planet philippines - calgary edition (august 2010 issue)

AUGUST 2010Calgary Edition PLANET PHILIPPINES17

AUGUST 2010 Calgary EditionPLANET PHILIPPINES18

SURPRISES OUR WET MARKETS...astic about showing how to cook what they sell, even pointing you to where the vegetables or spices needed can be bought. They also do the extra services for free, like cutting your bangus for daing (but-terflied), preparing the bangus or chicken for relleno, expertly re-moving the meat from the skin.

The free service includes picking the bones of the bangus, slaughter-ing live chicken or fish right before you. In a Calamba market, after I had chosen the mudfish and cat-fish, I was taken aback by how the vendor phrased the offer in earthy Tagalog to finish the transaction and the fish: “Yayariin ko na ba?”

At the Carigara market, a ven-dor was preparing salaysay (small fish with yellowish streak) by re-moving the meat and leaving the spine still connected to the head and tail (to be cooked as paksiw later). I remembered ordering 1/4 kilo and then forgot to go back for it after going through the other stalls. If my fellow travelers and I didn’t have any other food that lunch, I would have been casti-gated thoroughly.

Market dayIn many provinces, every town

has a specific market day. This is

Vegetables are shredded or julienne-cut, ready to be cooked or pickled.usually when meat can be bought so it isn’t unusual that for those areas, meat is eaten once a week only. However, in Iloilo, market day is when sellers from other towns come in with more choices for the local people.

What distinguishes Iloilo mar-kets is the display of guinamos

(shrimp paste), mounds of them. In other markets, shrimp and fish paste are more watery, so that these are stored and displayed in pails.

There are general things mar-kets have. But there are those that make them distinct.

At the Bicol market, you expect

gabi leaves, chili and pili fruits; and they are there in so many stalls. But what surprised me was how many of the vegetables are shredded or julienne-cut, ready to be cooked or pickled. They looked like works of art lined up on the vendors’ tables, a variety of colors and shapes.

It’s also expected to see bag-net (deep-fried pork chunks) and seaweeds in most Ilocos markets. Yet in Ilocos Sur, there are places where handmade, fresh noodles for miki is done. And in Ilocos Norte, there are ant eggs for sale, but you are warned that if you are allergic to ant’s bite, you can’t eat those.

The Baler market had special-ized meat stalls where individual packs of goat parts and bile for papaitan are sold. Rattan sticks or yantok were also on sale where the

edible part is contained within.Sometimes there are special-

ized markets. In Cebu, the main market is called Carbon because in the old days, that was the place to get charcoal for cook-ing. The center for salted fish and guinamos is Tabuan market. My friends in Cebu warned me to take a bath and change my clothes after a visit there because the smell stays with you, perme-ates clothing and hair. And the wholesale market for seafood is Pasil Fish Market which sup-plies many of the eateries that sell linarang (fish stew).

Fish is the main item in the Tawi-tawi market but one still gets a jolt to see blowfish being sold nonchalantly. And then the cassava cakes, those pounded and processed and eaten with seafood by Tausugs and Samals, are in al-most every corner.

Knowing that there will be cer-tain unfamiliar ingredients makes going to market an adventure. Even if I know that I still get sur-prised enough to make me change some notions about our cooking. That’s what happened at the Bi-ñan market when I saw balls of sour sampaloc that I thought was only sold in Thailand. (Philippine Daily Inquirer) n

From page 14 There are general things markets have. But there are those that make them distinct.


AFTER declaring that he is uni-laterally ending his contract with ABS-CBN, Willie Revillame says he is now ready to negotiate with other networks.

In an interview with GMA-7 on Aug. 13, the former host of the defunct noontime show Wowowee said, “Ngayon po, sa pagkakaalam ko, wala na ako sa poder ng (ABS-CBN),” he said. “Puwede na akong makipag-ne-gotiate sa ibang channel. Putol na po ang aking kontrata sa Ka-pamilya Network.”

He said he is willing to stage non-televised entertainment shows for his fans. “Gagawa ako ng paraan. ‘Di kailangan nasa TV ako. World tour, kahit sa sarili kong pera, gagawin ko.”

His lawyer, Leonard de Vera, said he expects a legal battle over Willie’s plan to move to an-other TV station.

OGIE Alcasid has formally an-nounced on national television that he and Regine Velasquez would tie the knot in December this year.

In a letter to ABS-CBN chair-man Eugenio Lopez III dated Aug. 9, Willie said he wants to end his contract, which runs through Sep-tember 2010, claiming unfair treat-ment from the network.

In particular, he cried foul over the network’s move to withdraw from an alleged initial agreement that he would return to Wowowee last July 31. But in that date, a new noontime show, Pilipinas, Win na Win, debuted bannered by a new set of hosts, including Kris Aquino and Robin Padilla.

Willie also objected to the al-leged plan of ABS-CBN to give him a weekly pre-recorded TV program on Channel 2 and a possible show at sister company Studio 23.

