#3. Gretchen Barretto and Lani Mercado
Just a few weeks after the "prima donna issue," Gretchen faced another round of controversy. Nora Calderon, a PEP contributor, wrote an article entitled "Bong mum about Gretchen's alleged snub."
On December 29, Gretchen responded to Jo-Ann Maglipon's query about the snub by sending a text message from Singapore, where she was vacationing with her family. The article "Gretchen denies snubbing Bong" was written by Jo-Ann on the same day and activated.
The news didn't go unnoticed. It was followed by several write-ups and TV coverage. During one TV interview, Lani was asked about her wish for Gretchen, and Lani answered: "I wish that she will have a marriage with Tony [Tonyboy Cojuangco, Gretchen's partner]."
On January 20, at the Olay Swap event held at SM Megamall, La Greta was swamped by the press, which of course asked her for a response to Lani's wish: "What she had was a wedding, but what I have with Tony is a marriage."
All the way from the U.S., Lolit Solis, manager of Bong Revilla and Lani Mercado, got into a verbal fight with Gretchen. It was Gretchen's statements insinuating that Lani was not happy in the marriage, that Bong did not give her respect and loyalty, and that in fact Bong had fathered a child with another woman that sent Lolit on the war path.
In a phone-patch interview with S-Files, Lolit said: "Hangang-hanga ako sa ethics niya [Lani]. Politically correct siya. Hindi siya nagsasalita. ‘Tsaka kahit ano'ng sabihin mo, siya ang tunay na asawa, siya ang pinakasalan. Kaya ‘yong sinabi ni Gretchen na wedding at saka marriage, a different thing—it's the same thing, na parehong hindi matitikman ni Gretchen for the rest of her life."
On January 24, a PEP source revealed that "Tonyboy Cojuangco asks Lolit Solis a big favor," which also became the article's title. The story said that the business tycoon pleaded with Lolit Solis to stop hostilities between her and Gretchen. The two reportedly reached a compromise: Lolit would stop if Tony could make Gretchen stop. Deal!
#4. Kris Aquino-James Yap-Hope Centeno
We got word from our sources that Kris Aquino and James Yap were having marital problems. The story, as we knew it then, had nothing to do with a third party. It had to do with an expensive car that James was supposed to want to buy. But our staffer Candice Lim, who first got the story, could not find a credible first-hand source.
Then on February 11, Kris gave James the cold shoulder on The Buzz. The show was also a pre-birthday bash and a baby shower for Kris. On February 13, a day before Kris's birthday, PEP speculated on the reasons for the cold treatment. The tabloids also published related stories that same day.
It was Lolit Solis, via Startalk, who broke 2007's biggest story so far, with her exclusive interview with a girl named Hope. Following that, Jojo Gabinete, a PEP contributing writer, kept track of the controversy and provided PEP with exclusive updates.
And if Lolit broke the story on TV, PEP was the first to show the face of Hope. Who is Hope? What does she look like? Everyone wanted to know. We searched the Net and found three photos, but the problem was nobody could (or would) identify the real Hope for us.
It was Friday, February 23, when we learned that Hope had agreed to go live on S-Files, which aired on a Sunday. The day before Hope's S-Files appearance, Jojo Gabinete positively identified one of the girls in the picture we sent to his e-mail as Hope Centeno.
PEP therefore posted the first photo of Hope to reach the public even before she showed her face on TV. We used the photo to go with the article "Hope Centeno shows her face in an exclusive interview with S-Files."
Another PEP exclusive was the article "Kris rushed to hospital again." That was on February 28, 2007, and we were all in the middle of the YES! anniversary party cum PEP launch.
While the party was going on at the NBC Tent, we received the feed, wrote the draft—and then found we couldn't upload it because we didn't have one detail. Which hospital? It was close to midnight when a source from www.gmanews.tv called to say: "She's in Makati Med." At 12:10 am, PEP activated the story.
Five months since it was launched, we are ecstatic about announcing that we have already generated 8 million page views per month. Thanks to our biggest stories, which earned thousands and thousands of clicks.
