30/05/2024
Here’s something juicy for you, my tea-loving Titos and Titas! I’m sure some of you still follow a certain lifestyle magazine since its local debut not long ago (cue: “print is not dead!” priggish music). If you do, then we’re already on the same figurative page. Today’s tasty tidbit, you see, is all about the self-styled Anna Wintour of the Philippines – that is, if Auntie Anna had a penchant for indigent behavior and writing checks that her botox-ed visage can’t cash.
Ms. Unka-vogue-able (MU) is definitely good at surrounding herself with the movers and shakers of the social scene. But don’t be fooled by all the glitz and glamor. Behind the satin curtain lies an audacious — if not clumsy — scammer.
Whispers about MU’s scurrilous behavior have been going around since the paparazzi were using actual cameras: tales of “borrowing” friends’ credit cards for outrageous spending sprees that were never paid (and throwing a tantrum when the borrowed cards were capped), using their houses abroad and kicking out the homeowner’s own relatives, and generally taking freeloading to a plus élevée degree.
Unfortunately, MU does herself no favors because her favorite pastime – quel horreur – is to backstab her friends and spread the fromage about the leisurely lads and ladies of Manila. This is why her circle of friends has changed as often as Van Noten updates his collections, and her staunch defenders have dwindled to a few loyal intimates.
This time, however, it seems MU’s antics have finally caught up with her. With a recent hold-departure order (quel horreur, take two!) clipping her wings, it seems that our social masquerader must now face a lawsuit filed against her by someone who has likely had enough.
According to my oh so “civil” secret squirrels prancing in Taguig, the wily MU apparently used her charm to manipulate a Hopeful Businessman (HB) into being partners to bring in an international brand to the Philippines. After lavish “reconnaissance and competitive scanning” trips abroad at the expense of HB (cue: Anna Delvey Spotify playlist), she finally settled on a European leather goods brand. MU promised, complete with pinky swears and bubbly toasts, that a buyer was waiting eagerly for the products to arrive.
Alas, when millions’ worth of goods arrived in the Philippines, the “eager buyer” suddenly backed out. Left with mounting inventory storage and warehouse costs, HB was then advised by MU to sell all the stock at a substantial loss – because lo and behold, she had found a new buyer!
Any guesses who the new buyer was? A Winston Cocktail for those who answered MU herself. That’s right: she basically formed her own company on the sly and bought the now-severely-undervalued goods at a massive discount. And the lemon peel on top of the drink is that MU was apparently in talks with a large local retailer to snap up the goods weeks before they even arrived.
This cautionary account should once again convince everyone that scamming – no matter how entrancing the circumstances may be, darling – will never be in vogue.
