And why not when Mo does stir a gigantic hornet’s nest by putting his star-guests on the spot – in the hot seat, so to speak – and asks them such forbidden questions as, ehem, Are you good in bed?...Among your bedmates, who’s better, who’s the best?...Who do you think are the worst actresses around?
Or he presses his star-guests to do some sort of witch-hunting by pointing out who among their colleagues are gay, like when Mo "pressured" guest Maui Taylor to admit that Erik Santos, hounded by a nasty gender-related (unfounded?) rumor since he began going steady with Rufa Mae Quinto, is indeed one.
And did Mo really accuse the Buzz hosts (Kris Aquino, Boy Abunda, Cristy Fermin and Jobert Sucaldito) as "illiterate?" Or put the credibility of the feisty Lolit Solis in question because he said she was involved in a "scam?" Did he also cast aspersion on the sexuality of Raymond Gutierrez (one of the nicest guys around)?
Suddenly, Mo’s "victims," rather the victims’ staunch defenders (the most vocal being Lolit, Cristy and Jobert) are up in arms, calling the diminutive deejay colorful monikers like DJ Mo N’yo and Mo Twisted. (Har, har, har, har, har!).
The battle lines have been drawn.
Face to face with Funfare, Mo Twister, who turned 29 on Oct. 19, was on the defensive.
"I never made any sweeping statement against the Buzz hosts, especially not Boy Abunda and Kris Aquino. I only said that whichever Buzz host, who turned out to be Jobert Sucaldito, said that I should stop meddling in stars’ lives is a hypocrite...I didn’t say ‘illiterate’...because he himself is meddling in the stars’ lives.
"I only reacted to what Lolit Solis wrote in her column in defense of Erik and Raymond, and I said that she didn’t have credibility because she got involved in the filmfest scam." (To which the unstoppable Lolit replied, "Isn’t not supporting your child by Bunny Paras a bigger scam?")
Now, is this Mo Twister’s (desperate?) effort to salvage a career that, according to his opponents, was non-existent in the first place so nothing has to be "salvaged?" Does he have to make his colleagues objects of ridicule and disdain, slinging mud at them (by "using" his guests), so he will be talked about? Is it his do-or-die way of making his presence felt?
If these are Mo’s objectives, then he’s succeeding without trying too hard. You see, he’s being talked about, with his name being dropped in the tabs, on radio and national television like a vaccine-resistant virus. He has become local radio’s version of Howard Stern (of Shock Radio), America’s most notorious voice on the air. Very soon, will Mo be catapulted into local TV’s counterpart of Jon Stewart of Comedy Central fame? Well, if he can be as witty and as incisive without necessarily being offensive, why not?
"That’s why that portion of my show is called Forbidden Questions (only on Wednesdays) because I ask my (star-)guests questions that other deejays may be afraid to ask," said Mo who had been with Magic 89.9 before he was recruited for TV by ABS-CBN (where he appeared for a few years before disappearing back into California where he spent a good part of his growing-up years). "For a program aired that early, you have to make it more interesting, more entertaining, more edgy, more gimmicky and more controversial for people to sit up and listen. Forbidden Questions is supposed to be fun, it’s a little game that I make my guests play."
It is fun to destroy people’s reputation? It is "a little game" that rattles skeletons in the stars’ closets? Oh yes, it’s "fun" and "a little game" as long as you are not on the receiving end of the darts.
"But I don’t force my guests to answer any question," Mo defended himself. "Either they answer or they don’t. It’s not I making those so-called ‘offensive’ statements or answers but my (star-)guests. I should remind people to open their ears before they open their mouths. Those who are reacting violently to my program haven’t really listened to it but were only told by other people who have."
Last week, Mo put Troy Montero in the hot seat and asked him pointblank who between his two ex-girlfriends Cher Calvin and Nikki Valdez (the current being Aubrey Miles), was better in bed and the clueless Troy, not knowing any better, answered, "Cher!" And what about – Gasp!!! – the size of his, you know...? Again, Troy gamely mentioned the size (in inches), to which Aubrey promptly phoned to correct that, ehem, "It’s actually bigger." The reserved Jay-R, when asked the same question in a separate guesting, politely said, "Satisfactory. You can ask them (girls he has gone to bed with)."
I will have to end this piece by asking Mo Twisted, er, Twister a few "personal" questions.
Is it true that he’s not supporting his love child with Bunny Paras (now based in L.A.)?
"Bunny and I are okay. You can call her anytime and check."
Was he really the one who "ordered" his girlfriend Janette McBride to flash a dirty finger at the movie press when Janette left for the States four years ago?
"Yes. That was a mistake, I admit. There’s a story to it but I’d rather not tell it anymore."
Did he and Janette get married in L.A.?
"No, we did not."
But did they live in?
"Yes, we did?"
Do they have a love child?
"No, we don’t have."
Did he (and Janette) really "malinger" in L.A.?
"Janette finished high school and has started college. I studied Aviation at a California school because my dream has always been to be an air-traffic comptroller. I also worked with the L.A. Police Department as 911 operator."
Now, the five "really forbidden" questions...
1. Are you good in bed?
"Don’t ask me; ask them!"
2. Who are they and how many of them?
"Not too many."
3. Who’s better in bed, Bunny or Janette?
"I don’t kiss and tell."
4. Big or small?
"Enough to please my partner."
5. Are you gay (as Cristy Fermin is suspecting)?
"No. I’m happy!"