MANILA, Philippines - Willie Revillame and Kris Aquino together in an ABS-CBN show but not their own separate shows.

Now that “Wowowee” has been phased out…temporarily?…does it mean that Willie Revillame will finally bid ABS-CBN goodbye and, like Cesar Montano and “another Kapamilya” who’s turning Kapuso anytime now, jump ober da bakod to another (not necessarily Kapuso) station?

That’s the big question of the hour as another show, Pilipinas Win Na Win, replaces the timeslot (after Showtime) of Wowowee on Saturday, July 31, the date earlier bruited about as Willie’s much-awaited comeback to the show from which he has been “on leave” (or “suspended” from) more than three months ago.

The new show, initially called Pilipinas For The Win (but has to be changed at the last minute because if the initials are read backward, WTFP means something obscene…ask your friendly Internet-friendly neighbor what), will be hosted by Kris Aquino (who is expected to arrive from the US early this morning with sons Joshua and Baby James from a three-week vacation), Robin Padilla, Mariel Rodriguez, Pokwang and Valerie Concepcion.

According to the official ABS-CBN statement, Willie has been informed through his manager Arlene de Castro that Willie will have another show but not anymore Wowowee which has been so associated with him that “Willie is Wowowee and Wowowee is Willie” has become a mantra among Willie’s fans.

A Funfare VDPA (Very Deep Penetration Agent) said that PWNW will be good for only 13 episodes (one season), presumably to be replaced by the planned new Willie show.

“But I doubt it very much if Willie will ever go back to ABS-CBN,” added the VDPA (who’s embedded in the Bohol Avenue network). “He was ready to return on July 31 after the initial kinks were supposedly ironed out but a clique inside ABS-CBN was against his coming back and the clique even threatened to resign if Willie ever came back.”

So far, Wowowee is as good as dead, not just in “coma” in which there’s some hope of being revived.

Meanwhile, what could Willie, who has remained incommunicado (celfone is either dead or he “cannot be reached”), be doing — taking it easy in his Tagaytay resthouse, leisurely watching his favorite movies on DVD in his Ayala Heights mansion or sunbathing in his yacht contemplating his next move?

Those are the P26-M questions (equivalent to the talent fee Willie was reportedly getting from ABS-CBN during his Wowowee heyday).

Incidentally, the joke going around is that ABS-CBN has gone into a “color-coding” mode. With Willie on Wowowee, the dominant color was orange, the one associated with Sen. Manny Villar, the presidentiable whom Willie campaigned for in the May 10 elections. With Kris leading the hosts of Pilipinas Win Na Win, naturally it will turn yellow, the color associated with Pres. Noynoy “P-Noy” Aquino.

The Funfare VDPA said that what Willie wants now is to be released from his ABS-CBN contract, good until middle of next year, so he can make a final decision.

* * *

Early yesterday morning, I got the following text message: STIR.PH BUZZ BLAST! KRIS AQUINO IS PREGNANT!

The initial reaction was shock. Same with some people close to Kris who, as I mentioned earlier, is scheduled to arrive this morning from a three-week vacation in the US with sons Joshua and Baby James.

I called up James Yap, Kris’ estranged husband, and he exclaimed, “Ha!?! Hindi ko alam! It’s not true!”

A cousin of Kris’ (who asked not to be identified) said, “That can’t be true! I should be the one she would tell if she was pregnant.”

The text message turned out to be kuryente, a “false alarm.”

“Whoever circulated that kuryente has lost his/her credibility,” fumed another close friend of Kris’.

So what’s the truth (and nothing but) behind Kris’ “pregnancy?”

Funfare Update did some sleuthing and this is what was uncovered:

Kris and her soulmate Boy Abunda are endorsing a new ad about cervical cancer. Last June 25, Kris underwent an “HPV (Human Papillomavirus)” screening to check if she carries the virus that causes cervical cancer. Otherwise, she wouldn’t qualify as endorser of the ad. Dr. Greg Pastorfide, who conducted the test, declared Kris “negative.”

The reporter must have mistaken HPV screening for a pregnancy test.

“She even had her ‘monthly’ at that time,” added the Funfare Update informer. “In fact, last July 18 on her way from Orlando, Florida, to Boston, she again had another ‘monthly’. So how can she be pregnant?”

I called up Boy and he only laughed at the kuryente.

“You know,” said Boy, “Kris cannot afford to be pregnant again; she cannot have another baby, otherwise she’d be putting her life at risk. Remember when she was heavy with Baby James? Nagkaroon siya ng pulmonary embolism that almost cost her life.”

On Saturday when she appears on Pilipinas Win Na Win, maybe Kris herself should tell the whole world about her “pregnancy.”

(E-mail reactions at rickylo@philstar.net.ph or at entphilstar@yahoo.com)