Marital trouble for Kris and James?

For the past weeks, rumor mill has been churning out stories about a girl being linked to James Yap. The mystery girl is supposed to be working with the Belo Medical Group.

The rumors seem to jibe with persistent talk that James and Kris are in the midst of a marital spat. Kris' PR and friend Cristy Fermin brushes aside the stories, saying someone is just trying to come between the couple.

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Edu Manzano made the right decision in refusing to run for the Senate. Edu doesn't want to be a part of the circus that the elections are turning out to be. He himself has admitted that he doesn't have the funds to mount a campaign. He will also be sacrificing a lot if he joined the senatorial race. He would have to quit as a product endorser and put his acting and TV hosting careers on hold.

Edu's content enough where he is: chairman of the Optical Media Board. I believe he's effective in that job. Last week the OMB raided a new shopping mall reportedly owned by Cogie Domingo and confiscated millions worth of pirated audio and video products. Almost 80 percent of the illegally copied materials were DVDs of Philippine films. No wonder our cinema industry is still slumping!

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Film Academy of the Philippines Chairman Leo Martinez has turned off a lot of his colleagues in showbiz with his tirade on actors running in the May elections. Leo questioned their motives for climbing into the political ring, saying they could channel their energies instead into helping solve the entertainment industry's problems. Leo took particular aim at Richard Gomez, who has signed up as a candidate for senator.

A veteran showbiz writer can't understand why Leo is so pissed off at screen personalities trying their luck at politics. "Instead of carping at his fellow actors he should be busy putting the Film Academy of the Philippines in order," says the showbiz insider. The academy has been in the line of fire lately because many of its members are said to be harboring video pirates. If that is true, Leo has a lot of explaining to do.

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Dennis Padilla is on his third term as councilor of Caloocan. After nine years in public office he's ready to take a bow. Dennis says he's not aspiring for a higher position and would let his wife Marjorie run for councilor instead. And he's looking forward to his return to television. Dennis' last show was Crazy for You on ABS-CBN several years back. Now he's cast in Sabi Ni Nanay on RPN 9 which starts airing on March 9, 8:30 p.m.

Produced by Solar Entertainment, Sabi ni Nanay is unique in that it's a reality show with a heavy dose of comedy.

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Even in death, Anna Nicole Smith remains controversial.

The former Playboy centerfold, who died almost two weeks ago, has not been buried because of a legal tug of war over who fathered her baby daughter.

Two courts, in Florida and California, issued similar rulings prohibiting the release of Smith's body from a morgue in Florida pending DNA tests to determine who's the father of her five-month-old daughter Dannielynn, who may stand to inherit millions of dollars.

Her boyfriend Howard Stern and another ex Larry Birkhead both claim they're the dad. Dannielyn's birth certificate lists Stern as the father but Birkhead is challenging that.

Last week it was the turn of a former bodyguard of the blonde bombshell to claim he is the girl's father.

Birkhead also got a court to prevent the burial of Smith until a DNA test is done. Stern and Smith's mother want her to be buried as soon as possible.

A medico legal, however, is worried that while the legal battle rages, the body of Smith could decompose. "Any further delay might affect the integrity of the body and its aesthetic appearance," the medico legal said.

There is also the question of where the former model is to be buried. Her mother wants Smith buried in Florida. Stern insists that her final resting place be in the Bahamas, beside her son Daniel who died under still-unclear circumstances in September.

There's more. The cause of Smith's own death has not been determined, and drug overdose has not been ruled out. Also unresolved is Smith's legal tiff with the family of the 89-year-old billionaire she married when she was 26 for her husband's vast estate.