The Philippine Online Chronicles

Worried that the newest celebrity splash in local showbiz wasn't going to click with anyone? Think again.

BB Gandanghari—you know, that beautiful, statuesque newcomer people still somehow can't think of without thinking of vanished action hero Rustom Padilla—has been carving a place for herself in the Philippine entertainment scene lately, wrapping up photo shoot after photo shoot, gig after gig. BB has been in demand here, there and everywhere, including the farthest reaches of cyberspace. 

To date, BB has 892 fans on the popular social networking site Facebook, with fan requests pouring in by the scores everyday from places as diverse as the Philippines, Qatar, Australia, Serbia, England and the United States.

In fact, fans haven't just flooded BB's Facebook and Friendster pages with friend requests—they've peppered the social networking sites with accounts in BB's name.

Discounting BB's official Facebook profile, there are at least 16 other BeBe Gandangharis listed on the popular website. On Friendster, there are 35. Some of the bogus BBs seem to actually just be people riding on or poking fun at the whole BB phenomenon by appropriating the now-famous moniker, while some do seem to be paying tribute to BB, whether by posing as her or presenting themselves as her. That certainly makes it hard for diehard BB fans to get in touch with their favorite star.

While she's been making (virtual) friends, the exquisite BB has been beset by the opposite too, both in cyberspace and out of it. Online, people have been telling BB they love her; they've also been telling her they hate her.

Exequiel, one of BB's Friendster contacts, screams out his disgust with BB—in capital letters—on BB's Friendster home page.

“Masaya ka na nga ba talaga? Proud kaya ang family mo sa iyo (Are you really happy now? Do you think your family is proud of you)?” he wrote. “I used to admire you before as Rustom Padilla because I thought ikaw ang pinakamatino sa lahat ng magkakapatid na lalaki (I thought you were the most decent among your brothers). [But] you disappointed me very much.”

“Medyo ok pa yung coming out mo sa PBB pero yung mga ginagawa mo ngayon, kadiri (Your coming out on Pinoy Big Brother was quite okay, but what you do now is disgusting)!!!!” he added.

Offline, the openly gay stand-up comedian Vice Ganda is one of those who recently announced they aren't thrilled with the fact that BB was actually once a man who decided to set himself straight and, well, be a woman. Vice Ganda rattled off his sentiments about BB in an interview on TV Patrol, posted on Youtube.com.

“Hindi siya proud na bading siya, hindi siya bading, hindi niya kline-claim na bading siya. (He isn't proud that he's gay, he doesn't claim that he's gay),” he said.

Vice Ganda also took digs at BB's modeling aspirations, fashion sense and—because of all that—her name.

“Hindi naman pangit si BB (BB is not ugly), you know,” he said. “Although may kabaduyan. Feeling ko mahal yung mga sinuot, na-mismatch lang (Although she can be tacky. Her outfits seem expensive, but they're mismatched).”

Vice Ganda then said that BB could have been better off calling herself Poginghari or Gandangreyna. Literally translated from the words ganda (beauty, often applied to females) and hari (king), Gandanghari means “beauty of a king.” Pogi is a term for “handsome”, therefore Poginghari means “handsomeness of a king”, while Gandangreyna means “beauty of a queen.”

Another openly gay celebrity who wasn't too impressed with BB is the expert beautician Ricky Reyes. “Ang pagbababae ng isang bading ay dapat sa sarili lamang niya (A gay man should only unleash his feminine side to himself),” Reyes said in the same TV Patrol report. “Ayoko ng bawat bading dito sa Pilipinas ay gawing parang matsing sa hawla na pinaglalaruan at pinagtatawanan (I don't want every gay man in the Philippines to be treated like a monkey in a cage that is played with and laughed at).”

And when criticisms as harsh as that come out, there's one good place from where BB could get ample defense: her Facebook wall.

“Wag mo nang pansinin yan si Vice Ganda at si Gandang Ricky Reyes (Don't pay attention to Vice Ganda and Gandang Ricky Reyes),” Alea Jaranilla wrote BB. “Among the three, ikaw lang yung mukhang babae at dahil nga sa iyong gandang babae, silang dalawa ay nagseselos (Among the three, you alone look like a woman and they are jealous because of that).”

Fans and critics, diehards and detractors, love and hatred, online and offline. It's all part of the showbiz package. And all part of the phenomenon that is BB.

Photo of BB Gandanghari by Richard Grimaldo.