EDU: 'I DID NOT BEAT UP ANYONE'

April Boy Regino had a traumatic experience in Guam recently. While going through the immigration in the US territory, he apparently was in a playful mood and tried to shake the hand of an immigration officer.

The immigration officer was not amused. He escorted April Boy to an inspection room to be bodily searched. The singer kneeled before the officer, begging for forgiveness.

But the heartless immigration man continued the search. Later April Boy complained that the officer squeezed his private parts rather hard during the search. He plans to file a protest for the humiliation he suffered. o0o

I'm sure that MTRCB chair Consoliza Laguardia is relieved now that her reappointment has been confirmed. She must have been on tenterhooks after her appointment expired in September.

There have been other appointments as well. Ms. Christine Dayrit has been named chairman of the Cinema Evaluation Board, replacing Jacki Atienza who is now had of the Film Development Council of the Philippines.

Ms. Dayrit is a columnist of our sister publication, The Philippine Star. o0o

Edu Manzano once again finds himself in the harsh light of controversy. This time he's being accused of beating up a teenager during an altercation in the Powerplant in Makati last Sunday. The way Edu tells it, he was shopping with his kids in the upscale mall when the teenager and his group began to heckle him. He said he went over to the teenager and told him to stop his heckling.

But Edu swears he never beat up the guy. "I'm not crazy enough to mix it up with him. He was tall - he and his companions must be basketball players - and I was alone," he said in a telephone interview.

"Besides, there was a security guard present. And there were lots of shoppers at the Powerplant at the time," he said.

He said what he can't get over with is that while he was the one who was aggrieved, he's instead being portrayed as the villain.

Edu, who is chairman of the Optical Media Board, was also in the news not too long ago for supposedly roughing up a truck driver who sideswiped his car. The driver described the incident when interviewed by the media but he never filed any formal complaint.

Edu feels he attracts controversy because first, he is a movie star, and second, he is a government official. Now he believes it's best to stay out of any argument and concentrate on his job as OMB chief, especially since the Philippines is about to be removed from the United States' list of major violators of intellectual property rights. Edu is heartened by the news that Trade Secretary Peter Favila and his US counterpart Rob Portman discussed the delisting of the Philippines from the dreaded list.

Favila reportedly cited the OMB's confiscation of more than P1 billion worth of pirated audio and video materials from January to September.

With the crusade against video pirates reaping results, we can look forward to a better year for the movie industry. Illegally copied DVDs and VCDs have long been the bane of film producers not only in the Philippines but all over the world. o0o

Since his appointment as the Presidential Consultant on the Entertainment Industry, Vic del Rosario has been besieged by intrigues. I know Boss Vic to be someone who abhors intrigue, but I guess it comes with the territory.

The latest shenanigan involves Boss Vic and Ms. Laurice Guillen, the former chair of the Film Development Board. It began when Laurice huffed out of the awards night of the Cinemanila International Film Festival. She was furious because no one had told her that her appointment as the Film Development Board head had not been renewed.

She had to learn it from Manila Mayor Lito Atienza who had congratulated his cousin Jacki Atienza for being named the new board chairman. Laurice was particularly angry at Boss Vic for withholding information about her being replaced in the board. Boss Vic never had the chance to explain his side. So here's his statement which I am printing in its entirety:

"Ms. Laurice Guillen is a highly respected leader in the entertainment industry. I worked together with Ms. Guillen in more than 10 movies both as an actress and director. Furthermore, I acknowledge her contributions as Chairperson of the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP) and supported her in whatever way I could during her tenure. I would be one of the last persons to offend her.

"What happened during the opening night of the CineManila International Film Festival at the Manila Hotel last October 12 was unfortunate and unintentional. I had no hand in the production nor in the protocol arrangements of the affair.

"After the affair, I learned that it was all a result of miscommunication. Thus as the Presidential Consultant on the Entertainment Industry, I informed Ms. Guillen formally of Mr. Atienza's appointment. I was sad to know that Ms. Guillen was offended. And I am also disappointed that she thought I had a hand in hurting her or anybody for that matter."