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For the past 20 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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Craving for ‘Puto Bumbong’
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ONLY a few days left before Christmas Day 2006 happens, yet the air is still devoid of the spirit of the season that I enjoy the most–at least, when I was still in Manila.
Where are the carolers?
In Manila, you see and hear carolers wherever you go, whenever it is.
You see them in front of your house as soon as the sun sets. And during the day, you see them in malls, sidewalks and even your car, when you stop for a red light or just regular bumper-to-bumper traffic. Mind you, these carolers are not the recorded ones you hear here over 106.7 on your car radio. These are real, breathing carolers of different ages, shapes and sizes. More fascinating is their use of improvised instruments to augment their tunes: Powdered milk cans with stretched rubber sheets on top for percussions, soda and beer bottle caps for tambourines, and cardboard funnels for trumpets and trombones.
Where are the Christmas lights?
America’s legacy of being a multi-racial nation is perhaps the reason why there aren’t many houses in suburban America that glimmer with bright Christmas lights and life-size manger scenes.
In the Philippines, where the population is predominantly Christian , it is imperative for most families to adorn their abodes with Christmas decorations in observing the most festive of all seasons.
Rich or poor, Filipinos decorate their houses in and out. May it be a single Christmas lantern (Parol) hanging by a window, or multi-colored light bulbs covering an entire building, or plants shaped like Santa Claus riding a sleigh powered by his 12 reindeers, it is just unthinkable to celebrate the season without decorations.
Where’s Simbang Gabi?
The custom that definitely ushers in the Yuletide season in the whole Philippine archipelago is ‘Simbang Gabi’ – a novena in honor of the Virgin Mary that is accomplished by attending nine Eucharistic celebrations held at dawn from December 16 to Christmas eve. For me, ‘Simbang Gabi’ is the carrier of the Christmas spirit.
In Kamuning, Quezon City, the church bell begins to toll at 3:00 Am, and traditional Christmas songs start playing through the loud speakers situated at the bell tower.
The trek toward the church is what the season is all about. You see vendors selling traditional Christmas food like the famous Rice Cakes: Bibingka, Puto, Suman, Suman sa Liya, Biko, and the equally famous purple colored delicacy known as ‘Puto Bumbong’.
I can still remember the of taste ‘Puto Bumbong! As soon as you buy it, open up it’s Banana leaf wrapper, and you’ll see the hot delicacy waiting to be devoured. Put some grated coconut, a little butter, and some sugar. Now you’re in business!
The American way of celebrating Christmas is not bad compared to the Philippine way. It is just different.
In fact, I have come to enjoy a lot of the customs here and I am also looking forward to them every year.
Two weeks ago, my friends and I went ice skating at Wollman Rink in Central Park. That is unheard of in Manila, but I totally love it! We had Christmas party last Sunday and played Shotgun Secret Santa, which I enjoyed as well.
I guess, the only way to have the best of both worlds is to remember how it was back in Manila and rekindle the spirit while sipping Egg Nog and munching on ginger cookies by the fire place on a snowy, white Christmas Day.
Merry Christmas everyone!
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HOW’S Angel Locsin and her boyfriend Oyo Sotto? ‘I haven’t seen him for weeks,’ she says..
‘Busy rin kasi siya with ‘Enteng Kabisote’ and he has started taping for TAPE’s afternoon soap. The truth is mas madalas ko pang kasama ngayon si Richard (Gutierrez, her leading man in Mano Po 5, Gua Ai Di).’
So hasn’t Oyo gotten jealous considering she even has so many kissing scenes with Richard in ‘MP 5’? ‘I told him about it at hindi na lang daw niya panonoorin. There’s a proposal for me to do a film with Piolo Pascual dahil click yung commercials namin. I told him about it at payag naman siya.’
Why does she think her love team with Richard click when he was first paired with Chynna Ortaleza? ‘I don’t know, kasi nga we even played brother and sister sa ‘Click’ where we were introduced. Siguro, nagustuhan nila ang chemistry namin when we were paired in ‘Mulawin’ on TV and in ‘Let the Love Begin’ on the big screen. After that, tuluy-tuloy na.’
Angel has appeared in ‘Mano Po 2’ with Susan Roces, in ‘Mano Po 3’ with Vilma Santos, and now with Lorna Tolentino in ‘Mano Po 5: Gua Ay Di’. ‘I feel so blessed that I get the chance to work with our best actresses as I learn something from each of them,’ she says. ‘Si Miss LT as my mom in ‘Mano Po 5’, magaling in both drama and comedy. Actually, her role is more difficult than mine. I speak in straight Tagalog, but she speaks only in straight Chinese and broken Tagalog, so mas mahirap.
In ‘Mano Po 5’, I also get directed by Joel Lamangan for the first time and it’s another learning experience as he works very fast. Mabilis siya kumilos kaya kailangan, alert ka lagi and make sure you’ve memorized all your lines when you get on the set. At gusto niya lagi, take one lang ang bawat scene. We rehearse a lot before each take at huwag ka magkakamali sa blocking mo, kundi uulitin.’
Angel started taping ‘Asian Treasure’ with Robin Padilla while shooting ‘Mano Po 5’. Now that ‘MP 5’ is in the can, she has started shooting her Valentine film, again with Richard Gutierrez. (MNS)
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MANILA -- Gretchen Barretto was a no show at the general presscon of “Matakot Ka sa Karma.”
“I’ve said more than enough already in the first presscon,” she told producer Orly Ilacad. “I don’t want to be repeating myself dahil ang dami ko ng nasabi roon. It’s time I keep my mouth shut naman, kaya no more interviews for me. But I will be joining the Parade of Stars on December 24.”
