Padilla brothers call BB "sister"

Monday, 01 June 2009 17:38 Tinette Panogot

All that BB Gandanghari has ever wanted in the world, it seems, is acceptance. Last May 11 at her sister's birthday party, she received it from her own kin, even though they had initially opposed what she had become.

"Di nga maganda pakinggan, na namatay (It's not good to hear that he's dead)," Rommel Padilla once vehemently objected to BB Gandanghari's announcement of the death of her former identity, Rustom Padilla. "[A]ng dating sa akin parang patay na rin si Rommel, patay na si Royette, patay na si Robin (It seems to me as if he was saying that Rommel is also dead, Royette is dead, Robin is dead)," Rommel is quoted by GMANews.tv as saying.

According to some reports, older sibling Royette's reaction was even more forceful."He's (Rustom) crazy and a disgrace to our family. He should submit himself for a psychiatric treatment for his own good," Royette reportedly said in a text message.

Their brother, Robin, initially joked that when he first heard the news, he was in Baguio training for his role as a boxer in Totoy Bato. "[N]ilakasan ko na lang yung suntok sa punching bag (I just hit the punching bag harder)." Of all the erstwhile Rustom Padilla's brothers, though, he was the most supportive. "Basta masaya s'ya, ang opinyon namin dun hindi na importante (As long as she is happy, our opinions do not matter)," Robin said.

At their sister Rebecca's birthday party at Ka Freddie's Music Bar and Restaurant on Adriatico Street in Malate last May 11, the Padilla siblings met for the first time since Rustom Padilla admitted on the reality show Pinoy Big Brother that he was gay, according to the Journal's Raymund Vargas as quoted in the blog Aliwan Avenue. Robin did not make it to the party because he was still taping Totoy Bato.

Rommel arrived first with some friends, followed by Royette and his family. BB arrived sometime after midnight and apparently hesitated upon seeing her brothers. It seemed all was now well, however, for Rommel and Royette invited BB to sit at their table and even hugged her and called her "sister."

BB was said to be very happy about her brothers' welcome. So was Rebecca, the birthday celebrant, to see the reconciliation of her siblings at her own birthday party. The siblings were so busy catching up on each other's news that they reportedly didn't go home until after 8:00 in the morning.

Photo by Richard Grimaldo; licensed under CC License BY-NC-SA-3.0 Philippines.

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