By Isah V. Red

THE fierce rivalry between cosmetic dermatology queen Vicki Belo and doctors Manny and Pie Calayan is spilling into the network war between GMA-7 and ABS-CBN.

?If you want to look like Dingdong Dantes and Piolo Pascual, come to Belo. But if you want to look like Boy Abunda, go to Calayan,? Belo said in an interview on GMA-7?s Showbiz Central, taking a swipe at her rivals and ABS-CBN talk show host Boy Abunda, who has become an image model for the Calayans.

For the loquacious Abunda, who has carved out a name for himself in show business despite his lack of traditional good looks, Belo?s comment was a blow to the ego.

ABS-CBN later picked up Belo?s attack and aired it on its own Showbiz News Ngayon.

Instead of laughing off Belo?s remark, Abunda wallowed in self pity on national TV.

Addressing Belo directly, he said in Filipino: ?Vicki, I have no illusions that I am beautiful or handsome.?

Despite this admission, Abunda leads a platoon of endorsers for the Calayans that include beauty queens Precious Lara Quigaman, Miriam Quiambao, actors Zanjoe Marudo and Rafael Rossel, comedienne Ai-Ai de las Alas, and actresses Gina Pare?o and Celia Rodriguez.

Belo?s Belo Medical Group has signed up some of the industry?s most popular and best-looking stars like Pascual and Dantes, Ruffa Gutierrez (formerly a Calayan endorser), Claudine Barretto and Regine Velasquez.

Belo, who knows how to use celebrities to sell her services, turned liposuction from a medical procedure to a beauty service. Showbiz wags say she gets her high-profile endorsers by offering them free services, but nobody knows how much is really involved.

No figures are available, but in terms of visibility, Belo is outspending her competitors with billboards all over Metro Manila, print advertising, spots on TV and even product insertion in TV shows and movies.

But Belo also gets publicity from complaints from unhappy customers.

The latest comes from a Filipino-American woman who is suing Belo for P20 million for allegedly botching a facial procedure.

The Calayans, too, have been sued, unsuccessfully, by a Filipino-American businessman who accused them of botching a penile enlargement operation.

Yet even this kind of publicity benefits Belo and the Calayans.

?They get into some kind of a situation that the entertainment press picks up and becomes fodder for tabloid and showbiz talk shows, and then their names become the only names in the business,? says a Belo client who requested anonymity.

Late last year, Belo dumped her lover, Hayden Kho, also a doctor, after she discovered that he had cheated on her. The media had a field day with the gossip, mostly speculating about whether or not the breakup was a publicity stunt. The names of two actresses came up?Katrina Halili and Rufa Mae Quinto?but Kho admitted only to having an affair with Halili. These days, the two actresses seem all too happy that Belo has found a new adversary.

To placate Abunda, Belo is said to have sent him a text message apologizing for her remarks. Will we see Belo again on GMA-7?s Showbiz Central this weekend? Or will she make a surprise appearance on The Buzz, the show hosted by Abunda and Kris Aquino? Neither would be surprising, given how the networks lap up controversy in the name of ratings.