ABS-CBN says it is determined to enforce the terms of the con-tract and hints of legal action if the TV host pursues his threat to ap-pear in or work for another station.

OGIE, REGINE TO MARRY IN DECEMBER

The singer-composer made the announcement on the Sunday show Party Pilipinas, which the couple co-hosts, on Aug. 8. Some reports say the wedding is set on Dec. 22 but neither Ogie nor Regine has confirmed the date.

Ogie said his petition to annul his marriage to former Miss Aus-tralia Michelle van Eimeren was ap-proved last June 21, paving the way for his marriage to Asia’s Songbird, his sweetheart of five years.

Ogie and Michelle have two daughters who live with their mother in Australia. Michelle has remarried to an Australian.

Ogie said he asked President Noynoy Aquino to stand as one of the wedding sponsors but he said the President opted to be just one of the groomsmen.

Among the principal sponsors are Atty. Felipe Gozon, CEO of GMA-7; the Lhuilliers; Lily Mon-teverde of Regal Entertainment; Sharon Cuneta; Wilma Galvante, SVP of GMA-7’s Entertainment TV; and Manny V. Pangilinan, CEO of TV5.

It claims that it was Willie who vio-lated the terms of the contract.

“He violated the behavioral provi-sions of his contract when he threat-ened the ABS-CBN management during the May 4, 2010 episode of Wowowee, with a resignation if man-agement does not fire another art-ist of the network. His behavior was generally seen as a display of dis-respect and arrogance, completely unacceptable to the Filipino public,” ABS-CBN said in a statement.

Willie went on an indefinite leave from his former show after his emotional outburst on the program on May 4 where he threatened to quit the network if it would not fire TV host-columnist Jobert Saculdito for his criticism of the show.

CELEBR TYWILLIE TO NEGOTIATE WITH OTHER NETWORKS


CELEBRITYFILES

KRIS Aquino officially filed a peti-tion for the declaration of nullity of her marriage to James Yap at the Makati Family Court on Aug. 9.

Acting on the petition, the sheriff of the Makati Regional Trial Court (RTC) served the papers on the TV host-actress’s estranged husband on Aug. 11 as the basket-ball star was receiving his second Most Valuable Player award.

Kris said she had nothing to do with the timing of the sheriff’s move, which some quarters said spoiled the celebration of James’ victory.

The main ground cited for the nullity of Kris and James’s union was “lack of authority of the sol-emnizing officer.” Kris’s lawyers had said that the marriage was null and void from the beginning.

Kris, 39, was married to James, 28, under a civil ceremony at the house of her business manager Boy Abunda on July 10, 2005. It was solemnized by a certain Rayda P. Tumaliuan, a minister of Holy Sacrament International Church.

The Family Code of the Philip-pines states that a marriage may be solemnized by “any priest, rab-bi, imam, or minister of any church

ROBIN Padilla has made no bones about his love for Mariel Rodriguez. Appearing as a special guest on the birthday celebration of Mariel on the TV show Entertainment Live!, the action star publicly declared his love for the TV host.

Robin admits he was smitten by Mariel when they co-hosted the now-defunct Wowowee in May.

Mariel took out the diamond ring given to her by Robin, prompting the latter to ask why she was not wearing it. Mariel replied, “E, kasi hindi pa ‘ko handang pag-usapan.” Robin held the ring and put it on Mariel’s finger.

“Napakaespesyal niyan,” Robin said. “At naniniwala ako sa saying na ‘diamonds are forever . . . Hindi

THERE have been persistent ru-mors that Diether Ocampo and commercial model Rima Ostwani have broken up but they were con-firmed only last Aug. 8 by Rima in an interview on The Buzz.

Asked by host Boy Abunda if they have indeed ended their two-year relationship, Rima said yes.

“Masakit para sa akin ito, Tito Boy,’ she said. “Nahirapan siyang [Diether] balansehin ang work and relationship... I tried to understand [the situation]. Is

KRIS FILES PETITION TO NULLIFY MARRIAGE

or religious sect duly authorized by his church or religious sect and registered with the civil registrar general . . . provided that at least one of the contracting parties be-longs to the solemnizing officer’s church or religious sect.”

Problem is Kris and James de-clared in the marriage document that they are Roman Catholic. Since neither party belongs to the minister’s sect, Kris’s lawyers maintain there was a legal defect in the marriage and therefore the union was null and void from the beginning.

Kris’s petition also asked the court for the custody of the couple’s three-year-old son, Baby James.

MODEL CONFIRMS BREAKUP WITH DIETHERthat enough reason to throw away what we had?”

Boy further inquired: “What was the straw that broke the cam-el’s back?”

Rima replied, “There were a couple of incidents that he put me through that was unnecessary... I felt I was very much taken for granted.”

She added there was no third party involved.

In a separate interview about the breakup, Diether said, “I have to sacrifice something. Gusto ko

lang bigyan prayoridad ang mga bagay-bagay. It’s a mutual deci-sion.”

