I'm not talking about the battle over who can sell the most Tupperware products. I'm talking about a brewing catfight between Mikaela Bilbao vs Gretchen Barreto and Pops Fernandez.
But first who is Mikaela Bilbao? If you tuned in on the first few episodes of the current Celebrity Duets, you wouldn't have missed this lady in a tanga costume, doing what I think is singing. As soon I saw her face full frontal, I thought "the Helen of Troy of our generation." Later I found out that she is the genius behind "Philosophy" by Mikaela Bilbao, a beauty and wellness center. Who knew, right?
Alas, Mikaela dropped out of the competition because according to her doctor, the intense heat from the studio's kleig lights is bad for her complexion. No, according to Mikaela the contest is putting too much pressure
Well, anyway...
The root of the catfight is money, or in this case the promise thereof, and it all started from a text sent to Ana Abiera, a close friend of Gretchen Barreto and Nadia Montenegro.
Gretchen Barreto and Nadia Montenegro are former best buds. Nadia Montenegro is now an endorser of Philosophy for their weight-loss technology.
Mikaela got embroiled in the controversy because she "allegedly" was the sender of the malicious text.
The connection is with Dodie Puno, the brother of DILG secretary Ronnie Puno; the alleged new rich man in Gretchen Barreto's life (not that Tonyboy Cojuangco is out of the picture); and the executive director of the Road Board, the agency handling the dispensing, that is supposedly the responsible dispensing, of billions of pesos of road users' tax.
I didn't know Gretchen and Pops are so hard up that they need to dip their fingers in government contracts? I read that Nadia is, but that's neither here nor there because her name was not in the text.
But I think Gretchen really needs the funds wherever she can get it because there's always new branded shoes, clothes and bags to get her hands on and the shops will not wait for her.
Gretchen has said she's in consultation with her lawyers to advise her on what to do with the creature who dared maligned her name in public.
Mikaela has appeared on a number of showbiz talk shows to defend her good name. To quote her "hindi ako ipinanganak para matakot sa isang Gretchen Barreto."
Hmm, them are fighting words. But I expect to see these same people making bese-beso in social-climbing events in no time. As they say, friends who do plastic surgery together, flock together. Well, I'm mixing my idioms, but you get my drift.
Mikaela dropped other bombshells. Like it was Pops Fernandez who called her up to ask for help on a government contract. Another one: Gretchen, Pops and Ruffa went on a vacation in Bohol with certain top government officials.
I don't who's telling the truth; I don't really care to find out. What is clear is that it is unethical for any of these ladies to make commissions on government contracts on the virtue of one or two of them having an intimate connection with the person who has the power to award the winning bid.
Mikaela is encouraging Gretchen to take the dispute in court where she can reveal all she knows.
The stakes are high. I wish they’d get a judge who is creative, one who would rule that whoever losses will have to choices for punishment: spend an inordinate of time under extreme heat or allow one flick on the loser’s nose.
The complete text message sent to Gretchen Barretto's friend, Ana Abiera:
First text: "Kung meron mas malala kaysa sa mga bagyo na pinagdaanan ng bansa natin is that may konting katotohanan sa
sinasabi ni Sen. Miriam Defensor pati ang mga artistang sina Gretchen Baretto at Pops Fernandez ay kasama na nakikikomisyon
sa mga proyekto. Mas matindi pa sa buwaya ang mga ito at pati source ng pinahanap nila ay na-123 nila. Kung ebidensya ang
pagbabatayan mismong sulat kamay ni Gretchen ang percentage ng komisyon sa road safety at road works ng mga raket ni Dodie.
"Alam ni Gretchen at Pops kung sino ako. Matagal akong nananahimik at nagpapagaling pero ayaw nila akong tantanan. Puwes sa
senado kami magkikita. Wala akong kinakatakutan kahit sino pa. Alam ko Ana na humingi kayo ng 500k na advance sa Serena
kasama mo si Gretchen. I recorded my conversation with Jenny Munar.
Second text: "Pakisabi sa dalawa mong alaga, mga putang ina sila! Hindi ko sila tatantanan at hindi ko sila uurungan. Mismong
tatay ko binaril ko, mismong anak ko hindi ko inuurungan. Sino sa tingin nyo kayo? Gusto kong malaman kung gaano kayo
katapang. Nananahimik ang buhay ko pa-letter-letter pa kayo. Antayin ninyo ang sagot ko.
Third text: "Tingnan ko lang kung anong presinto kayo ni Dodie babagsak sa mga raket ninyo."
