Ely Buendia is alive, contrary to hoax

source: gmanews.tv

Musician Ely Buendia is alive, well, and still playing rock and roll, contrary to a hoax that first spread via sms that he had died.

"EB is OK, pls ignore the text hoax that is currently going around. =)," read a status update on the Facebook page of Pupil, Buendia's band.

On Tuesday afternoon, several hours later, Buendia himself tweeted: "Next time na may magkalat pa na patay na 'ko di na talaga 'ko maniniwala."

Rumors that Buendia had passed away began circling the Internet via an ungrammatical and poorly punctuated message.


"We Love You Ely.. Ely Buendia pass away, at exactly 12:17am july 26, 2011 due to cardiac arrest bcoz of ruptured aneurysm. He arrived critical in St. Lukes, emergency department, E. Rodriguez Ave. QC. After a Gig party for an advertisement of a bottling company. Pls. Pass to all fans."

Despite the questionable announcement, the unverified information spread quickly, upsetting fans.

"Patay na si idol ko :"(((((( I can't accept the truth :(( Let's pray for the soul of Ely Buendia and his family :(" posted Mark Anthony Peralta on Facebook.

While some simply passed the message on without bothering to find out whether Buendia had indeed passed away, several asked celebrities as well as news outfits about the announcement. "Is it true? Ely Buendia died?" Gethsemane De Jesus asked GMA News, Inquirer, and Scoopbox on Twitter.

Drizzlecao on Twitter said "Ohmy! Is it true? Ely Buendia died this afternoon? (nearly in tears)."

Buendia is best known for being part of The Eraserheads, a popular Pinoy rock band of the 1990s, with Raimund Marasigan, Buddy Zabala and Marcus Adoro. Buendia also collaborated with Master Rapper FrancisM, who died in 2009 just before "The Final Set," a reunion concert of The Eraserheads meant as a follow-up to an earlier reunion concert in 2008.

The first reunion concert was cut short when Buendia collapsed backstage after the first set.

Rumors of his death also circulated following the concert, but Buendia was alive and well, despite having undergone his third angioplasty since 2007.

Buendia's manager Day Cabuhat assured the public that the rumors were a complete hoax.

Twitter user Kimerald2006 asked FrancisM's daughter Saab Magalona if the rumors were true, "hoping that it's just a bad joke."

It seems it is indeed just a bad joke, although it is unclear who started it, or why it was started in the first place.

Buendia celebrated his 40th birthday last November, and has been keeping himself busy.

Just last Friday, his band Pupil launched their video for their single 20/20. On Saturday, they played at the after party of Quark Henares' Rakenrol film premiere at Cinemalaya.

source: gmanews.tv