I was in Tagaytay City since Tuesday morning for our yearly National Conference. Though we had Wifi, airborne access kiosks, SMART BRO, 3G and all possible connections you can think of, I wasn't able to do my blog-hopping and on-line routine in the last 4 days due to the jam packed schedule (and some more).

So what did I miss? Apparently there were three issues last week that rocked the Filipino blogging community. First was about DJ Montano and the "Gucci Gang". A blog was published by an Australian named Brian Gorrell who claimed that he was the ex-boyfriend of DJ Montano. The blog's purpose is to demand payment to the thousands of dollars that DJ "borrowed" from his alleged ex-lover. Brian's tell-all tale was so juicy and was a certified "scandelilah" that made people scrambling for their refresh buttons all of last week. It documented not only the moolah issue but also the excessive use of coke and bad behavior of Manila's creme dela creme. It's truly Gossip Girl Manila version. The comment box of the posts were also blockbuster hits as everyone gawked at the dirty laundry being aired left and right for all people to see.

I don't know who DJ Montano is but the other members of the "Gucci Gang" are popular A-listers that you often see in society pages. According to the posts, the people involved tried to put down the blog by hacking the account and sending demand letters from the lawyers to Brian. It stopped for a while but Brian returned with a vengeance with more evidence and dirt. Too bad the juicier comment sections were disabled and posts were deleted (but thanks to Google's cache some of them are still available online). Whether it's true or not, members of the 'gang' like Celine Lopez, Tim Yap, Wendy Puyat, Tina Tinio and Jackie Cohen Antonio are surely not getting enough sleep these days. Be the judge and read it all here.

Reactions:

Delfin "DJ" Montano
Brewing pinoy high society scandal
It's over
Brian blogspot: the plot thickens - Inquirer.net

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The next one is about Malu Fernandez. Yes, she's back. Being greatly ridiculed last year in the blogging community seemed was not enough for Malu. She wrote another controversial article the other day this time targeted to bloggers. If you remember, she rose to notoriety when she dissed in her People Asia article last year the OFWs who were with her in a flight to Greece. It outraged a lot of people and the bloggers were the front runners in making sure that she will take back all the nasty things she said. The Malu Fernandez brouhaha was indeed one of the most talked-about issues last year. Click this link to reminisce.

The article that Malu wrote last March 10 was called "The Problem With Blogging...". She wrote there offensive statements which caused her another batch of negative popularity in the cyberspace. Here's one of her paragraphs that is downright annoying:

"So let me continue, first of all I believe in the freedom of speech. By all means say what you need to say. Unfortunately for most of the bloggers without advertising you get paid nothing. If in fact you do get paid then hooray for you. But blogging, aside from Perez Hilton and the other big time bloggers (you know who you are) is for me a slacker job or a medium and pastime for lonely people to connect. Unless you’re in bloody Siberia or in a Gulag prison, try stepping outside your comfort zone and turn off the laptop or pc, you just might find some real live people to talk to instead of typing away in cyber space."

I pity you, Malu. You are again looking for trouble. I wonder why Manila Standard is still allowing you to post and write garbage like these that you call "articles". You've put your foot in your mouth again. Tsk, tsk, tsk.

Reactions:

Malu Fernandez and Blogging As A Slacker Job
Si Malu Fernandez at ang mga napakong pangako ni Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo
Malu Fernandez thinks blogging is a slacker job

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The last one is lighter than the two issues which involves the now famous newly-crowned Binibining Pilipinas World, Janina San Miguel, and her interview in the pageant last weekend. "I'm only 17 years old" is now a popular quip even in our NATCON last week. Here's the video (with subtitles):

Yup, she won and will be representing the Philippines in the Ms. World pageant this year. Whaaaat?

Credits to lechacal of Daily Motion for the video.