Claudine vs. Angelica tiff rages on; Will Nora Aunor get her voice back?

The Twitter tiff between teleserye rivals Claudine Barretto and Angelica Panganiban shows no signs of abating. Last Friday, TV Patrol reported Friday that Magic Circle has given Claudine seven days to answer charges lodged by Angelica, who is one of its wards.

According to TV Patrol, it has come to the point where Angelica has hired a bodyguard as a precaution (Does she expect the fight to get physical?)

But according to Barretto’s talent manager, Shirley Kwan, the rival camps are talking to each other to try to reach a truce.

It all started when Claudine tweeted that Angelica was spreading rumors that Claudine had an affair with the best friend of Derek Ramsay.

Magic Circle has come to the defense of Angelica, saying she has “not done anything wrong, much less, maligned Claudine. On the contrary, it is Angelica who is being maligned by these unfounded accusations.”

Here’s the complete demand letter from Angelica's camp:

“We are writing on behalf of our client, Ms. Angelica Panganiban.

“Our client referred to us the matter of your making false accusations against her in print, television and internet media, as well as your acts of making grave threats against her life and well-being.

“In particular, we have gathered that you posted on your Twitter Account about a traitor friend, who has allegedly been saying malicious things about you and your family. In a subsequent interview, you identified the person you were referring to in your ‘tweets,’ to be Ms. Panganiban.

“You likewise accused Ms. Panganiban, in your other interviews, of spreading rumors that you are having an illicit affair with a certain Mr. Martin Castro and that Ms. Panganiban is out to ruin Mr. Derek Ramsay and Mr. Castro’s friendship.

“You further accused Ms. Panganiban of spreading rumors that Mr. Castro is a drug addict.

“Contrary to your baseless accusations, our client has not done any of the things you have accused her of. She has not committed anything wrong, much less, maligned you or any member of your family.

“On the contrary, it is our client who is being maligned by your unfounded accusations. You have placed our client’s reputation and good name in a bad light, in the eyes of the public. Your malicious statements have unduly exposed our client to public hatred and contempt and have caused derogatory feelings against her.

“We have further gathered that on 8 August 2010, you called Ms. Panganiban and threatened her in this manner, ‘[P]apatayin kita. Wawasakin ko mukha mo. You don’t deserve to live. Suntukan tayo ngayon na.’

“You likewise conveyed this threat against the life of Ms. Panganiban to no less than Ms. Mariole Alberto, head of Star Magic, when you said ‘Wawasakin ko ang mukha niya pag nagkita kami Tita.’

“Your threat against the life of our client, which was not made in jest, is a grave threat punishable under our penal laws.

“Let this, therefore, serve as a FINAL DEMAND on you to immediately cease from making any more false accusations and damaging remarks against our client, and to stop threatening her life and well-being.

“We likewise hereby demand a retraction from you of your libelous and slanderous statements, to correct the negative impression created in the minds of the people who have read or heard your statements against our client.

“Should you fail to do so within seven (7) days from receipt of this letter, we shall be constrained to take whatever legal action necessary to protect the interests of our client.

“We trust that this merits your preferential attention.

Very truly yours,

Atty. Joji Alonso”

* * *

Sen. Sergio Osmeña III has stepped in to soothe Cebuanos who felt insulted by what they consider as a slur from actress and former Miss Universe Gloria Diaz.

Ms. Diaz was swamped with angry remarks from Cebuanos after she pressed that Filipina Maria Venus Raj, who finished the 4th runner-up in the recent Miss Universe, should have insisted on an interpreter in answering the question from a pageant judge because she could not express herself well in English.

Ms. Diaz is reported to have cited as an example Cebuanos who could hardly speak English or Tagalog.

Osmeña said that Gloria never meant to put down Cebuanos. Ms. Diaz was "misinterpreted and misunderstood. What she meant is - do not answer in English if you are not too fluent. Use the language you are most comfortable with. After all, the sponsor provides interpreters. I agree with her," he said.

"We Filipinos understood what Venus was saying. But we should also appreciate that Americans and other peoples use different idioms and would not understand ours. Miss Diaz did not intend to insult the Cebuano people. Her longtime boyfriend for the last 12 years is from Cebu. "

The rage in Cebu against the actress/beauty queen reached the point where the Cebu chapter of the Vice Mayors League of The Philippines declared her persona non grata and demanded an apology.

Cebu congresswoman Rachel del Mar joined in the fray, saying Cebuanos are tired of being made fun of.

Ms. Diaz has denied insulting Cebuanos. “Let me clarify it once and for all. People should have the right to say or to answer in whatever language they want to say it in. If they're Cebuanos, they can say it in Cebuano. I did not say that they did not speak English,” she explained.

“If you're Ilocano, say it in Ilocano. But if you're Ilocano who speaks good English, say it in English. If you're Cebuano who can speak Spanish, if you're comfortable with Spanish, say it in Spanish. That's what I said and that's what I meant.”

Ms. Diaz said she was surprised at the storm her remark has created. “I was like, shocked. Everybody was so angry I thought they're gonna stone me to death.”

* * *

At a concert in Australia Nora Aunor tried gamely to sing live, but in the end she had to lip-synch her numbers. She hasn’t recovered her singing voice following a cosmetic surgery in Japan.

There’s a big chance she might not be able to recover her voice at all.

“You don’t know how painful it is (losing her voice) for a performer like me,” she told her audience. “My voice is something that God gave to me. It is what enabled me to lift my family out of poverty.”

Nora is said to be raising enough money to sue the doctor who performed the surgery.

Let’s pray Nora Aunor gets her golden voice back.