Followers of the talked-about Philippine gay-themed soap opera, My Husband's Lover, would probably notice that the show frequently teases them about what would happen next. For instance, viewers thought that Lally, played by Carla Abellana, had discovered that her husband Vincent, played by Tom Rodriguez, and Eric, portrayed by Dennis Trillo, have a same-sex relationship.

But she did not. In fact, Lally was relieved that it was her husband's high school best friend she saw Vincent having lunch with - unaware that they are indeed lovers - on the Thursday episode of the bekiserye.

Another frequent teaser in the TV show are the faces of the two male leads coming close enough, but the lip-locking scene does not happen. Producers of the show explained previously that the possibility of a man-to-man kiss on the programme is remote because of it being aired on prime time.

If it were a movie, a mild lips-to-lips smack such as what happened to Luis Manzano and John Lloyd Cruz below is acceptable.

Philippine indie movies are more daring and have more torrid lip-locking scenes between the actors such as between Coco Martin and Paolo Rivero in Daybreak.

Because My Husband's Lover is now being closely monitored by Philippine bishops, the show's producer, GMA, promised not to break any rules of the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) when it comes to risky scenes.

However, Dominic Zapata, the director of the hit show, hinted if the MTRCB guidelines would permit them eventually to executive such a scene, GMA might take such risks.

"Once the MTRCB says, 'We're convinced that what you are portraying is love, not lust, that's a kiss is an expression of love. As long as you could show a kiss onscreen that is a show of true love, it is a faithful kiss ...'" Zapata said, adding, "When the governing body, the MTRCB or whoever it may be (says so), then we will do it, by all means."

However, he clarified the show producers have yet to seek the permit of the MTRCB for such a scene.

"I think we're still in the process of convincing them and also winning their confidence," he told Pep.ph.

Tito Genova Valiente, in an opinion piece in BusinessMirror on My Husband's Lover, said the show has triggered debate in faculty centres, business clubs, hip and cool groups as well as macho fathers. He cited one father who said he would ban his son from watching the show.

"We guess he is scared his son will grow up and choose to marry a man. It is, at best, a simplistic position, a logic defied only by the fact that homosexuality is not an artifact from the moon; it is with us and has been, well, since time immemorial," Valiente wrote.

He added, "Homosexuality, like heterosexuality, is not something you decide to stop one day upon the order of your mother. Only the mother of Charice, perhaps, has ever decided to stop being a lesbian because she heeded her mom's advice."

Valiente said that television is the place where different sectors could comment on issues and contest claims. "Let everyone talk of Eric and Vincent an not just one individual. I see no need to protect the minds of the young. The young are busy texting messages of all kinds. The young are caught in their universe of 'selfies.'"

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