ILLUSTRATION BY RENE ELEVERA
Edgardo Labella
The Cebu City mayor made headlines last week after the local government acquired P2.5 million worth of âtuob,â or steam inhalation kits, that were distributed to COVID-19 patients in isolation centers despite the health departmentâs assertion that the practice does not kill the virus that causes COVID-19.
The kit, composed of an electric water heater, steam gown, adult bath towel, two hand towels, an industrial plastic chair and a water basin was first said to have cost the city P2,500 each.
But public uproar over the âexpensiveâ kits prompted Labella to deny knowing about them, or signing a purchase request for the kits.
City Hall eventually said that the kits were donated by a supplier whom officials did not identify.
While many Cebuanos considered Labella a kind man, the mayor, a former director of the Office of the Ombudsman Visayas, has been criticized for his âweakâ and âsoftâ leadership, as well as for his handling of the COVID-19 crisis in Cebu City, which has one of the highest number of cases in the country.
This may have prompted President Rodrigo Duterte to appoint Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu to oversee the cityâs response to the pandemic.
âAdor Vincent Mayol
Naya Rivera
Another tragedy befell the cast of the TV musical series âGlee,â after one of its stars, Naya Rivera, drowned in a boating accident in Lake Piru in California. She was 33.
The singer-actress reportedly disappeared in the lake after saving her son Josey, 4, who was found safe in the boat Rivera had rented.
After a week of extensive search operations, Riveraâs body was recovered on July 13.
It was the third tragic loss for âGlee.â Stars Cory Monteith died of a drug overdose in 2013, while Mark Salling died in an apparent suicide in 2018 after pleading guilty to possession of child pornography.
Cast members, including Amber Riley, Kevin McHale, Chris Colfer and Heather Morris, went to Lake Piru to show support to Riveraâs family and were seen praying shortly before her body was found.
Tributes to Rivera flooded social media. The singer, who was of African American, German and Puerto Rican descent, started out as a child actress and model before gaining fame via âGlee,â which ran from 2015 to 2019.
Her character, the funny and feisty cheerleader Santana Lopez, also inspired LGBT people of color after she came out as a lesbian.
âAllan Policarpio
Mikee Defensor
âI am NOT my father,â declared a widely shared Twitter post attributed to law student Mikee Defensor, daughter of Anakalusugan Rep. Michael âMikeâ Defensor, one of the lawmakers who led the assault on ABS-CBNâs franchise application.
Though the younger Defensorâs account is private, the tweet has become fodder for political intrigue as she appeared to distance herself from her fatherâs stand on ABS-CBN, whose bid for a new license was defeated in a 70-11 vote in the House franchise committee on July 10.
In the tweet, the younger Defensor said: âIâve stayed silent despite my dad âtrendingâ many times on Twitter because I understand that he is a public official and must be held accountable for his actions ⊠But at the end of the day, Iâm not the one in Congress. And more importantly, I am NOT my father. My heart goes out to those greatly affected by this, most especially the 11,000 workers who have lost their jobs in the middle of a pandemic.â
Former Rep. Erin Tañada posted a screenshot of the tweet and congratulated Mikee on her âcourageous stand.â âYou are the Mike Defensor I knew when we were marching in the streets. I hope you donât change,â he said.
âDJ Yap
Ghislaine Maxwell
A flight risk who has âdemonstrated sophistication in hiding her resources and herself.â
That was how US District Judge Alison Nathan saw Ghislaine Maxwell before denying her bail over charges that she lured girls â some as young as 14 â to be abused by her longtime associate Jeffrey Epstein.
Maxwell, 58, a wealthy socialite, helped the Hollywood mogul recruit and eventually abuse girls over three years starting in 1994, prosecutors say.
Of the six criminal charges against her, four were for transporting minors for illegal sexual acts and two for perjury for lying in depositions regarding her role in Epsteinâs illicit affairs.
One of Maxwellâs accusers, Annie Farmer, said: âShe is a sexual predator who groomed and abused me and countless other children and young womenâ for Epstein to exploit.
She added: âWithout Ghislaine, Jeffrey could not have done what he did.â
Before her arrest on July 2, Maxwell, who pleaded not guilty to the charges, had been hiding in a sprawling property in New Hampshire, which she bought in cash in December in an anonymous transaction â one of the reasons that convinced the judge to keep her in jail before her trial in July 2021.
Dioceldo Sy
Dioceldo Sy earned the ire of both the Games and Amusements Board (GAB) and the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) after he revealed to the media earlier this week that his Blackwater squad violated the leagueâs health protocols.
The team held an unauthorized practice session in a Quezon City gym, he said.
Instead of calming all sides involved when confronted with his revelation, Sy threatened to sell the Elite for a hefty P150 million, saying his âheart [was] no longer into basketball and the PBA.â
He felt âoffended, bullied and pushed to the wallâ by the GAB and the PBA when they took offense to what he considers a nonissue, Sy said.
The GAB countered that the joint administrative order allowing the league to resume practices had yet to be issued as it was waiting for some more signatures, a statement backed by PBA Commissioner Willie Marcial.
Both the GAB and the PBA dealt with Sy separately. PBA fined him P100,000 for his teamâs violation of protocols, and he is now waiting for a meeting with GAB chair Abraham Mitra to explain his actions.
Sy has yet to explain his threat to sell his franchise, and has zipped his lips while waiting for the fallout from the controversy.
âLouie Greg Rivera