UPDATE: Added a Dolly Anne/Ruffa/Annabelle poll at the Vox Populi homepage.
THE WAY Annabelle and Ruffa parade the marital woes [of Ruffa and Yilmaz Bektas] on national TV is appalling!
Just this Sunday afternoon on both GMA and ABS-CBN Ruffa’s marriage was again the issue with a rejoinder from estranged husband Yilmaz while mother Annabelle was spewing invectives on GMA.
I hope the mother and daughter are happy with the media attention they got but for the life of me, can’t they settle the issues quietly and move on?
– Alona Briones, Fairview, Quezon City (via e-mail)
June 11th, 2007 at 10:48 pm
Here’s copy of a comment I read in Cheesedip.com. I was very impressed and thankful that someone finally put out a point that is so true in the Pilipino society now a days. How embarrassing Philippines have turned to be:
The comments here range from satirical to humorous to ferocious. But I think there is a bigger issue here – one that we don’t want to discuss – or even recognize, because it hits so close to home. I am a Canadian – a University Professor who has been associated with prestigious universities in the United States and in Asia for several decades. I am married to a Filipina, we have two teenage children, and yes, I lived in the Philippines for 5 years, so perhaps I am qualified to speak on this subject.
There used to be a time, not so long ago, when Filipina ladies were recognized, and even revered, for their intensely strong moral and ethical values. The world saw Filipino femininity as the poster-child for family values and an unqualified commitment to the principles of faith, spiritualism and honor.
How quickly the times are changing. Of course, we can expect mass media, the near universal access to television, and the celebrity hype that goes with it, to dramatically affect the social climate. But look at the celebrities that our social system, led by influential media executives and corporate sponsors, have chosen to act as the nation’s role model and social inspiration for the millennium generation…
There is poor, dear, sweet little Chris – who has slept with the entire basketball team; who talks candidly about living with men, both married and single, outside of marriage; who talks freely about her sexually transmitted disease as if it were a badge of honor; who is one of the most egocentric and self-adulating media-hogs to grace the airwaves or the corporate endorsement circuit in recent memory. And then along comes poor, sweet, abused Ruffa – the bigamist with two concurrent husbands; the good-time girl who entertains Arab royalty with her sexual favors and charms; the actress that believes (and then can not even remember) her own lies.
These are the media darlings who are guiding, inspiring, and acting as role modes for our children and for ‘Filipina feminism’. These are the cultural icons our young women associate with, idolize, and strive to emulate.
Is it any surprise, then, that internet cafes are filled to overflowing with young (and not-so-young) Filipinas, seeking their fortune, trolling the internet chat and romance forums for any – and every - Western ‘Tom, Dick or Harry’? While so many of our young women, in search of Ruffa’s ‘fabulous’ lifestyle, peddle themselves to the first internet bidder that comes along, others use the forums as a business, extracting money and support from foreigners who still want to believe in the virtue and honor of Filipina values. It is, it seems, no longer about commitment, faith, spiritualism and honor, but rather emulating the success and lifestyle of the ‘media whores’ who will do anything for a dollar and some publicity.
Of course, this isn’t a universality – there are still many traditional Filipinas we can be very proud of. But the times are changing, and it is in no small part due to the media-whores who continue to make a mockery of the traditional values and faith, the media demagogues who unceasingly promote their harlots to an impressionable and vulnerable younger generation, and the corporate sponsors who promote the perversion of society and social values through the glorification of perversion and nonconformity.
Congratulations Chris! Congratulations Ruffa! You have left your mark on a generation and a culture. I am sure you are very proud of yourselves.
comments said Bob on Jun 10, 2007 at 9:53 AM
June 11th, 2007 at 6:04 pm
Hindi ko maintidihan why there so much hate messages in this page. Why Filipinos hitting mercilessly other Filipinos by calling them bad names. I am not a Ruffa fan, but i think she deserves to be treated well by her husband. Any woman deserves it, Filipina or foreigner.
Nobody is perfect. We are all sinners, but nobody has the right to physically abuse other persons.
June 11th, 2007 at 5:23 pm
Hey Bloggers, read Lyzpeth’s comment. She Did a good job. Way to go Lyzpeth. I enjoyed reading your comment,
June 11th, 2007 at 12:40 pm
I still go for Dolly Ann.. ur great girl… i’ve always admired you from a distance… Dont give up the fight… kakadiri na talaga yang mag inang Ruffa and Annabel…
June 11th, 2007 at 12:37 pm
Naku Ruffa nag-kasal-kasalan ka pala dito sa states, siguro para maka-kuha ka ng GREEN CARD dito. Naku patay kang bata ka, hindi mo ba alam na bawal ‘yang kasal-kasalan sa State. Hindi kana makababalik dito, kapag nalaman ng ICE (immigration) yan. Pabalik mo dito kulong ka agad. Kaya kumuha kana ng magaling na lawyer. Mahirap talaga ang sinugaling.