As 2007 closed, news broke that the couple David Bunevacz and Jessica Rodriguez—Bunevacz had split from Beverly Hills 6750—or, as news also had it, it was the high-end beauty clinic that had initiated the split from the high-profile couple.

In the ensuing mess, the couple have filed a suit against some partners at the clinic for alleged physical injuries, even as Beverly Hills 6750's lawyers have sent the couple a demand letter to answer for funds allegedly misused.

As 2008 begins, there is more news breaking involving the beleaguered couple and the clinic they helped build up. This time, the spotlight is on their affiliate partner in the U.S.—the Beverly Hills Surgical Institute.

The Philippine Entertainment Portal (www.pep.ph) was the first to release last year's story on the Bunevacz-Beverly Hills 6750 split—not as blind item, not as rumor, not as gossip—but as a full story with dates, figures, quotes, and insider information.

This year, PEP is the first to break the news that the U.S.-based Beverly Hills Surgical Institute, to which Beverly Hills 6750 claims affiliation, no longer exists and, in fact, no longer existed at the time Beverly Hills 6750 was launched in Manila.

In December 2007, information reaching PEP claimed that the Beverly Hills Surgical Institute has no valid address in Beverly Hills, California, and no contact number at all in the United States.

The claim is, of course, no small issue. PEP buckled down to investigate.

MUCH ADO ABOUT BEVERLY HILLS. The public will recall that Beverly Hills 6750 entered the aesthetic surgery business in Manila in late 2006 with much fanfare. Aside from David and Jessica Bunevacz personally handling the media frontline, the clinic had no less than 1994 Miss Universe Dayanara Torres as its official celebrity endorser. Following the media hype that included features in major publications and appearances on television, the clinic successfully penetrated the lucrative local beauty market, which at the time was dominated (and still is) by the Belo Medical Group.

But more than the presence of the stunning Dayanara Torres and the charming Bunevacz couple, Beverly Hills 6750 had a sales pitch as unique as it was impressive-Beverly Hills 6750 claimed to be affiliated with a renowned U.S. clinic catering to a Hollywood clientele: the Beverly Hills Surgical Institute.

In Hollywood-crazy Philippines, that is one major credential.

In the Manila Standard (Sept. 12, 2006), Isah Red quoted David Bunevacz, then president of Beverly Hills 6750, making this pitch about the Beverly Hills Surgical Institute: "The salon holds the secret of many beautiful women we see on screen on TV shows and in the movies made in Hollywood. And we are unveiling that secret on the domestic front for the first time."

To drive home the point, in October 2006, Beverly Hills 6750 flew in Dayanara Torres to do blitz promotions for the local clinic all over television talk shows, broadsheets, magazines, and tabloids. YES! magazine, acceding to the request of the Bunevacz couple, conducted an email interview with Dayanara weeks before her arrival, in preparation for a December cover appearance.

Dayanara, of course, was not just another international beauty queen, she was also the former wife of Salsa King Marc Anthony, who made news when he went on to marry the even more famous Latina Jennifer Lopez. But still more than that, Dayanara was a well-loved celebrity in Manila. After all, Filipinos remember her fondly as the Puerto Rican beauty who stole the heart of their matinee idol Aga Muhlach in the ‘90s.

In March 2007, Beverly Hills 6750 launched the controversial search for Miss Ugly (No More), a reality-based contest where viewers were asked to vote for one "ugly" female to be given a one-million-peso makeover by the clinic. The search, patterned after Hollywood's Extreme Makeover, attracted Filipinas from the lower and middle classes.

Once again, Beverly Hills 6750's catchiest advertising phrases were "Beverly Hills" and "Hollywood." Clearly, the clinic knew that invoking links to America was good for business, and it wasn't shy about doing so again and again.