Rima narrated how their ro-mance started. “Initially, he saw me an event...he noticed my feet. He was texting me... It was love at feet sight!”

She said that she was hesitant to enter into a relationship with actors due to their playboy reputa-tion but her doubts vanished when Diet told her that he has a founda-tion for children.

ROBIN DECLARES LOVE FOR MARIEL ON TV

ho ibig sabihin nito na sinagot na ako ni Mariel.” Reports say the ring is worth P1.2 million.

But their romance did not sit well with Robin’s former wife, Liezl Si-cangco, who now lives in Australia. Liezl blames Mariel on why Robin has neglected their 10-year-old son Ali, who is staying with his father. The former couple has four children.

“Siya [Mariel] ang dahilan kung bakit hindi na nagpapakita si Robin kay Ali. Sana, kung hindi na niya maalagaan ang aming mga anak, e, ibalik na lang niya ito sa akin dito sa Australia,” said Liezl. “Actually, wala naman akong pakialam kay Mariel kasi may sarili siyang buhay. Ang concern ko lang naman, e, ang kalagayan ng aming anak, lalo na si Ali dahil napakabata pa niya.”

Meanwhile, Robin dismissed reports that he was leaving Pilipinas,Win na Win for good due to misunderstanding with ABS-CBN management. He said he was tem-porarily leaving the show to observe Ramadan, the Islamic month of fast-ing. He is a Muslim convert.


Well, well, well, you must really be bored! Here it is – the middle of summer, a hot sunny day – and you’re reading this column. Nothin’ better to do? No free 24 Hours papers around? Just kidding! Thanks for joining us. I enjoy writing every month and each time it is different. This is the second anniversary of Planet Philippines and I managed to contribute to every issue except the first one. I did not expect to do this at all, let alone for 2 years. If you get a chance ask Percy how it came about that I write some-thing every month. Matter of fact email her and invite her to your next party. She needs to get out more, meet people and get stories (and advertisers) for the paper. She takes awesome pictures too! Each month my column is different because it depends on the mood I’m in. My mood varies day to day or even hour to hour as I work with the public. With the nature of my work some people are happy and some people are – let’s say – not so happy? And they are successful in making their mood, mine. Anyway, with the heat wave we’ve had lately my brain is fried. It didn’t help much when a good friend and I went canoeing and we got too much sun. So I’ll keep it simple this month and try to educate one or two of the 10? readers that we have. Lesson 1: Kleenex. Kleenex should go this way: from the box, to your nose (or whatever) and then to the garbage. How they somehow end up in the wash ma-chine is a mystery… Lesson 2: Time Change. In Canada we change every clock two times a year, by one hour. Except those in Saskatchewan ‘cause they can never remember whether to move it forward or backwards that 1 hour. And the people in Newfoundland who don’t have clocks – just roosters. Anyway, advance your clock one hour in the spring. Watch the newspapers – they usually tell us when ‘cause it is important that we all do this at the same time. It avoids confusion. In the fall either before or after Halloween unplug your clock for one hour. This retards it. The country stops every-thing for one hour to let time catch up to our clocks. This unplugging method does not work very well for digital clocks. Whatever, just turn all your time devices back approximately 1 hour, unless you live in Saskatchewan or Newfoundland. Again, it is relatively important that we all do this at the same time. Spring-ahead, fall-back. I like the fall one – it adds an extra hour to our short days, or nights. Since it is done on a Saturday night it is better to be at Barrio Fiesta. You get an extra hour to party! And you can blame the “Time Lag” (similar to jet lag) on the Kahlua or the band. Lesson 3: Time Zones. Canada is a big country. Sometimes it is -20 degrees in one part of the country (usually Calgary) and +20 on the other side of the country, the Far East. Almost every province has a different time – except Saskatchewan or Newfoundland, (see Lesson 2) For example – 6 o’clock in Calgary is 8 o’clock in To-ronto. That never changes (unless one of us forgets to turn our clocks ahead or back – see Lesson 2). This feature is cool ‘cause much of our country revolves around Toronto (at least they think so). If you are phoning a company, since many head of-fices and government departments operate in Toronto, you can call when it is early in Calgary (like 6 a.m.) and they are already at work. If you do not call in the morn-ing you have to remember that they go home early, about 2 p.m. Calgary time.I have always wondered though – if Toronto is so big and important, how come our flights to the Philippines never stop there? They stop in Vancouver instead. Vancouver must be more important… So, I hope you learned something today. Get out and enjoy the weather and get some exercise. If you are in his Ward, Re-elect Jim Stevenson for Alderman. He gets things done! And of course – choose Ric McIver for Mayor! Be happy!

2010 ORGANIZERS: Dr. Darshan Brar and Lottie Brar, Francis Guerrero and Sally Guerrero, and Friends cordially invite you to this year’s FPCC 26th

Gala Night.

