I have a funny anecdote on misinformation that might be appreciated only by a very narrow group of people and it’s sad but I am sharing it anyway.

Remember Filipino veteran comedian Zorayda? She was a staple in Filipino comedy films of the 80s and 90s

When I was young, our helper told me that she is the wife of Van Damme. As in Belgian martial artist Jean-Claude Van Damme.

In the year 2001, there was no convenient way to fact check this information, so I repeated it to my lola. She somehow corroborated it by not categorically stating that Zorayda was not the wife of Van Damme.

Also, she added that Zorayda was a cum laude graduate of UP.

Through the years and with the advent of google, I would frequently think about finally confirming their relation but would forget. I did not know whether or not Zorayda was Van Damme’s wife. Until yesterday when I saw the names of the new cabinet appointees (iykyk)

I remembered Zorayda and finally went on google to find out how she’s been doing. I watched a docu and her and was sad to find out she succumbed to breast cancer in 2008. The docu also stated that she was a journalism graduate from UST, contrary to what my lola said.

The docu did not mention Van Damme. I went to Zorayda’s wiki page. A different person was listed as a spouse.

While I was able to confirm that they were indeed, not related, I wanted to know how our helper was able to concoct this story which was somehow corroborated by my lola

I did not think she would so brazenly lie and craft a story from thin air. She seemed so convinced then of what she told me. I thought, maybe, she must have mistaken something for something.

Like Van Damme might have had a wife named Zorayda. Zorayda is an uncommon name in the PH, she must have thought it was a unique name for the comedian. So, I went to Van Damme’s wiki. No Zorayda was listed as a spouse.

So, where did that story come from?

In my desperation, I blindly googled ‘Zorayda Van Damme’ expecting to find some old comedy sketch about the actor with Zorayda in the cast.

Instead, I found a reddit post about Bb. Pilipinas-Universe 2001 and lawyer Zorayda Andam.

My hunch was, she probably misheard the last name ‘Zorayda Andam’ as ‘Zorayda Van Damme’ in the news and made her own conclusion, which she then told me.

But what of the ‘cum laude graduate of UP’ that my lola added as information?

Of course, it was still Zorayda Andam, beauty queen, cum laude graduate from the UP School of Economics and Dean’s Medal for Academic Excellence Awardee from the UP College of Law

My lola and our helper probably both misheard the name from the news. I mean, what are the chances?

And me? I was simply happy to finally close this chapter of my life and nail down the cause of this misinformation.

Update: I was telling a friend this story and the whole time that I was referring to Zorayda, he had Zenaida on his mind, as in Seva.

Good thing I was able to correct it right away or this story would go on yet another direction.

UPDATE 2: according to @ItsMariaAlyssa Van Damme had a Filipina actress girlfriend named Jessica Rodriguez. Did a little digging and it was Jessica Rodriguez Bunevacz, around 1998.

If this thread did not date you yet, this tweet will.

http://www.newsflash.org/199801/sb/sb000243.htm

So new conclusion: heard the filipina girlfriend rumor, mistakenly heard the name Zorayda Van Damme three years later, filled in the gaps of the story and poof! Zorayda is now the wife of Van Damme.