ILLUSTRATION BY RENE ELEVERA
Sharon Cuneta
Can you name a 52-year-old singer-actress who can fill up the 10,000-capacity Smart Araneta Coliseum?
Another performer who can draw such OPM icons as Regine Velasquez and Basil Valdez as guest performers?
Another entertainer who can get away with singing duets with her longtime crush (Christopher de Leon) and former flame (Richard Gomez) in front of her senator-husband, Francis Pangilinan?
Such is the charm of “Megastar” Sharon Cuneta that all is forgiven the minute she belts out “Mr. DJ” and “Sana’y Wala Nang Wakas.”
The singer marked four decades in the entertainment industry last week with a splashy, sold-out concert, “My 40 Years,” at the Big Dome, a fitting way to celebrate a colorful, eventful career marked by ups and downs, trials and triumphs.
As the Megastar herself said: “I could never have imagined achieving any of what I have. I am in awe of God’s faithfulness and goodness.” Now there is talk of a repeat.
Carlito Galvez Jr.
The usually low-profile Gen. Carlito Galvez Jr., Armed Forces chief of staff, found himself mired in a controversy not of his making.
The military’s assistant deputy chief of staff for operations, Brig. Gen. Antonio Parlade Jr., this week made public a list of 18 universities and colleges in Metro Manila that he claimed were being used as recruitment hubs by the communists to oust President Rodrigo Duterte.
Galvez had to explain that the information was still being validated amid accusations of “red-baiting” and suppression of academic freedom.
Galvez also expressed openness to dialogue with the heads of education institutions and student councils.
In his appearance earlier this week at the Senate budget hearing, Galvez said the alleged recruitment was part of the “Red October” plot that he said could be executed between October and December.
To his credit, Galvez kept mum on the names of the schools, which included several state colleges and universities.
Aniceto Bertiz III
Bad things do come in fours, at least in the case of ACTS OFW Rep. Aniceto Bertiz III, who became an overnight internet “shamesation” after four incidents.
A familiar fixture in President Duterte’s foreign trips, Bertiz first came under fire when a viral video showed him warning a group of engineers that they won’t get their professional license unless they know of presidential aide Christopher “Bong” Go.
Days later, he again drew public wrath when airport security footage showed him disregarding security protocol and arrogantly shoving his access pass at the face of an airport guard.
Netizens also dug up a video showing a livid Bertiz engaging a migrant worker in a shouting match in Hong Kong.
He later apologized for his behavior by saying that he was just having his “monthly period,” thus drawing the ire of women who felt insulted by his remark.
As the House started an ethics probe on his antics, Bertiz complained of chest pains and was hospitalized.
Brett Kavanaugh
US President Donald Trump’s nominee to the Supreme Court, Brett Kavanaugh, was virtually confirmed in a preliminary vote on Saturday, after weeks of accusations, hardball politics and rowdy Capitol protests.
Kavanaugh’s confirmation was derailed after three women accused him of sexual misbehavior 30 years ago.
Democrats opposed his nomination because of the possibility that a conservative court would vote in favor of Trump, but Republicans argued that even if Kavanaugh were not confirmed it would still be Trump who would nominate someone to take the seat of retired Justice Anthony Kennedy.
In the end, a Republican senator broke ranks and voted against the judge, but a Democrat senator also crossed party lines and said he would vote to confirm Kavanaugh.
The formal vote in the Republican-controlled Senate on Sunday would likely result in 51-49 favoring Kavanaugh.
Cristiano Ronaldo
The US sportswear giant Nike, the biggest corporate sponsor of football superstar Cristiano Ronaldo, expressed concern over the claim of Nevada woman Kathryn Mayorga that the highest-paid soccer player in the world had raped her in Las Vegas in 2009.
Ronaldo apparently settled the matter in 2010, but Mayorga now wants the US court to nullify the nondisclosure agreement she signed and the Las Vegas police to reopen the investigation.
According to Forbes magazine, Ronaldo is one of only three athletes to have been given a lifetime deal with Nike, joining an elite club that also includes National Basketball Association icons LeBron James and Michael Jordan.
EA Sports, for whom Ronaldo is a leading figure in their phenomenally successful Fifa video game market, also described the allegations as “concerning,” while his home club Juventus took a hit on its stocks on Milan Stock Exchange purportedly because of the claim.