No less than the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) has caught the attention of, My Husband's Lover, a new gay-themed soap opera that has been showing on prime time over local broadcasting giant GMA-7.

Fr Kunegundo Gargantaang, the executive secretary of the CBCP's Episcopal Commission on Youth, cautioned the producers and writers of the hit programme to study the sensitive themes they air and to ensure the storyline hews moral standards of the Catholic Church.

"In-depth studies should be done by new soap operas like My Husband's Love which should take into account our country has a culture that values morality," the priest told Catholic radio station, Radyo Veritas in Filipino, quoted by Rappler.com.

My Husband's Lover, besides trouncing the competitor's Apoy sa Dagat (Fire on the Ocean) soap opera in the ratings game, has also become a trending topic in Twitter as netizens discuss the interesting plot of the show involving a closeted married man who is about to resume his love affair with his high school best friend.

Aside from the pioneering effort to tackle same-sex relationships in a serious and realistic manner, the show has also brought back many Filipino viewers who had favoured cable TV programmes and shows streamed over the Internet to free TV fare offered by GMA and rival ABS-CBN.

The return to pre-cable viewing habits, in fact, is one of a viral blogs (http://funnysexy.ph/2013/06/10-signs-youre-addicted-to-my-husbands-lover/#.UcmVythW6Px) written by Kring Elenzano being shared over Twitter and Facebook enumerating 10 signs of addiction to the gay soap opera dubbed as a bekiserye, beki being the gay term for a male homosexual.

Elenzano said the show is not just phenomenal, but has become a monster hit in just two weeks after its initial launch on June 10 that it has attracted not only gay viewers but even straights who became curious and absorbed with the story.

Some of the interesting signs of being addicted to the bekiserye listed by the blog site include:

  • The theme song by diva Kuh Ledesma becoming an LSS that its even being played in your dreams

  • Joining nightly the #MyHusbandsLoverDay Twitter party to make sure the show keeps on trending in social networking sites
  • Catching missed episodes of the show on YouTube
  • Wishing a longer air time for the bekiserye as more commercials are aired
  • Instead of identifying with the station tags of Kapuso, Kapamilya or Kapatid (Soulmate, Family Member or Sibling), you label yourself a Kalaguyo (Mistress).

Even the Office of the President has been dragged into the fray. In response to the CBCP statement, Malacanang asked parents who have complaints about the show to call the attention of the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) which has jurisdiction over TV programmes.

The MTRCB gave My Husband's Lover a Strong Parental Guidance rating, and reports said that when board members viewed the pilot episode, they applauded.

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