Netizens search for rumored couple, impeached chief justice

Rumored new couple Pauleen Luna and Vic Sotto, impeached Chief Justice Renato Corona and FHM cover girl Sam Pinto are the top trending searches on Yahoo! Philippines from December 5 to 11.

1. Pauleen Luna and Vic Sotto. Entertainment editor Ricky Lo confirmed in his Dec. 7 column in The Philippine Star that "Eat Bulaga" hosts Vic Sotto and Pauleen Luna are officially a couple. He cited an unnamed source described only as "somebody close to them" as having confirmed the growing speculation. Vic and Pauleen remain silent on the issue.

2. Renato Corona. On same the day that Chief Justice Renato Corona announced the existence of a secret plot to oust him from office, 188 members of the House of Representatives signed an impeachment complaint against him. The complaint, which has been transmitted directly to the Senate, accuses the chief justice of betrayal of public trust, culpable violation of the constitution, and graft and corruption.

3. Sam Pinto. Kapuso actress and model Sam Pinto is back on the cover of the December issue of FHM Philippines, a popular men's magazine. She first appeared on the cover of FHM in July last year. The former Pinoy Big Brother housemate, who ranked fourth on Yahoo! Philippines' top searches this year, turned 22 on December 11.

4. Janet McBride. In the wake of a video that circulated online showing DJ Mo Twister claiming that girlfriend Rhian Ramos had an abortion, netizens scoured for information on Janet McBride, Mo's earlier girlfriend. Mo has since left for the U.S. while Rhian announced she would take a break from showbiz.

5. Immaculate Conception. Catholics all over the world observed the Feast of Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary last Dec. 8. The Church believes that Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ, was conceived without sin. On this day in 1854, Pope Pius IX declared that Mary was "preserved exempt from all stain of original sin."

6. Asiong Salonga. "Manila Kingpin: The Asiong Salonga Story," a new movie about the life of Tondo's own Robin Hood starring Laguna governor ER Ejercito, has become controversial. Lead actress Carla Abellana has been prevented from promoting the 2011 Metro Manila Film Festival entry because her manager apparently accepted the project even if the actress maintains an exclusive contract with Regal Films. Carla also stars in another MMFF entry, "Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow," which Regal produced.

7. RJ Rosales. The Filipino-Australian theater actor who was once an ABS-CBN talent died on Dec. 4 in Sydney, Australia. He was 37. As of this writing, the cause of his death remains undetermined. RJ's last movie in the Philippines was the 2006 MMFF entry, "Blue Moon."

8. Kepler-22b. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) on Dec. 5 announced that its Kepler spacecraft has confirmed the existence of a first planet within the habitable zone of a sun-like star outside our solar system. The planet, Kepler-22b, is 600 light years away and is larger than earth. It orbits 290 days around a star that belongs to the same class — only slightly smaller and cooler — as our sun. NASA said the discovery of Kepler-22b "is a step closer to finding Earth-like planets."

9. Xian Lim. The Filipino-Chinese actor and model and Kim Chiu's onscreen partner leads the list of Chalk Magazine's hottest guys of 2011. He appears on the cover of the magazine's December 2011-January 2012 issue. Xian recently released his song "Ako'y Sa 'Yo Lamang," which is on the soundtrack of the TV series, "My Binondo Girl."

10. Pepsi HIV hoax. Warnings against consumption of Pepsi products recently circulated via email, text messages and on social networks. The messages claim that a Pepsi worker injected HIV-contaminated blood in the company's beverage products. Pepsi's franchise holder in Malaysia said the story was a hoax and urban legends site Snopes.com earlier labeled the circulating claims as false.

These trending searches are for December 5 to 11, 2011. Check out the previous Yahoo! Search Trends article, "Controversial women trend on Yahoo! Search."