Former president Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs is back on the front-page news with the ongoing hearings in the Senate and the House of Representatives, bringing back memories of grief suffered by families of the victims. Duterte’s admission to senators of knowing the existence of death squads and encouraging police officers to kill drug suspects...
Category: Entertainment
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‘Batang Quiapo’: Behind the ‘teleserye’ scenes
Apo Manuel and his fake gold bars will haunt me for a little more time. If you don’t get the reference, that only means you are busy with life, and that’s fine, too. Apo Manuel is the name of the character I played in the phenomenal teleserye, “Batang Quiapo,” now on its third year. The action-drama...
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Cultural group Tribu in the glitz of showbiz
Show business isn’t only about Kathryn Bernardo and Dingdong Dantes, or about Nora Aunor and Vilma Santos. Nor is it only about ABS-CBN, GMA7, TV5, Viva Entertainment, UNTV, Star Cinema, Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP), The Company, Gary Valenciano, Sarah Geronimo, etc. Show business is also about tenors Nazer Salcedo and Terence Gil Guillermo,...
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Why the local film industry isn’t dying (or the return of the Sinag Maynila Film Festival)
Who says Philippine cinema is dying, or in fact has died? On the contrary, many films were produced in 2023 and more are being made this year. In my Philippine cinema report of 2023 for the 2024 “Made in Asia” book of the 28th Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival in Bucheon City, South Korea, it...
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Thoughts on the 20th Cinemalaya
The 2024 Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival isn’t over yet. It concluded its official annual run last Aug. 11 at Ayala Malls Manila Bay and other cinemas, but there are still screenings reserved for some post-event schedules. And there are still thoughts left unsaid. Classified by a film buff as “The Best of Cinemalaya at...
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The personal is political in ‘And So It Begins’
Let’s get one thing out of the way: “And So It Begins” is not a film about the 2022 Robredo-Pangilinan campaign. The lawyer Leni Robredo herself made this clear as an introduction to the crowd gathered for the Philippine premiere of the latest documentary by Ramona S. Diaz. The plan had been to film a...
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The world’s filmmaking giants gather in ‘Made in Asia’
There are two versions of “Made in Asia”—one a book (now an ebook) and the other a forum. It is both a compilation and a yearly business conference of like-minded individuals tackling the market trends in at least 14 filmmaking capitals in Asia—China, South Korea, Hong Kong, Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Taiwan, Singapore, India, Thailand, Vietnam,...
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Bini’s charm and the road to P-pop stardom
True enough, the eight-member girl group was named after either from the first or from the last alliteration of “binibini” (Filipino word for a single woman, a young lady mostly described and alluded to a maiden), a reference to the modern Filipino woman as an independent, informed, sweet yet fierce individual. Without minding, though, the...
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Why Gawad Urian is a rare film awards night
The Gawad Urian of the Manunuri ng Pelikulang Pilipino (MPP) is a rare film recognition event in show business. Every year, the awards night of this group of critics is something to look forward to. Since the Urian’s inception in 1976, the state of the local movie industry has always been the central and confining...
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The Famas fiasco is not only about Eva Darren
It could have been a scene out of a Joseph Mankiewicz, or a Maning Borlaza: For the big night, a long-retired actress spends a fortune to have a gown made and to go to a salon for her hair and makeup. She brings along her grandchildren, never mind if she had to pay a hefty...