Announcement from PEACPilipino Educators Advocated Council will be holding a BRAIN GYM LEC-TURE for all seniors at China Rose Restaurant on 228 28 Street SE, Cal-gary, AB T2A 6J9 from 11:00 Am to 3:00 PM. Mrs. Patricia Elford will be conducting the Seminar. Tickets are at $ 35.00 including buffet lunch. For further information on this event please contact Espie at (403) 890-8392 or Patricia at (403) 617-8996.

Announcement from Elite-CuisinePlease be informed that EDITHA ANTOLIN of 225 McKenzie Towne Gate SE is no longer connected with Elite-Cuisine effective August 10, 2010. Any transactions made by her in behalf of Elite-Cuisine will be no longer ac-cepted by the company. She may be contacted at (403) 975-0198 for any complaints and inquiries.

To All My Kababayan and readers of Planet Philippines: This 25th issue marks our 2nd Anniversary of providing you an interesting, readable and intelligent newsmagazine. This was made possible only because of your unwavering sup-port and positive feedback. I’m extremely grateful to all business owners who have used us to promote their businesses to our community ‘coz without you, PP wouldn’t be here at all. I hope that we continue to support them too as they deliver excellent services to all of us. Our next issue will come out on Sept. 17, 2010. I’m inviting everyone to send your an-nouncements and inquiries by email to Percy at [email protected] or by calling 403-667-2645. Here’s to another year of friendship, fun and challenges... Maraming Salamat sa inyong lahat!

Yours truly,Maria Percy Javelosa


O K W A N G MAY have lost another chance at love when an im-minent ro-mance with a Mexican-A m e r i c a n whom she met

while doing a show in Dallas, Texas in April 2010 went ka-put. But she’s not sulking.

For starters, her career is going great guns. She recently cut a two-picture deal with Regal Films and she will soon work on the remake of the ‘80s cult hit, Temptation Is-land, as one of the leads alongside young stars Andi Eigenmann and Carla Abellana. She will play the role of a bratty beauty queen’s loyal yaya. A solo picture is also said to be in the works over at Pokwang’s mother studio, Star Cinema, which is the film produc-tion arm of ABS-CBN.

Of course, there’s still the noontime show, Wowowee, which she has been co-hosting since 2007. She will also be part of the new game and variety show Pili-pinas For the Win, which replaced Wowowee last July 31. Her resil-ient professionalism and unique brand of humor have attracted a solid following in the country and abroad.

Pokwang, who is Marietta Sub-ong in real life, is a fulfilled single mother to her teenage daughter, Riemae, and a capable provider to her widowed mother, her 11 siblings and several relatives. Her father died a few years ago.

She proudly declares that she attributes and dedicates her suc-cess to her family, most especially to her child. “Dalawa silang anak ko pero ‘yung panganay kong lalaki, angel ko na siya ngayon,” she says, referring to the sad aftermath of a personal tragedy in 1998 that she now considers as the turning point in her life.

“Apat na beses akong nag-abroad sa Japan at ‘yung pinaka-last sa Abu Dhabi,” she recalls her experience as a migrant worker. “’Yun ang time na nagkasakit ang anak kong lalaki. Hindi ako nakauwi hanggang sa mamatay ang anak ko sa brain tu-mor at mailibing. . . Ang amo namin doon [ay] iba ang paniniwala nila sa mga Kristyano [kaya] parang hindi naman daw importante ‘yung pag-uwi ko. Tapusin ko na lang daw ang kontrata ko or else idedemanda ako. Six months ang kontrata ko. Nakaka-three months pa lang ako. Ayaw sa-gutin ang pamasahe ko. . . After that, hindi na ako bumiyahe ulit. Ayoko nang magtrabaho abroad. . . May nangyari sa anak ko na wala ako sa tabi n’ya. Sobrang do’n ako durog na durog.”

DESTINY’S

ChildNaniniwala talaga ako na ‘pag destiny mo, destiny mo talaga kahit ano’ng gawin mong iwas. Ayoko talagang sumali kasi sobrang nahihiya ako nang bonggang-bongga pero

plano ni God ‘yan kaya hindi pwedeng ilihis.

Pokwang attributes her newfound success in showbiz and its material blessings to fate.

Pokwang spends P6,000 daily for her

costume, hair and makeup on Wowowee.

She has amassed quite a collection of

show clothes, some of which she donates to

charity.

BY JOCELYN VALLE

Upon returning home, Pok-wang worked as a choreographer and then as a stand-up comedian at Music Box on Timog Avenue, Quezon City. One night, a talent coordinator from the now defunct gag show of ABS-CBN, Yes, Yes Show, came scouting for contes-tants in the segment, “Clown in a Million.” Her friends secretly signed her on so she nearly went berserk upon receiving a call tell-ing her to report to the gag show’s set.

Despite feeling unsure of her chances in the contest, Pokwang reported to ABS-CBN studio. “Wala akong magagawa kundi magsikap na kahit ano’ng tra-baho basta legal papasukin ko,” she says. “Kasi nakita ko na walang tutulong sa


Pokwang (third from right) laps it up with other co-hosts of the noontime show Wowowee. To her right is Robin Padilla standing-in for Willie Revillame.

anak ko kundi ako lang. ‘Yung tatay, wala ng silbi, ‘di ba? Ang mga magu-lang ko naman matatanda na, wala nang trabaho. ‘Yung mga kapatid ko, sa akin pa rin umaasa.”

