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For the past 21 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 -- Comedian Ai-Ai delas Alas has apologized on national television for the furor caused by her earlier statements announcing that she had already signed up as a GMA-7 talent, leaving behind her mother network ABS-CBN.
A tearful Ai-Ai said that the pressures of being her family's breadwinner forced her to try and move to GMA-7 in hopes of finding regular work on television.
She said that a text message she sent to columnist Dolly Anne Carvajal announcing her move to GMA-7 was false. Carvajal broke the story on her column for a national daily.
But according to Ai-Ai, the reality was that while she had already talked to GMA senior vice-president for entertainment Wilma Galvante and agreed to move over though she had yet to sign a contract.
Ai-Ai revealed that she wanted to make a public announcement that she had already signed a contract with GMA-7 to leave herself and her handlers "no choice" but to allow her move to ABS-CBN's rival network.
The comedian said that throughout the experience she was torn between financial straits and her loyalty to ABS-CBN. Ai-Ai said that she purposely did not involve her manager and "The Buzz" host Boy Abunda in her discussions with Galvante.
"I wanted to make my own decision and not involve anyone else so that, in case it turns out that I made a mistake, I'll have no one else to blame," she said.
In the end, however, her loyalty to ABS-CBN prevailed and she retreated from her agreement with Galvante.
"S'yempre iyong loyalty ko kasi [ABS-CBN] naman ang nagpasikat sa akin sa pelikula. Pero ang tagal ko na rin kasing walang trabaho. Kapag breadwinner ka, marami kang naiisip. Marami kang insecurities."
(Of course, my loyalty is still with [ABS-CBN] because it made me famous in the movies. But I also was also out of work for quite some time. If your a breadwinner, your mind is filled with worries. You have a lot of insecurities.)
Her manager clarified that while Ai-Ai did not have a regular TV show, she was still earning, although not regularly, from gigs abroad and commercial endorsements.
Both Ai-Ai and Boy apologized to Galvante, whom they described as a personal friend.
"Si Aileen (Ai-Ai's full name) ay hindi bagitong artista. She’s a big star. Ang mga artistang katulad po ni Ai-Ai dela Alas ay mayroong sariling mga kaibigan. Iklaro natin na si Ms. Wilma Galvante is a personal friend," the comedian's manager said.
(Aileen isn't a newcomer. She's a big star. Artists like Ai-Ai delas Alas have their own circle of friends. Let's make it clear that Ms. Wilma Galvante is a personal friend.)
Ai-Ai said that she had no bad intentions when she backed out of her agreement with Galvante.
"Bago naman ako umalis for Ireland, dumaan ako sa kanya. Nag-sorry ako. Personal akong nag-sorry sa kanya. Ngayon nagso-sorry pa rin ako sa kanya na nakagulo," she said.
(Before I left for Ireland I dropped by [Galvante's office]. I said sorry. I personally apologized to her. Now I'm saying sorry again in public because I caused a lot of trouble.)
Ai-Ai will soon have a new show over ABS-CBN. She's be playing the villain "Beautiki" (a portmanteau or blend of the English word "beauty" and "butiki", which is the Filipino word for house gecko) in "Lastikman", an action-fantasy-adventure series based on the popular Filipino comics character created by Mars Ravelo. (MNS)
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MANILA --- After spending eleven days in the country, Yilmaz Bektas finally bid goodbye to his family to return to his home country in Turkey. He had postponed his trip twice since he could not bear to part with his wife, Ruffa Gutierrez, and their two daughters. Yilmaz and Ruffa are now on the path of reconciliation after talking about their quarrels and differences face to face.
"I have to go now. Of course, I'm gonna come back soon," he promised. "I look right now not I'm sad or upset. I'm leaving them here but I'm gonna come back again."
When asked to describe his relationship now with the TV host-actress, Yilmaz confidently said, "It's perfect. We will gonna continue again our marriage after we got the blessing from her family and from my family and we're gonna be fine. It's fine now."
"She's keeping her love and I also have the same feeling," he declared.
A few days before he left Manila, Yilmaz visited his wife in Quezon City during one of her tapings for Kokey. The video footage showed Ruffa with a bandage in her forehead, as part of the actress' props in her scene in Kokey. Yilmaz asked his wife, "Who break your head? Show me, show me. Last night, we had a fight."
When asked to explain her injury, the former beauty queen joked, "Alam n'yo po, nagselos kasi Yilmaz sa sobrang ikli ng suot ko sa The Buzz. Because I'm wearing short skirts kaya pinukpok niya ako sa ulo."
