Good Vibes

QUEZON CITY, Philippines — A staff member of It’s Showtime reveals that the ‘Twitterserye’ portion revolving around Pastillas Girl’s search for love and making peace with her past is apparently all for show.



In an exclusive interview with Manila Link, one of the staff behind ABS-CBN’s noontime show—identity and gender withheld for obvious reasons—confirms what some have been speculating all along: that the story surrounding ‘Pastillas Girl’ Angelica Jane Yap was fabricated to win back the ratings they have been losing to Eat Bulaga’s AlDub.

“We had to do something, eh,” said the staff member. “Siyempre, tingnan mo naman, tinatalo na namin sa ratings yung show na running for almost 40 years na, ‘di ba?”

“Then AlDub came along. Trending lagi, ibang klase! Kahit kami pinapanood namin backstage, kung pano na kami natatalo,” added the anonymous staff member with a chuckle. “We did what we had to do. Labanan pa din ‘yan, kahit ano pa sabihin namin, nina Vice, [or] Joey De Leon sa TV. Kailangan pataasan ng ratings talaga.”

The said staff member shared how they witnessed the AlDub phenomenon overpowering them, and the realization that they needed to do something to regain the noontime audience’s attention.

They then went into detail how they managed to put up an answer to the phenomenal love team.

"Ang ginawa namin, ginaya namin. Kumuha kami ng viral din, ‘yung may following na din. Ayan, si Pastillas. Pinag-guest sa AdVice, binigyan ng story.”

“We added pa-kilig, the works. ‘Yung tipong masasabi nu’ng fans nila na ‘Uy, ginagaya ‘yung idol natin. Tingnan nga natin kung anong kalokohan ‘to’, ‘yung ganu’n. Effective naman, kita mo, ‘di ba? Nakuha namin ‘yung attention nila, kahit nega. At least, nag-te-trending na din kami!”

“Sabi nga, eh, ‘Bad publicity is still publicity.’ ‘Yun ang ginawa namin.”

As of writing, the hashtag #ShowtimeKapamilyaDay generated 6.12 million tweets on micro-blogging site Twitter, still a far cry from their rival #ALDubEBforLove's 20.6 million on Saturday, September 26.

Friday’s episode of It’s Showtime featured Pastillas Girl and her best friend, Karen, who allegedly stole the former’s boyfriend—the story that is said to have inspired the Pastillas recipe video and made everyone sympathize with 21-year-old Angelica.

Here’s where the staff member drops the bomb.

“Syempre kung ‘di namin i-e-explore ‘yung back story kuno, eh ‘di walang mangyayari sa’min. So gumawa kami ng kwento. Iniwan kunwari siya ng boyfriend, inagaw ng best friend, ganyan. The classic tale of the best friend and the boyfriend.”

“Ganyan gusto ng mga Pinoy, eh. ‘Yung may drama. Dalawang babaeng nag-aagawan sa iisang lalake. Nababaliw sila sa ganyan.”

It can be recalled that Angelica’s so called ex-boyfriend was also invited to the show on a previous episode to talk and get some closure.

We also asked the staff member about the truth behind the “open letter” that recently made its rounds on Facebook, containing revelations about Pastillas Girl.

“Wala kaming alam, sa totoo lang. The producers talked to her about the pregnancy daw, kung ano talaga nangyari du’n sa boyfriend. Sila lang nakakaalam. ‘Di na lang in-address para ‘di na masyadong kumalat.”

“Ang masasabi ko lang is hindi ‘yun ‘yung boyfriend niya talaga. Ini-scout lang namin ‘yun. ‘Di naman mahirap maghanap, lahat gusto ng exposure sa TV,” they explained with another chuckle.

What about Karen, the best friend?

“Kami lang din kumuha sa kanya. Basically, lahat scripted,” confirmed the staff member. “As in, lahat.”

Despite all this, our anonymous source maintains there is nothing wrong with what they are doing.