Pokwang, who wears her Catholic faith on her sleeves, firm-ly believes in fate. “Naniniwala ta-laga ako na ‘pag destiny mo, destiny mo talaga kahit ano’ng gawin mong iwas. Ayoko talagang sumali kasi so-brang nahihiya ako nang bonggang-bongga pero plano ni God ‘yan kaya hindi pwedeng ilihis.”

At the same time, she lives by the dictum that God helps those who help themselves. That’s why despite her flourishing showbiz career, Pokwang has put up a sa-lon with her colleague and good friend, Pooh, and mulls over get-ting into a food business like a Japanese restaurant because she’s a fan of Nippon cuisine. She’s also building another house near her place in Antipolo that she consid-ers lucky and looking into other real estate investments.

Asked if she’s already wealthy, Pokwang, without missing a beat, exclaims, “Ay, sobra! Umaapaw, siksik, liglig. Wala na akong bangko na madepositohan kasi tinatanggihan na. Gano’n ako kayaman!”

But does she still cry? “Oo naman, may mga moment,”

she admits, turning serious. “Ibang reason na. Hindi na sa boyfriend, hindi na sa pamilya. Sa pera hindi na rin kasi alam ko na kung paano i-

manage ang pinaghirapan ko.” The last time Pokwang had a

good cry was when she received last December the citation for the Readers’ Choice’s “Triumph over

Tragedy” category of the 2009 Working Mom Balance Awards. Working Mom is a monthly glossy of ABS-CBN Publishing that an-nually honors exemplary mothers from various fields.

In between sobs, Pokwang made wisecracks at her hard and sad past while accepting her award. “Ang nanay ko talaga ang inspirasyon ko kung bakit ako naging komedyante. Nililibang n’ya kam-ing magkakapatid kasi wala kaming makain.” Then she turned emo-tional. “Idolo ko sa pagiging ina si Mama Mary. Pareho kaming nawa-lan ng anak [na] ginawa kong inspi-rasyon.”

She later tells us: “Very thank-ful ako na nare-recognize ang mga kagaya ko na comedian. Ibang-iba ito sa mga award na natanggap ko kasi madalas sa acting or hosting pero ito, akong-ako talaga ito.”

Last month the comedienne received another unexpected gift, this time from one of her clos-est friends in showbiz, TV host-actress Kris Aquino. Before the presidential sister left for the US last July, she gave away her cus-tomized pink-colored mini-bus to Pokwang as a token of apprecia-tion for the comedienne’s support for President Noynoy Aquino in the last elections.

“Bago siya umalis [papunta] sa US ay tinext niya na ako na ide-deliver daw sa bahay,” she relates, adding that she never dreamed of having a bus of her own and receiving such a big present from Kris. “Actually ako, ang gusto ko lang talaga ay malaking sasakyan kasi malaki ang pamilya ko. Sobrang marami kaming magkakapatid, mga pamangkin ko, ilan yang mga yan. Pero hindi ganoon kaganda at hindi ko ini-expect talaga.”

Pokwang says her mother be-came emotional upon seeing the mini-bus. “Ang unang una umiyak nanay ko. Natuwa talaga ang nanay ko nang bonggang bongga. Saka kasi mahilig maglaboy ang nanay ko. Ex-cited na excited siya. Ginamit na nga agad.”

For all the blessings that she has received, she is still wishing for Mr. Right to come her way. “Kung nabibili lang ang dyowa at pagmamahal,” she sighs. “Iniisip ko na lang na mas maswerte ako doon sa mga kababayan natin na walang ba-hay – ‘yung mga nakatira sa ilalim ng tulay na walang ano…alam mo ‘yun?”

But she adds her Prince Charm-ing should be someone special. “Kailangan mas maraming pera kay-sa akin. ‘Yun ang totoo kasi kung ako rin ang bubuhay sa kanya, ‘wag na. At siyempre kailangan ‘yung may ta-kot sa Diyos dahil unang-una, babae ang anak ko. Dapat kasing sipag ko rin siya.” n

For all the blessings that she has received, she is still wishing for Mr. Right to come her way.

CELEBRITYFILES

JERICHO Rosales and Cesca Lit-ton have been reported to be an item but the two would not confirm their romantic liaison. A courtside reporter for NCAA and an MTV DJ, Cesca is a reporter for ABS-CBN’s two showbiz shows – Showbiz News Ngayon (SNN) and Entertainment Live!

When they were seen togeth-er in an event, Jericho would only say, “Everyone knows I’m with her,” but did not elaborate.

That is until Cesca made a slip last Aug. 3 during the pre-sentation of the seven female celebrity endorsers (including her) of a shampoo brand. Cesca was asked by a reporter to com-ment on the remark of Andi Eigenmann, another endorser, that Jericho is her crush.

