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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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San Francisco, CALIFORNIA --- A talented actress from Tondo has conquered Hollywood and she’s definitely a Filipina we can all be proud of. She is Giovannie Anne Cabangis-Espiritu who uses the name Giovannie Pico for a screen name. Giovannie is in the cast “ER,” a top-rated soap opera in the US.
Next month, Giovannie is coming over for a visit.
Giovannie bagged the role of Ludlow, a medical student, in the NBC’s long-running TV show “Emergency Room (ER)” in its 11th season that premiered on Oct. 21 last year, through a series of auditions. The role, we were told, was supposed to be for a Caucasian but her “ER” director, Brian Ging, decided to rewrite the script after Giovannie auditioned for the part. She bested many other aspirants for the role.
The actress was born in Tondo 26 years ago to a family of architects and engineers but grew up in the US where her family migrated to when she was very young. But although she grew up in America (in San Francisco where she went to school at St. Ignatius College of Preparatory), Giovannie is still like a typical Filipina striving to achieve extraordinary feats. She can be aspiring to an ordinary girl who has big dreams. But she can also move discriminating audiences with a talent that trust her into the mainstream of American movies and television.
At an early age, Giovannie already showed an intense love for acting. She earned formal trainings at the Adda Clavenger Theater School, the American Conservatory Theater, the Lefler Academy of the Arts, Bressi & Company and Nancy Berwid’s First Take Company.
Giovannie’s acting career began in theater and when she was young, she played roles in “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat,” “Peter Pan,” “The Little Mermaid,” “Beauty and the Beast” and “Pinocchio” among others.
She also played lead roles in some independent film productions in Hollywood, such as “Mail Order Bride,” “Love, in the End,” “Broken Wings,” “I Adore You,” “Counting the Days,” “The Law of Averages,” “Jonas Daye,” and “Seasons Under the Bridge.”
Giovannie’s most recent movie was the “American Yearbook” that won the Audience Choice Award in the Sta. Monica Film Festival.
She has also starred in three other TV shows - “Shadowlands,” “Botong X” and a regular series from Colossal Pictures, “What’s Your Problem?”
The actress is also a singer, in fact she is a mezzo soprano; and she can play the flute and guitar. She dances hip-hop and jazz and is also a martial arts enthusiast.
Giovannie’s dream right now is to someday play a lead role of a Filipino or Asian character.
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VILMA SANTOS HEADLINES 2005 PHILIPPINE FIESTA AUG 20 & 21
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New York, NEW YORK --- Philippine cinema “Star For All Seasons”, MISS VILMA SANTOS, will be this year’s special guest at the Philippine Fiesta Sa Amerika, the largest indoor gathering of Filipino Americans in the northeastern seaboard. Ate Vi, as she is fondly called by her fans and Vi to the Philippine movie industry movers and shakers, is also the very energetic mayor of Lipa City, Batangas Province in the Philippines.
The Honorable Mayor Vilma Santos Recto, a no-nonsense public official, can not be touted as just a popular figure in the area of governance because she is great movie star. She has not disappointed her Lipa constituents. Today, more than five years after she first took on the role of a local executive, the achievements of Lipa speak for her. Lipa City was recently ranked 13th on the Asian Institute of Management’s overall list of top cities in the country.
And it ranked sixth in the category of medium-sized cities. The rankings are based on factors like infrastructure, cost of doing business, quality of human resources, responsiveness, and over all quality of life.
Under her administration, Lipa has also gathered a respectable number of awards and citations acknowledging its achievements in education, health, and peace and order management, among other things. Santos-Recto, herself, has been recognized by three different award-giving bodies as an outstanding mayor, twice in 2000 and another one in 2002.
Rosa Vilma Santos started as a child actress at the age of 9 in Trudis Liit (1963). The same movie that gave her first FAMAS best child actress award. She was married to Eduardo Manzano, with whom she has a son named Luis Philip. The birth of her son gave more success to her movie career; the reason why she calls him “Lucky”. Several years afterwards, her marriage with Eduardo Manzano ended with divorce. In the middle of the 90s, her second marriage, to a rich politician, Ralph Recto who is now a senator, took place. Vilma, now in her late 40s, entered into the political arena when she won in the local elections as city mayor of her husband’s home residence. She has proven to her detractors that showbiz people can also be an effective public servant. She enjoys the title, ‘Star for all Seasons’ of the Philippine Movie Industry as she continues to shine by reaping more acting awards and box office success.
Public service over showbiz “STAR for All Seasons” and Lipa City Mayor Vilma Santos Recto now puts public service over her love for show business.”Show biz is still very much a part of my life,” says the star mayor. “But it only comes third to my family and to Lipa City on my priority list.” “Family” is husband Sen. Ralph Recto and 7-year-old son Ryan Christian. She also has a son by actor Edu Manzano -- VJ and television host Luis Manzano, 22. “At this point in my career, I’m already very picky with the roles I play,” says the winner of many acting awards. “I’m not getting any younger. A role has to be something that would move me.” She was last seen in “Mano Po 3”, a heartfelt tearjerker about the choices we must make for the sake of those we love, which won the Best Picture Award at the 2004 Metro Manila Film Festival Philippines, with Christopher de Leon, another A-lister in Philippine movies, Vilma Santos and Christopher De Leon also won well-deserved awards for Best Actress and Best Actor. She is also contemplating on becoming a film director someday. Mayor Vi finds fulfillment in the fact that the Lipeños-residents of Lipa City respect her and believe that she can do something good for them.”Their faith in me is priceless,” says Mayor Recto.
“We are very honored that she agreed to grace the Philippine Fiesta 2005 with her presence this year”, says Mila Mendez, Executive Vice President of Special edition Press, Inc., producer of the event. “When I visited her at the Lipa City Hall mayor’s office, you can feel that the movie star Vilma Santos is completely out of the picture, it is Mayor Vilma Santos Recto who is running the place. The day I was able to be squeezed into her very tight schedule, was a Monday. In Lipa, Monday is set up by Mayor Recto as a Citizen Day, where constituents get to talk to her about their concerns and problems directly. As soon as she arrived into her office after the 8am flag ceremony (which she always make it a point to attend), business starts immediately. I was told by her aides that she usually tackles the problems right there and then, and bring the matters that need more attention to the weekly council meeting which is held in the later part of the day”.
The Honorable Mayor Vilma Santos will be accompanied by her husband, Senator Ralph Recto. She will be appearing at the Fiesta for both days on August 20 and 21.
The Batangueños in the region, in cooperation with Philippine Fiesta USA, Inc. are gearing up for a warm reception for her and Senator Recto at a gala which will be held on August 19 at the Sheraton Hotel in Newark, NJ. The finalists of the Miss Philippine Fiesta 2005 Beauty Pageant will also be presented at the same gala. The Gala is chaired by Wilson Verzosa (201-387-6046), president of the Association of the Armed Forces of the Philippines Personnel Inc. Co-chairs are Art Acosta, president of the Batangas Association of the Eastern Seaboard USA (973-731-5537), Nelson Mayo, Mayor of the Lipeños East Coast Association (201-915-0330), Millie Hornilla, current president of Garden State Filipino American Association, Inc. (201-432-7876) and Lillie Equipado (212-816-8012), chair for the 2005 Philippine Fiesta Beauty Pageant.
To exhibit, sponsor or attend, one may contact 212-682-6610, fax number 212-682-2038 or send e-mail to sepmgzn@aol.com or at info@philippinefiesta.com. Details of the event may also be obtained by visiting www.philippinefiesta.com.
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