When her eldest daughter Lorin pressed Ruffa for an explanation for the bandage, the TV host-actress joked, "Kokey hit my head."
It was revealed that Yilmaz is considering purchasing a house in Manila for them to call their own. "I want a condo in Manila. We're looking [for a] house for us and we're gonna buy a house," Yilmaz said.
"Wow, it's so touching. I think, you know, 'yon yung price ko after sinaktan niya yung ulo ko," she laughed. Ruffa then turned to Yilmaz and translated, "I said you're gonna give me a house, it's my price because you hit my head and I had to go to the hospital."
The couple also disclosed their plans to get married again in the future. According to Ruffa, she is just waiting for Yilmaz's proposal and the approval of her parents, Annabelle Rama and Eddie Gutierrez. "We wanna make one a wedding. I wanna see again when she's wearing the gown."
"I'm waiting for the ring and I'm waiting for him to propose again," said Ruffa. "But before he does that, since he wants to get married again, so it means that he has to propose again to my Mom and Dad, right? I'm a girl, I have to like, you know..."
Yilmaz countered this by asking her, "You want a second bandage?"
Despite the distance and the amount of time consumed by traveling back and forth to Manila, Yilmaz will not think twice of coming back when his children miss his presence. "If my children will say ‘Bubba, we wanna see you again' then I will come. If I can't find a flight then I will swim."
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MANILA, Aug 29 (Mabuhay) --
MERYL Soriano finally gave birth to her first-born, a
boy, last Monday. She named him Elijah.
Bernard Palanca, the baby’s dad, stayed with Meryl during her delivery. He was with his family.
It’s not yet known if Elijah will carry his dad’s family name, since Bernard had earlier expressed his intention to file an annulment.
Willie Revillame, Meryl’s dad, is a proud grandfather for the first time. He’s 46.
When Willie was asked who his grandson looks like, his quick response was, "Me."
Meryl’s mom is Bec Bec Soriano, Maricel Soriano’s elder sister. (MNS)
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MANILA -- Actor Jericho Rosales finally broke his silence and confirmed that all's not well between him and the family of his girlfriend, actress Heart Evangelista.
"I will be honest. Our relationship is a bit distant. I cannot say [we're] not in speaking terms. I can't say anything like that because I can't say what their feelings are," the 27-year-old actor said.
Echo, however, said things are improving and he and Heart were happy about it.
"All I know is that the atmosphere now is happy. Heart is happy. I’m thankful that there was really a big improvement that happened," he said.
To prove he has serious intentions, Echo said he has started saving to build Heart’s dream house.
Echo is currently busy taping ABS-CBN’s new sineserye "Pangarap na Bituin," which will start airing on Monday, September 3.
Echo and Heart starred in the network's 2005 fantasy-action TV series "Panday." (MNS)
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MANILA -- Actor Diether Ocampo impressed reporters with his cool, open-minded attitude about rumors that his estranged wife, actress Kristine Hermosa is now seeing a non-showbiz boyfriend.
While Kristine already denied the rumors, the showbiz grapevine is still a-buzz about her trip to Hong Kong with a young man. They were supposedly spotted in a mall there being very romantic toward each other.
Diether told reporters that he only knows that Kristine went to Hong Kong with her family.
He did confirm however that Kristine already introduced to him her new “friend”, a guy named Rajiv.
“She already introduced us to each other. He’s a nice guy,” said Diether, who said that if anything major was going on in Kristine’s life -- like a new boyfriend -- she would eventually let him know.
“She won’t keep me in the dark,” said Diether.
New boyfriend or not, Diether said that he’s still determined to win Kristine back and marry her again.
“Technically nanliligaw pa rin ako (I’m still courting her),” said Diether, who said that he’s “too busy” to see someone else.
When prodded by reporters about Diether’s avowals of continuing love, Kristine replied: “Siguro sinasabing manliligaw kasi hindi mo naman mawawala sa kanya na mahal pa rin niya ako. Andun pa rin hindi naman mawawala yon eh. 'Yun namang amin ni Diet hindi naman 'yon mababaw. Something na sobrang malalalim at mas lumalim.”
(Maybe he said he’s still courting me because he still loves me. I don’t think that will ever go away. What Diet and I share is not something superficial. It runs deep and has become even deeper.)
Diether and Kristine were married in a civil ceremony on Sept. 12, 2004. On June 21, 2005, the actress filed for annulment. The case is now with the Court of Appeals.
