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For the past 17 years, The Filipino Express has provided the Filipino American community the best news, arts and entertainment coverage from around the United States and the Philippines.
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This website includes selected articles from this week's edition of the Filipino Express. Not all the stories published in the printed version appear on this site.
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MANILA --- When Judy Ann Santos accepted the title role of “Sabel,” Regal’s official entry in the Manila Filmfest, she did not know she will be working with three regular GMA-7 stars: Wendell Ramos, Sunshine Dizon and Iza Calzado.
“I just noticed it when we were having our pictorial and they were huddled in the studio telling each other mutual stories about GMA affairs they attended,” she says. “Ako naman, I just listened to them. But other than that, I never detected anything that they made me feel na taga-GMA sila and I’m from ABS-CBN. Sa shooting, they’re all very professional and very talented so I’m confident we have come up with a quality movie that all sorts of viewers will enjoy.”
Showbiz observers say she has a big chance of winning the filmfest best actress award because of Joel Lamangan’s track record. He gave Assunta de Rossi her first best actress award for “Hubog” in the 2001 Metro Manila Filmfest. He gave Sharon Cuneta her first Manila Filmfest best actress award in the 2002 Manila Filmfest for “Magkapatid.” In the 2002 Metro Manila Filmfest, he gave Ara Mina her first best actress award for “Mano Po.”
Last year, he gave Ara Mina the Manila filmfest, FAMAS and Golden Screen best actress awards for “Huling Birhen sa Lupa.” Last December, he also gave Maricel Soriano the Metro-Manila Filmfest best actress award for “Filipinas.” So Direk Joel himself is confident that he will give Judy Ann her first best actress award.
“Malaki talaga ang laban niya,” he adds. “She plays a difficult role na pabago-bago ang personality from being a wild girl to being a nun to being a dedicated volunteer worker in the tribes of Benguet who has a secret love life.”
What if Juday would win and Nora Aunor would feel bad because she also has an entry in the filmfest?
“I already gave Nora two best actress awards na hindi lang local kundi international pa, the Cairo Filmfest best actress award for ‘The Flor Contemplacion Story’ and the Penang Malaysia best actress award for ‘Bakit May Kahapon Pa’,” he says.
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MANILA, June 24, 2004 —- John Lloyd Cruz gets all wet today, feast of St. John The Baptist. And he has a very valid reason to do that: He’s turning 21 and he can celebrate by, that’s it, getting wet (maybe in his bathroom which is his favorite part of the house).
John Lloyd has spent seven of those 21 years as member of the ABS-CBN Talent Center (he was 14 when he joined the Star Circle).
“I’ve gone through a lot these past seven years,” says John Lloyd who is a hit in the ABS-CBN soap It Might Be You with Bea Alonzo who was also his love interest in the previous soap, Kay Tagal Kang Hinintay, and in the forthcoming Star Cinema romance-drama Now That I Have You (follow-up to their first movie team-up, First Romance). “I’ve grown up so fast that I can hardly catch up.”
He’s also an in-demand endorser (for, among others, Silka Papaya Soap, Outland Shoes, Urban Bags, Sara Lee Cool Guy Cologne, Libresse and Blue Soda Apparel).
Now that he has broken up with Ciara Sotto, John Lloyd admits that he’s getting closer to and more comfortable with Bea. Getting over that break-up was not easy.
“For a while,” reveals John Lloyd, “I developed a phobia; I didn’t want to be alone. I made sure that I was dead tired so when I went home, I’d be ready to sleep. Or I read myself to sleep. The phobia lasted for several weeks. But I’m recovered now.”
And because it’s John Lloyd’s birthday, here’s the detailed information as requested by readers for their idol to “play favorites” (and, in the process, reveal more about himself). Here he goes:
Actor – Sean Penn (“The only actor who lives up to my expectations. He’s unpredictable and that’s what makes him an exciting actor”)
- Actress – Charlize Theron (“Because of her performance in Monster”)
- Movie – 21 Grams (topbilled by, of course, Sean Penn)
- Singer – Chris Cornell
- Song – End of the World (by, of course, Cornell)
- Komiks Character – Nik-Nok
- Hero – Superman (“I grew up fantasizing him”)
- Flower – Sunflower (“It goes where the sun is; it reminds me of another, brand-new day”)
- Perfume – Gendarme
- Car – 5 Series (“I love big cars, ’yung executive-type”)
- Time of Day – Morning (“I love waking up early when there’s no work. I love to take breakfast, my favorite meal”)
- Day of the Week – Saturday (“Because there’s usually no work the next day”) and Sunday (“When I go to worship; I’m a member of the Christ Commission Fellowship”)
- Part of the House – Bathroom (“I linger in the bathroom where I do a lot of things – read scripts, make phone calls and do the unthinkable”)
- Part of His Body – Eyes (“I love seeing things, looking around”)
- Part of a Girl’s Body – Boobs and back
- Sleeping Wear – Boxer shorts
- Sleeping Position – On his stomach (“I’m a pillow person; I sleep with one long pillow and three small ones”)
- Food – Pinoy (“Tuyo, itlog na maalat and sinangag. That’s why breakfast is my favorite meal”)
- Pastime – Watching movies (Last movie seen: Day After Tomorrow)
- Book – Five People You Meet in Heaven and Tuesdays with Morrie, both by Mitch Boom
- Color – Black (“Anything dark challenges me; it makes me search for the light”)
- Possession – His talent
- Expression – Gravy!
--- Ricky Lo’s Funfare, Philstar news
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MANILA - Ruffa Gutierrez and daughter Lorin are back in Manila and will have a joint birthday celebration on June 26 at the Manila Polo Club.
Ruffa will turn a year older on June 25, while Lorin will be one year old on Aug. 3.
“Ruffa decided to hold their birthdays together na para makatipid,” said Ruffa’s mom, Annabelle Rama, who is in charge of the party. “I told her na mahirap ang pera dito sa Pilipinas ngayon.”
It’s not known yet if Ruffa’s husband, Yilmas Bektas, will be arriving with his wife and child.
Ruffa is due to give birth to their second baby, another girl, on Oct. 1. (MNS)
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