(NI RONNIE CARRASCO III)

ANO ba talaga ang network status ni Maine Mendoza?

Technically, she’s not a Kapuso (GMA) talent. Ang nilalabasan niyang programa tulad ng “Eat Bulaga,” produced by TAPE, Inc., is a blocktimer. So is “Daddy’s Gurl” na produced naman ng M-Zet na pag-aari ni Vic Sotto.

In short, this doesn’t make Maine a Kapuso, kundi an artist whose shows are incidentally aired on the Kapuso network.

Ergo, kung hindi kami nagkakamali, there exists no contract — binding or otherwise — between Maine and GMA. Tony Tuviera’s Triple A Productions, which handles Maine’s career, is an independent artist agency, na walang kinalaman sa operasyon o transaksiyon ng GMA Artist Center.

Drawing an analogy from it, wala itong iniwan sa isang business entity or establishment na nangungupahan sa isang commercial building but has no claim over its ownership.

In the light of the Maine Mendoza-Arjo Atayde rumored affair — given Maine’s status — tila may pagsaklaw na sa karapatan ng mga show producers ng TV host-actress ang umano’y ‘di pagpapahintulot ng GMA sa kanyang exposure.

Just because Arjo is a Kapamilya artist is not reason enough to justify such prohibition.

Kung tutuusin pa nga, Maine is technically homeless. At ang sinumang taong walang tahanang masisilungan ay naghahanap ng posibleng permanenteng matitirhan.

Hindi kaya ang “homeless status” na ito ang hinahanapan ng solusyon ni Maine? And thank God, she has found the answer in Arjo na sinasabing nag-iimpluwensiya sa kanya na sumakabilang-bakod?

Is it not also possible na naghahanap si Maine ng sense of belonging? Oo nga’t tahanan niyang matatawag ang “Eat Bulaga” (after all, she would not have become who she is now kundi dahil sa nasabing noontime show), pero sa kabila nito’y tila may kulang pa rin.

No doubt, si Arjo ang nagpuno ng vacuum ni Maine na mula sa isang rival station at that, whose status with ABS-CBN is not floating tulad ng sa kanya?

Maaaring secondary nga lang ito as Maine’s main focus is wanting to be herself. Malaya sa mga contractual no-nos na sagabal sa kanyang career, free from restrictions which dehumanize her bilang isang tao like the rest of us.

Kung tutuusin, mas dapat maghigpit ang GMA kay Alden Richards na, from the very start, ay isa nang Kapuso. Nag-try out siya pero hindi pinalad sa “Starstruck,” yet nagpursige sa kanyang pangarap na ma­ging artista, which efforts later paid off.

But not with Maine whose showbiz entry happened by sheer accident.