.