“Like I said, we just did what we had to do. It’s still business after all. Kailangan namin ng ratings, kailangan mapag-usapan para kumita. Hindi lang kami ang gumagawa nyan.”

ML - In a shocking turn of events, the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT) has announced that they will start reducing the internet speed of customers that complain about them online.


The largest telecommunications company in the Philippines released a statement to the press after "enduring cyber bullying on Facebook and Twitter." "We are going to throttle customers who publicly bully PLDT as a whole," said Julian Vega, a spokesperson for PLDT.

The issues began when Facebook users began posting complaints on the comments section of the PLDT Home Facebook page's posts. You can view the PLDT Home Facebook page here.

After the announcement, no complaints have been made publicly so far, but a PLDT in-house technician that refused to be named said that they're cross-examining the names of the customers to the names that they post with on Facebook.

"Kung ang subscriber name niyo ay name niyo din sa Facebook, wag na kayo mag-post ng reklamo. Babagal ang internet niyo," said the technician.

PHILADELPHIA – Angela Gardner, age 35, was shot in both her legs multiple times by Kenneth Bailor.


Angela, described as “always playing Candy Crush” is currently being treated in the emergency room in critical condition after being shot in both her legs. The gunman, 26 year old Kenneth Bailor is currently in custody and will face charges of attempted murder. Kenneth Bailor tells investigators, “I expecting a notification from bae but instead I was getting game invites from Angela.” He supposedly asked Angela Gardner to stop sending him game requests but she never stopped. He claims he even blocked her and she still sent him game invites. Bailor says, “it's like she was asking to be killed”.

“She played Candy Crush way too much,” says Allison Smith, a close friend of Angela. “She was getting annoying, it’s not that surprising that someone shot her, believe it or not.” It is reported Angela sent Kenneth and almost all her friends an average of 14 Candy Crush invites daily to all of her friends. Nurses reported that Angela, although, barely alive and well, asked for her iPhone so she can play “one more round of candy crush before I die.”

It is currently not known if Angela will survive the gunshot wounds, but it is obvious that she believes her life is over.

[Source]

FACEBOOK - A screen cap of an argument among students sparked the debate whether theology and science shouldn't mix together in schools.

Image too small? Click to enlarge

Pro-God
The pro-God stance argues that schools should not teach science, especially the Big Bang Theory, as the root of men and all creations. "We don't care what facts they have, we have the Bible," said one netizen in response to the viral screen cap.

Pro-Science
The pro-Science stance argues that teaching God as the root of all creations disqualifies and "disrespects" other beliefs. "Science has facts, these religious people should know how to respect facts. Whenever we try to argue with them, they just say 'bla bla bla, you're going to hell,'" said Martin Baltazar in a Facebook post.

Celebrities have been tagged on both Facebook and Twitter, but no big names have chimed in on the debate so far.

MANDALUYONG - A sales lady for a popular mall in Mandaluyong was reportedly fired after calling a transgender "ma'am-sir."

The sales lady, who we'll call "Karen" as she refused to give her real name, got into a quarrel with a transgender in the popular Mandaluyong mall. The transgender, Adrian Gonzales, born male, was window shopping in the lady's footwear area when Karen called her attention.

According to Gonzales, it was in the Alexander Wang isle.

"Nag-lalakad ako, minding my own business, tapos tinawag ba naman niya (Karen) ako. 'Ma'am-sir, Alexander Wang. 50% off po.'" ("I was walking, minding my own business, then she (Karen) called for my attention. 'Ma'am-sir, Alexander Wang. 50% off.'")

"I was very offended. I've already transition from male to a female, then she'd (sic) disrespect me by calling me ma'am-sir? Where's the professionalism?" Gonzales filed a complaint against Karen who was then released from her post this afternoon after a mutual agreement with the mall.

Bystanders during the quarrel said that Gonzales immediately raised her voice at Karen and feinted slapping the security guard who was attempting to separate them from each other.

