Brangelina in town?

MANILA, Philippines - Was it a test on the incarnation of a rumor or were “Brangelina” and their children really in town?

Rumors were rife early yesterday that Hollywood couple Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie and their six children were booked at the Shangri-La Makati hotel and were headed for a three-day holiday at the posh Shangri-La Resort on Boracay island, where prices for an overnight stay range from P28,000 to P158,000.

A highly reliable source told The STAR that the Jolie-Pitts were in the hotel in Makati. When asked to verify the report, Andy Bautista, CEO of the Kuok Group in the Philippines which owns the Shangri-La chain, said, “I don’t think it is true.” Still he refused to categorically deny the report.

Executives at the island resort who asked not to be named because they were not authorized to speak on the matter told The STAR the hotel is fully booked and there is no booking for either Pitt or Jolie.

“But we will surely welcome them if they showed up,” the Shangri-La executive said, adding it is possible that the Jolie-Pitts could have booked under a different name.

Ninoy Aquino International Airport chief of security retired Gen. Angel Atutubo said the Brangelina visit was just “a rumor.”

STAR editors are thus finding themselves in the eye of either a breaking news report or a perfect rumor — one that thrives in the fertile ground of uncertainty.

Editors recall a rumor started on purpose by a class of the Institute of Mass Communications at the University of the Philippines 15 years ago, claiming one of the Spice Girls was actually a Spice Boy, a rumor that took on a life of its own.

So whether the Brangelina story is a belated April Fool’s joke, a communications class’ dissertation on the anatomy of a rumor or the real thing, we’ll know soon enough.