‘Talagang naglabasan ng baho ang Barretto sisters sa burol ng tatay!’

CLAUDINE, GRETCHEN AT MARJORIE BARRETTO

LIFE imitating art.

The last two weeks saw a frenzied showbiz. Namumutiktik ang mga pahina ng mga diyaryo tungkol sa mga kaganapan sa burol ng Barretto patriarch (Daddy Mike kung tawagin), even eating up front pages with screaming heads in windows.

Sa bawat gabi ng burol ay nadaragdagan pa ang mga eksena that could pass for highlights in an intense, riveting family drama na nangyayari rin pala sa tunay na buhay.

Sulatin mo what transpired one night would render itself as a stale-dated account dahil may panibago nang naganap and the funeral nights thereafter. Nag-iiba-iba man ang eksena, pero tumataas ang intensity nito starring the same cast of characters in never-ending confrontations with unrehearsed dialogues yet perhaps with pre-choreographed movements.

Any fictional drama involving feuding members of the family would shrink in embarrassment dahil sa tindi ng sa mga magkakapatid na Barretto (Gretchen, Marjorie at Claudine), isama pa ang isa nilang pamangkin never before seen unfold at any showbiz wake since time immemorial.

Tapos na ang mga gabing ‘yon na—sa aminin man ng mga tao o tauhang sangkot doon—lalo pang nag-iwan ng pangit na impresyon sa mata ng publiko.

Of course, the public had known about how fragmented the Barretto family has become. Pero hindi inakala ng balana that such would be publicly displayed when the best thing to do in such hours of grief was to be most civil toward each other.

Puwede naman muna silang magdeklara ng truce o ceasefire bilang respeto sa namayapa, at magbangayan uli kapag naihatid na ito sa kanyang huling hantungan.

But it wasn’t so.

Worse, the warring parties unknowingly involved the public, even granted the latter the right to intrusion ng dapat sana’y private affairs nila.

As active as their social accounts, ang mga gabing burol na ‘yon ay ginawa nilang katumbas ng Facebook, Instagram, Twitter at kung anu-ano pang media platform put together to mount a spectacular real-life show.

Aside from being seated apart, a series of irapan with matching dagger looks thrown at each other, isama na rin marahil ang patutsadahan, would have been forgivable. Kaso, their “social media dependence” as though it were a life-saving buoy in the middle of an ocean ang wari’y ginamit nilang armas to vent out their anger.

Doon na nila inilabas ang mga tila umaalingasaw na baho ng isa’t isa as if the world hardly knew. Parang ang mga nailathala lang noon as blind items ay sila na mismo ang nagkumpirma.

At sa halip na ma-focus ang atensiyon sa namayapa highlighting his good deeds during his mortal existence as topic among mourners, na-divert ito far away from it.

Wake for the dead, dapat din ay “wake up” ito for the bereaved para gisingin nila ang kanilang mga nahihimbing nilang isip.