Netizens have already come in defense of Karen, who they think is the one being oppressed in the situation. One user from Twitter posted: "I don't know the entire story, but Karen seems to be the one being bullied, so I will side with her."

Gonzales, who made public comments about the mall on her Facebook account has since switched off her social network profiles including her Instagram and Twitter accounts to avoid "being bullied."

FACEBOOK - After Ellen DeGeneres' invite to the infamous "Pabebe Girls," the duo posted their video response on their official Facebook page.

READ: "Pabebe Girls" Invited To The Ellen DeGeneres Show



The Pabebe Girls posted a video response on their official Facebook page that they're not interested with Ellen DeGeneres' invite. A partially-corrected excerpt has been provided below:

"Ellen DeGeneres, wala kaming paki sa show mo at hindi din kami interesado sa first class first class mo na yan. Kung sa tingin mo madadaan mo kami sa kalokohan mo, pwes nagkakamali ka. Dahil walang makakapigil samin. Di kami interesado sa show mo. At sa mga haters namin, inggit lang kayo kasi kami napapansin na sa ibang bansa. Wala na talagang makakapigil sa pag-papabebe namin."

Translation provided on the post's comments:
"Ellen DeGeneres, we don't care about your show and we are not interested with your first class flight offer. If you think that you can trick us, then you're mistaken. Because nobody can stop us. We are not interested with your show. And for our haters, you're just jealous because we're being noticed in other countries. Nobody can stop our 'pabebe ways.'"


The Pabebe Girls also posted a few more responses for those who "mock" them on national television, specifically ABS-CBN and GMA talents.

Ellen DeGeneres, whose popular daytime show is currently on its season break has been promoting her website as a new online lifestyle magazine destination.

LOS ANGELES - Philippine internet sensation "Pabebe Girls" were invited to The Ellen DeGeneres show earlier today by Ellen herself. The TV show host will pay for plane tickets and accommodation of the three girls involved in the original video.

The "Pabebe Girls" took the internet by storm with their video where they threatened people who do not agree with their "pabebe" ways. Whether they were serious or not remains unknown, but they've caught the attention of multiple local and international celebrities.


The latest international celebrity to hop on the "Pabebe Girls" hype train is 27 time Emmy award-winning TV show host Ellen DeGeneres who hosts her daytime show in the United States. The trio, including the girl who recorded the video, were invited by Ellen to come on the show.

"I'll pay for their plane tickets -- first class -- and their hotel fees. I really want them on the show," said Ellen.

Ellen was amazed at how passionate the "Pabebe Girls" were with their "pabebe" ways and was also intrigued by one of the girls' seemingly lack of eyebrows. The host joked: "I'll also pay for fake eyebrows if I have to."

READ: Pabebe Girls To Ellen: "Di kami interesado sa show mo!"

ML - Twelve year old Kapamilya Child Actress Andrea Brillantes famously known for her role as “Annaliza” is the hottest trending talk about as of today when an alleged scandalous one minute video of the actress popped up and went viral.

It now grabs the number one spot as the most trending topic in Twitter wherein floods of posts and reactions from Netizens are keep on rising. Majority of the netizens are now puzzled whether the alleged scandal is true or just made up by someone to destroy the actress’ good image. According to some reports the video was first uploaded in her Facebook fan page until it spread and became viral.

There are also rumors that Andrea’s cellphone was stolen which is not yet proven. There’s still no statement from the child actress’ side but her fans are continually giving their utmost support reminding everyone to stop sharing and spreading the alleged video.

Computer technicians around Metro Manila have denied fixing a laptop or computer from the Brillantes family. The same went for phone technicians.

For a short span of type, the term "Ryzza Mae" also trended on Twitter which confused netizens. The Eat Bulaga child star, however, does not have a scandal contrary to what most are spreading. More on this story as it develops.

[Source]

FACEBOOK - Globe Telecom has just announced that Facebook will now only be exclusive to Globe and TM subscribers. The website, app and messenger will not work on other handlers according to the deal.