Director Joey Reyes says Gretchen is one misunderstood person. “I really can’t believe na nag primadonna siya sa shooting ng commercial nila because she was so well behaved when we shot her episode in ‘Karma.’ She’s also very generous and when she orders food, it’s not just for herself but for everyone else. Yes, marami siyang dalang damit sa set, but when one actress complimented her for her dresses, binigay niya lahat ng damit niya roon sa co-star niya.”
Gretchen plays the role of a mother in the “Kama” episode. She buys this antique bed without knowing it’s haunted by the ghost of Tanya Gomez, a woman in Spanish times who died of childbirth. Now, Tanya wants to get her son, Paul Salas, as replacement. Does Gretchen deliver in the role of the mom who fights a ghost to save her son?
“Of course,” says Direk Joey. “Magaling siya, aside from having one of the most beautiful faces in local cinema.” (MNS)
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ACTRESS Chin-Chin Gutierrez, a mainstay in a soap opera on local television, sustained ‘second-degree burns on the hands and feet,’ her manager Anjie Ureta said Wednesday, hours after a fire burned down her house in a posh subdivision in Quezon City.
‘Her mom Cecille [Arnaldo] is in the Intensive Care Unit, but not for burns. She has been bed-ridden for the past two years due to diabetes. Her mom just got out of the hospital a month ago.’
Filmmaker Rory B. Quintos, who directed the actress in another television series last year, said Gutierrez ‘could have sustained her injury in her attempt to shield her mother from harm.’
Ureta confirmed: ‘She jumped from the second floor, where her bedroom was, so she could get to her mom’s room quickly. She was worried the oxygen tank in her mom’s room might explode. She made certain her mother and their three helpers were safe.’
The actress, now 32, is also confined in the hospital, receiving treatment from burns.
‘She’s now a little better. But when she was brought to the hospital, she was weak and in extreme pain [because of the burns]. The doctors also checked her lungs because they were worried about smoke inhalation,’ Ureta said.
‘They are in dire need of financial help. The entire house was burned to the ground. They didn’t get to save anything -- not the two cars, not even their pet dogs,’ said Quintos.
‘If I’m not mistaken, she had five dogs,’ said Ureta. ‘The first thing she asked at the hospital was if the neighbors and her dogs were spared from the fire.’
The fire occurred at about 3 a.m. Wednesday, according to a report on GMA Network’s ‘Unang Hirit’ morning newscast.
A staunch environmentalist, Gutierrez received the TOWNS (The Outstanding Women in the Nation’s Service) award in 2004 and was honored by Time magazine as among modern-day ‘Asian heroes’ in 2003(MNS)
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Controversial FM disc jock Mo Twister feels there’s nothing negative about his radio morning show. His detractors only feel some sense of insecurity because he’s getting some job done which they somehow cannot, he disclosed in an exclusive interview with the Manila Bulletin on Tuesday.
The eloquently frank DJ explained that some media people are trying to stop him from doing what he’s doing because they’re wondering how come celebrities answer his ‘forbidden questions’ quite frankly as they are asked, which is not necessarily the case with other entertainment scribes trying to squeeze juices from interviewees without much success.
He poured out, “Most of the people who detract me are involved in the media. They’re trying to stop our show because I’m doing their job which is to put celebrities on the spot and make them reveal spicy stuff. I see nothing wrong in throwing questions the way I do. And besides, my interviewees have the option not to answer them. It’s just these particular media people who are making some big deal about it.”
Mo Twister’s “Good Times With Mo,” aired during weekdays over DWTM 89.9 from 6 to 9 in the morning, has become the talk of town primarily because of the controversial nature of the celebrity interviews he puts on air. More often than not, the question and answer portion dubbed “Forbidden Questions” between Mo and his celebrity guest reveals information that later trigger the ire of other people, like when Troy Montero name-dropped German Moreno when he was asked to name a gay in local showbiz or when Rachel Alejandro revealed she lost her virginity to former boyfriend Dingdong Avanzado. The number of showbiz personalities being put in hot water has been increasing as the show progresses, as well as members of the entertainment press giving out their hard-hitting comments against Mo’s style.
“I hope my detractors rather understand the true meaning of my show. This is just a kind of fun game, not a direct attack on anybody. If I ask who you think is the worst singer in town and my interviewee names one, then that should serve as a big challenge for that singer to do better,” he reflected.
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MANILA, -- “Pinoy Big Brother’s” (PBB) grand winner Nene Tamayo denies she is pregnant. But she did admit to tying the knot with dancer Anthony Plaño last October 3. The church wedding will take place September 28 next year.
Nene met Anthony when she competed in the now defunct TV dance show, “U Can Dance,” on ABS- CBN. They were dancing partners.
Anthony is a professional dancer. His expertise as a dance instructor has taken him to Singapore.
Say Alonzo, Nene’s friend and former PBB housemate knows the couple’s love story. “Providential ‘yung pagme-meet nila ni Nene, since most of the time Anthony is out of the country.”
Also from Say, we learned, that Nene and Anthony continued dating after they were declared “Dancing Pair” of the show. In time, they fell in love.
Say: “Kung tutuusin, there’s nothing material that Nene could ask for. Lahat ng puwedeng gustuhin ng isang katulad niya, who is in her 20s, ay ibinigay sa kanya ng PBB dahil nga siya ang nag-emerge na champ. A house, a car, plus cash amounting to P1M. May kasama pa itong negosyo, although may itinayo pa rin siyang maliit na negosyo in one of the Scout areas in Quezon City where she lives. Is Nene pregnant?
“That I doubt,” answered Say, “Although I would have liked it if she denied the report herself. Although wala akong makitang mali since married na rin naman siya.” (MNS)
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