“Hello naman, marami naman talagang, ahm... Sarili kong mga kaibigan, inaasar ako na crush nila ang boyfriend ko na...ay, ano...aay!”, she said before trying to do a hasty retreat but the me-dia persisted.

“Hindi naman itinatago,’ she explained. “Hello, nakikita nyo naman kaming magkasama. I think, it’s really, we’re just try-ing to keep things private. I

JERICHO’S GF ADMITS THEY’RE ON

think both of us are trying to make a certain part of our lives private. So, di ba? Once again, there’s no lying involved. There’s no hiding, there’s no denying. It’s really just to protect things only.”

Asked when she and Jericho became officially an item, she de-murred, saying it should come from the actor.

THERE is a frosty air hanging over the relationship of popular screen partners and alleged real-life lov-ers Kim Chiu and Gerald Anderson.

This was disclosed by Toni Gon-zaga, who claimed that she person-ally observed this herself.

“As a keen observer, I would like to share na . . . in our rehearsals sa [noon-time show] ‘ASAP’ [starting] this year, napansin ko na hindi na sila [Kim and Gerald] gaano nagdidikit,” Toni said on The Buzz last July 25.

Toni cited another recent inci-dent to support her observation.

“Magkasama kami nina Ger-ald, galing kami sa Milo Marathon tapos dumeretso na kami ng re-

ARE KIM AND GERALD DRIFTING APART?hearsals for ‘ASAP.’ Pagdating dun, parang ginanun [gesturing with her hands a seeming tap on the shoul-der] niya lang ang back ni Kim. Ta-pos lumayo na si Kim. Parang there was coldness,” she related.

Toni’s revelation came after Kim and Gerald were reported to have broken up due to the latter’s growing “closeness” with fellow ABS-CBN star Bea Alonzo.

Kim said that she is unaware of the rumor about Gerald and Bea.

“Ewan ko, pero nga kasi kaibi-gan naman namin [she and Gerald] si Bea. Hindi ko kasi alam kung totoo ‘yan [rumor] pero kung sakali man eh, kung saan sila [Gerald and

PIOLO Pascual said unknown indi-viduals are using his 13-year-old son Iñigo’s name to spread text messages to ruin his friendship with KC Concepcion.

In a statement sent to the show The Buzz, Piolo denied that his son was using Twitter to “malign” KC in the Internet. Pascual pointed out that Iñigo does not own a Twitter account, and that the minor’s Face-book page has been hacked.

“He never texted anybody to ma-lign Kristina (Concepcion). He also

PIOLO SAYS SORRY TO KC

Bea] masaya, eh ‘di susuportahan ko . Bahala na sila,” Kim said.

receives prank calls from different people even while in the States. He has told me that there are people harassing him and using his name to harass other people as well through Internet,” the statement read.

Just the same, the actor has apologized to KC and her family.

According to tabloid reports, Iñigo was purportedly opposed to the rumored budding romance be-tween his father and the young ac-tress. Iñigo, who is studying in the United States, would reportedly

write negative stuff about KC in his Twitter account.

Piolo called on those behind the prank to stop using his son’s name “to ruin relationships.”

“Please refrain from doing so for we may seek legal counsel,” he said. “My son is still a minor and pri-vate individual. I’d like to apologize to Kristina and her family. Thank you for standing by me through this situation. I appreciate your support and maturity in handling this mat-ter. Again my apologies.”


S THE song goes, they had the right love at the wrong time. This is what happened to the love story of controver-sial actress-

host Kris Aquino and action star Robin Padilla almost two decades ago.

It was in the early ‘80s when Filipinos watched how the youngest daughter of slain sena-tor Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr. captured the hearts of the nation.

Robin said he first saw Kris during the February 1986 People Power revolution that installed Kris’s mom, Cory, to the presi-dency.

“Crush na crush ko talaga si Kris noon. Sabi ko nga ang gandang bata,” he told StarStudio magazine.

Robin finally had the chance to meet Kris when the latter did a TV special Kris At 18 in 1989. At the time, Robin was beginning to make a name for himself as an ac-tion star and future “Bad Boy of Philippine Movies.”

As luck would have it, the ac-tion star was invited as a guest in the TV special.

Robin said he decided to woo Kris by first sending her a love let-ter.

“Sinulatan ko po yon (si Kris). Nanligaw po ako para kaming nag-ing poor boy-rich girl (na fairy tale plot). It was you and me against the world,” he said.

The love affair, however, was controversial from the very be-ginning. There was talk that then-President Cory Aquino did not want Robin for her daughter.

Robin said that he will never forget how Kris fought for their love. Kris even brought Robin in some events in Malacañang after her mother won the presidency.

At one point, he said Kris even confessed how her family was against their relationship.

“Sabi ni Kris hindi niya kaya. Hindi niya pinaramdam (ang takot) kaya hindi rin ako natakot,” Padilla said.