The press conference will be held in Makati, Philippines next month to finalize the deal. This could mean that Smart and Sun subscribers will no longer be able to take advantage of their Facebook promos.

FACEBOOK - Facebook, Inc. has released a new list of keywords and phrases that are now considered as spam by the Facebook website. Among the 322 is the phrase "proud to be Pinoy" which caused an outrage with the Filipino online community.

"Ano bang masama sa pagiging proud na Pinoy?" ("What's wrong with being a proud Pinoy?") Thousands of Filipino Facebook users posted on Facebook's official corporate page in droves as the announcement was made. The phrase was auto-flagged as spam by the website's bots, but the system administrators have no plans to remove the flag.

"We trust our anti-spam bots and if it's saying that the phrase should be considered as spam, then it is," said Stephen Cobweb as he addressed the media in Menlo Park. "Thousands of accounts post the phrase whenever a Filipino achieves some global recognition, but that phrase itself doesn't contribute to the conversation. It's meaningless exhibition of pride that's clogging up the users' timelines," he added.

Posts containing the phrase will be silently omitted after 7 days and will not appear on public trends unless used under a hashtag (#) symbol. Facebook has stated that it will be firm with its decision to flag the phrase as spam.

MOSCOW - With Vladimir Putin's ongoing campaign against Russia's freedom of speech, he has requested access to Google, Facebook and Twitter's user data. Failure to comply with the Russian leader will result in the ban of the three websites in the country.

According to The Huffington Post, Vadim Ampelonskiy spoke with CNBC on Friday. The spokesman for Roskomnadzor said, "Such correspondence is regular in dealing with foreign internet companies. Usually after sending official requests and letters, we can see some positive movements and progress in communication. Roskomnadzor hopes this time all the compailes will respond again and will fulfill those requirements, which were asked many times before."

Observers have reported that this is one more step towards an authoritarian government that has been progressing since 2012. The reason why the country is requesting access to sensitive data is not yet known to the public.

MAKATI - MMDA has published a statement that prohibits the blockbuster film franchise The Fast and the Furious to film its 8th installment "Fast & Furious 8" to be taped in Epifanio de los Santos Avenue, commonly known as EDSA, in the Philippines.

Vin Diesel, who visited the Philippines in 2013, wanted a set of scenes to be filmed in the country for his Fast & Furious 8 project. The scenes would've involved Vin Diesel, Dwayne Johnson, Michelle Rodriguez and Ludacris among other names. He filed the request early May 2015 to the MMDA board, but was rejected.

The MMDA published a statement on their Facebook page and website that they have publicly declined Vin Diesel's request to film in the EDSA area due to the roads that would've been involved. "The heavy traffic in the area would have been tripled if we closed the lanes that Vin Diesel requested for the taping," said the press release.

The crew of Fast & Furious 8 are still scouting to possibly film in Southeast Asia, but the "failure to grant this one wish" turned off Vin Diesel which means having any scenes filmed in the Philippines is very slim.

The Fast and Furious 7 movie was a big hit in Philippine theaters which prompted an online petition to bring the FAST crew to the Philippines upon the film's release.

MAKATI - Michelle Liggayu, popularly known as Mich of the duo 'Jamich', has been under fire since the death of her boyfriend and fiancé, Jam Sebastian, last March.

The YouTube sensation went under scrutiny in comments on social media regarding her happy photos showing her with friends and frolicking on the beach while the love of her life was in his sickbed.



More criticisms broke out when Jam passed away. Mich uploaded a video of herself crying while 'reminiscing' her good times with her partner of six years, and the couple's followers found this unusual and disturbing. Many have commented that they would not have been able to find the strength to go online, much less post videos and updates; some felt that this was an act of hypocrisy—that Mich was milking her fiancé's death for her to gain more popularity.



While fans openly defended Mich against bashers during those critical times, a lot of them are now in doubt whether they had been right by doing so. It was rumored that she is in a newfound relationship with Neo Domingo, another internet celebrity and a friend to the couple, when pictures of them together started making rounds on Facebook.

Mich kept mum as suspicions of her relationship with Neo beginning way back when Jam was still alive also spread like wildfire, but is now breaking her silence by confirming the issue.

"Alam ko po hindi maganda tingnan, alam ko tingin nila mali. Ang sakit nga ng mga sinasabi nila, eh. 'Mich Bitch' daw, ganyan. Malandi daw. Pero 'di nila alam kung gaano kahirap," Mich said. "Hindi ko kasalanan na naghanap ako ng ibang... source, ng pagmamahal... na 'di maibigay sakin ni Jam nung mga times na 'yun." ("I know it doesn't look right, I know it seems wrong. They say a lot of hurtful things about me like 'Mich Bitch', those kind of stuff. They say I'm a flirt. But they don't know how difficult it all was for me. It wasn't my fault I had to look for another... source, of love... which Jam couldn't give me during those times.")

Mich also addressed her loyal fans, hoping they would understand and support her with whatever makes her happy. "Sa mga fans ko po, sana maging happy na lang kayo for me. Minahal ko naman si Jam. Pero tapos na 'yun, nagpapahinga na siya with God and His angels. Magpasalamat na lang siguro tayo na okay na siya at ako okay na rin. May nagmamahal pa rin sakin. Alam ko gusto ni Jam 'yun." ("To my fans, I hope you will just be happy for me. I loved Jam. But that's in the past now, he's already in the care of God and His angels. Let's just be grateful that he's okay now and I am, too. Someone still loves me. I know Jam would like that.")

Would she be making a new short film anthology with her new boyfriend and call their tandem 'NeoMich'? To that she laughingly said, "Naku, tingnan po natin. Sana suportahan din nila the way na sinuportahan nila ang Jamich." ("Oh my, maybe someday. I hope they support us the way they supported Jamich.")



Mich is the remaining half of the couple that became known for their short films on YouTube that they wrote, directed, and played in themselves. Jam passed away last March after battling with lung cancer for a year.

CAMBRIDGE - It’s been 2 days since “the dress” emerged from Tumblr, with several folks difference of opinion whether or not or not the dress was black and blue or white and gold. The story of the dress has been lined by nearly each major news channel and newspaper. Harvard scientists set to urge in on the action with a study to ascertain the distinction within the those that saw black and blue, and people UN agency saw white and gold.

Harvard study reports show that folks UN agency see the dress as ‘black and blue’ had a smaller p*nis than people who saw the dress as ‘white and gold’. Harvard scientists set to assemble one hundred folks and asked them whether or not they thought the dress was ‘white and gold’ and ‘black and blue’. The tests showed that thirty six of the one hundred folks saw the dress as ‘black and blue’.

Scientists then proceeded to check those people and complete that thirty three out of the thirty six people that saw black and blue, had a mean member size of four.6 Inches, whereas those UN agency saw white and gold averaged a member size of five.3 inches.

Harvard scientists set to require the studies additional and square measure presently attempting to seek out alternative variations within the 2 teams.

OKLAHOMA - A 43-year-old man killed his 35-year-old coworker because he was "annoyed of receiving Facebook game requests every hour." The game in question is a Facebook farming game that lets a player receive bonuses for every accepted game request.

Mildred Tanner, who works as an IT consultant for a firm in Oklahoma, admitted to killing his coworker. Leigh Brown has been missing for two weeks and the last time anyone heard from him was from a Facebook game invite. Tanner was one of the recipients of the many invites Brown has been sending in the last seven months.

"I just couldn't take it anymore. Every month, [Brown] starts playing a new game and he sends all these invites. It's [expletive] annoying," told the police after confessing that he killed Brown and has kept him in the trunk of his car since then.

The authorities are conducting an investigation over Tanner's case and other cases linked to Facebook game requests. Facebook is yet to release a statement to the press.