The love affair soon ended with the two parting ways.

Robin said his addiction to drugs was partly to blame for the end of their relationship.

“Ako ang may kasalanan noon. Adik ako nun. Hindi ko na-value ang ginagawa niya (Kris). Nung tapos na, saka ko na-value. Ako ang may diperensiya,” he said.

Two decades later, the two former lovers will be reunited in ABS-CBN newest noontime show Pilipinas, Win na Win!

LOOKING BACK: THE KRIS-ROBIN AFFAIRTwo decades after their short-lived romance, the star-crossed lovers are reunited in a new TV show. Now that Robin is divorced from his wife and Kris is separating from her husband, will they rekindle the old flame? Abangan!

Some say the two might re-kindle their special feelings for each other especially after the TV host-actress announced that she is separating from her husband, basketball star James Yap. Oth-ers say Kris might rock the brew-ing romance between Robin and Mariel Rodriguez, who will also be part of the new show, which replaced Wowowee beginning last July 31.

In a recent interview with ABS-CBN News, Robin con-firmed that he and Kris talked about their newest show and both agreed that their priority is the show’s audience.

“Nag-usap kami na ang prayoridad na-min ay ang tao sila ang bida dito at hindi tayo,” he said.

Asked how he felt about work-ing again with Kris, the action star replied: “Siguro ang nakaraan ay magiging sandata na lang ‘yon para maging maganda ang programa, pero para balikan (hindi na). Ang prayoridad natin ay ang show kasi kailangan nating makapagpaligaya ng mga tao ngayon. Kung ang mga tao ang magsabi na mag-duet kami, kumanta, bakit hindi? Ako naman ay singer.” (abs-cbnNEWS.com, with a report from StarStudio) n

Former lovers Kris Aquino and Robin

Padilla will be reunited on the noontime

program Pilipinas, Win na Win!


BEAUTIFULP H I L I P P I N E S T H E

HE FIRST time I went to Corregi-dor, the hero island of World War II guarding the mouth of Manila Bay, was de-

cades ago when I was still a staff writer of the old Graphic magazine. An officemate from the Advertising section had impressed upon me the historical importance of the island, and persuaded me to go with him and his family.

Then as now, the way to go to Corregidor was by ferry boat at what would become the CCP (Cultural Center of the Philip-pines) Complex beside the Manila Yacht Club along Roxas Boule-vard (once named Dewey Bou-levard after the US admiral who defeated the antiquated Spanish fleet in the Battle of Manila Bay in 1898).

There were not too many ame-nities then in the island, which even then was already a top tour-ist destination. Families from Manila would undertake the one-hour trip to acquaint themselves with the heroic stand of the Filipi-no and American soldiers against the relentless attacks of the Japa-nese.

American veterans would, of course, revisit Corregidor for sentimental reasons and, later, Japanese veterans. (The story told

STORY AND PHOTOS BY AMADIS MA. GUERRERO

There are now even more activities being promoted, like biking, bird-watching, mountain trekking, camping, a night visit to Malinta’s lateral tunnel, cruising on outrigger boats and visiting the nearby islands, beach games, fishing and other sports.

WHAT’S NEWmemorials of WWII constructed by the US; the other being at Pearl Harbor.

And, of course, there was the obligatory tour of the island.

My second visit to Corregidor took place many years later in the early 1990s, and it was even more enjoyable and informative, for new attractions had been built and the tour was packed with more details and insights. For one thing, we did not settle for a day tour but stayed overnight at the new, spanking Corregidor Hotel.

The island was being devel-oped and restored by the Corregi-dor Foundation, Inc. Among the new landmarks then was the Fili-pino Heroes Memorial, consisting of 14 murals by sculptor Manuel Casal depicting the famous as well as little-known heroes, bat-tles and revolts throughout Phil-ippine History: from the Battle of Mactan (1521) to People Power EDSA I (1986).

Even more exciting was “The Malinta Experience,” a 30-minute light-and-sound presentation cre-

A new attraction in Corregidor: The zip-line.

A quaint feature of the island is this train-like bus.

Briefing for media team at the jump-off point of the zip-line.

IN CORREGIDOR?

us was that once these veterans from the formerly enemy nations, reliving the war, almost came to blows.)

There were the famous histori-cal sites: the Mile-Long Barracks, ruins of the 1,250-feet barracks which once served as quarters of some 2,000 US officials; the Ma-linta Tunnel, where thousands of Filipinos, Americans and Japanese died (some of the latter commit-ted sepuku or ritual suicide here); the batteries, or the big guns with mortars that gallantly defended the island; and the old Spanish lighthouse.

The Pacific War Memorial, lo-cated at the highest point of the island and built by the US at a cost of $1.23 million, had just been completed. It was only one of two


ANSWER FROM PAGE 11ANSWER FROM PAGE 13

The zip-line route, about to be crossed.

PHILIPPINESthe BEAUTIFUL

HE Phil-i p p i n e s ’ once pris-tine island of Boracay has become extremely overdevel-oped, with its famous

beach now choked by sew-age and too many bars, the country’s new tourism min-ister said.

In an interview with the news agency Agence France-Presse on July 9, Tourism Sec-retary Alberto Lim suggested it was time tourists visited equally beautiful beaches in the country other than Boracay, which the government said drew 650,000 tourists last year.

“If you go to Boracay you’d love the beach, you’d love the night life and the good restau-rants. But it’s so dense, it’s so dense,” Lim said.

“It is now, you know, too com-mercial. It’s become Phuket,” he said, referring to the much larger Thai beach resort island.

Lim, who joined President Benigno Aquino’s cabinet when it took power on June 30, said the 10.3 square-kilometer (four square-mile) central Philippine island of Boracay was a differ-ent place a generation ago.

The sprawl that followed the tourist dollars caused the sea-water off the four-kilometer (2.5 mile) white-sand beachfront to sprout algae, which was fed by

BORACAY ISLAND UNDER THREAT

If you go to Boracay you’d love the beach, you’d love the night life and the good restaurants. But it’s so dense, it’s

so dense. . . It is now, you know, too commercial. It’s become Phuket.

The new Tourism Secretary laments that huge hotels are being built even in the mountains.

It is feared that the once pristine island may soon lose its glory due to overdevelopment.

ated by the late National Artist Lamberto V. Avellana.

Here sound effects, theatrical devices (like the smoke of battle swirling around your footsteps), tableaus and slide presentations coalesce to instill within you a frightening picture of how it was like while Corregidor was being besieged. You gape at life-size di-oramas along the lateral tunnels, which reportedly can extend up to seven kilometers if linked.

There are the simulated voices of Presidents Quezon and Roos-evelt, and Generals MacArthur and Wainwright. And best of all, there was the real voice of Lt. Norman Reyes, who gained fame by announcing to the world that “Bataan has fallen.” Sirens wail, and you hear the roar of fighter bombers, loud bomb explosions and screams of Japanese troops about to commit mass suicide at war’s end. Banzai! The pulsating presentation ends with the Philip-pine flag waving in the wind, as the National Anthem is played.

My third visit to the island, as part of a media team this time, was just recently, a few months ago. The trip was sponsored by Sun Cruises, which manages the island for the Corregidor Founda-tion. And the third time around was just as rewarding.

There are now even more ac-tivities being promoted, like bik-ing, bird-watching, mountain trek-king, camping, team-building, a night visit to Malinta’s lateral tun-nel, which was a 1,000-bed hospital during the war; cruising on outrig-ger boats and visiting the nearby islands, beach games, fishing and other sports, and sun-spotting: viewing the famous Manila Bay sunset on the western side of the island, and sunrise tailside.

At the Pacific War Memorial, the wonder of it is that it was con-structed in such a way that, at 6 a.m. every May 6, the day Cor-regidor fell, the sun’s rays pen-etrate the domed roof.

There are regular tours and overnight packages, nature tours and adventure packages, educa-

tional group tours and even theme banquets. But the main reason for the media tour was to announce the Corregidor Island Zip Line, which is 30 feet high and over 300 meters long. It starts from the back of the Corregidor Hotel and ends in the South Beach area.

It’s lots of fun really, for an “amateur” adventure tourist, and quite safe. Even the older children can enjoy it. Strapped, you fly through the air, gripping the ca-ble, and land in an elevated plat-form, where two staffers will be on hand to receive you and help you dismantle.

Check out the Corregidor ex-perience at [email protected] or www.corregi-dorphilippines.com n

sewage from the hotels and res-taurants, he said.

“Thirty years ago they tried to set the rules but they were not successful. The local gov-ernment did not cooperate... so people started overbuilding,” Lim said.

“Of course, bad sewage -- that’s why (you are seeing) al-gae at certain times of the year. It’s green. It’s the result of the sewage seeping out. The algae there is not yucky, it’s moss. Maybe fish eat it. But it’s an in-dication that there’s a problem below the surface.”

Asked if the problem, which first made world headlines in the mid-1990s, had been solved, Lim said: “I’m not sure. I don’t think so, that’s why at certain times of the year the algae

forms.”Lim said environmental and

zoning regulations were not be-ing enforced, leading to struc-tures even being built inside the high-water mark.

“And they continue to build. They’re building huge hotels in the mountains.”

Lim suggested the govern-ment may in the end be unable to halt overdevelopment.

“We have world-class laws but nobody follows them,” he said, adding tourists may just have to look elsewhere.

“The thing about Boracay is the quality of the sand, (it is) very white. But there are other places that have better quality sand, but (they are) very expen-sive,” Lim said. (Agence France-Presse) n

Touring the island in a tranvia.


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C H U R C HJESUS IS LORD

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C o m e a n d j o i n u s i n t h e l i f e c h a n g i n g , l i f e g i v i n g e x p e r i e n c e o f w o r s h i p p i n g t h e L o r d J e s u s i n S p i r i t a n d i n Tr u t h .

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