Despite their estrangement, Diether said he’s fine with Kristine seeing other men. “I don’t take it against her,” he said. (MNS)
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MANILA -- The Department of Justice has acquitted television host Willie Revillame of liability in the 2006 ULTRA stampede which killed 71 audience members of ABS-CBN's hit noontime show "Wowowee".
Justic Secretary Raul Gonzalez said he asked the panel of prosecutors to dismiss the charges of reckless imprudence resulting in multiple homicide and physical injuries against Revillame for lack of probable cause.
Gonzalez said he believed Revillame's explanation in the petition for review that it was his job as TV host to invite people to go to the PhilSports Arena (formerly ULTRA) in Pasig City, the venue of his show's anniversary episode. He said the invitation was pre-recorded and Revillame did not personally know that hundreds of people were queuing up outside the arena before the day of the tragedy.
"Contrary to the conclusions arrived in the assailed resolution, it is quite manifest that Revillame's act of inviting the public to watch the first anniversary celebration was not the proximate cause of the stampede. The invitation was not, so to speak, the spark that eventually led to the explosion," Gonzalez told reporters.
He added: "Stampedes and deaths do not normally occur after the gathering of crowds. Obviously, an independent event, separate and distinct from Revillame's invitations, effectively caused the crowd to become restless in the early morning of February 4."
The stampede occurred hours before the anniversary presentation of "Wowowee" on Feb. 4, 2006. Hundreds of fans scrambled to get into the arena for a chance to win in its raffles and contests. The show was planning to give away big prizes, including P1 million, a house and lot and a car.
Since the tragedy, ABS-CBN has been extending financial assistance to the survivors and the families of the fatalities. It has established the 71 Dreams Foundation to attend to their needs.
Apart from Revillame, the National Bureau of Investigation had recommended that top ABS-CBN officials be charged with reckless imprudence resulting in homicide. Included in the charge sheet were Charo Santos-Concio, Channel 2 head and network executive vice-president; Maria Socorro Vidanes, senior vice-president for television production; Marilou Almaden, Wowowee executive producer; and Cipriano Luspo, head of security.
Gonzalez gave the prosecution 10 days to withdraw Revillame's name from the charge sheet and submit a final report.
"Only those individuals whose acts or omissions constituted such reckless imprudence, which clearly and proximately caused the stampede must be charged before the courts to answer for the crime," the justice chief said.
Praying for colleagues
Revillame, through his lawyer Dexter Lacuanan, thanked his supporters and legal team headed by Armando Marcelo as his camp welcomed his acquittal.
Lacuanan said they have yet to receive the DOJ resolution, which they learned of through a radio report.
"Willie would want to thank his supporters, his legal team and those who [continuously] believed in his innocence with regards to the charges against him. What happened was tragic but it is clear that Willie did not have proximate cause in the multiple deaths and injuries of the stampede," he said.
The lawyer added that Revillame is hoping that the network executives who were charged in connection with the stampede would also be absolved in the case.
"While Willie is thankful that his prayers have been answered and his name has been absolved from charges, he continues to pray for those colleagues of his who remain defendants in the stampede case...," Lacuanan said. (MNS)
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MANILA -- MARK Herras denies he is “pasaway” as claimed by his manager Lolit Solis when the controversial talent manager appeared in the “Balakubak” segment of “Nuts Entertainment.”
“I don’t know why Nanay Lolit is saying I am pasaway,” Mark told writers who visited him on the set of “Fantastik Man” last Thursday. “Baka naman trip lang sabihin ni Nanay Lolit na pasaway ako. I never became pasaway. I never gave her problems. She was probably referring to the time naging pasaway ako dahil sa babae.”
Manay Lolit even revealed that Mark is planning to court Marian Rivera anew. Mark was vocal that he courted the “MariMar” lead star before. But he denies planning to court her again.
“That’s not true. I don’t have plans of courting Marian again. Kasi ako naman, never kong binalikan ang mga naging girlfriend ko before,” says the first StarStruck Ultimate Male Survivor. And he was quite emphatic in saying so.
But he did admit that he sent Marian a text message to congratulate her when she bagged the role of Mari Mar. But he says that should not be taken to mean as some sort of overture of a planned courtship. He just wants to extend his greetings to Marian for getting the much-coveted role.
“Mari Mar is a big break for Marian. It is good that she is busy. I don’t want people to think na kaya ko siya binabalikan because she’s Mari Mar. I don’t want people to say na ginagamit ko siya for showbiz purposes. That’s not good,” explains Mark. (MNS)
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ISABEL Oli is annoyed with the rumor that she’s pregnant. This started when she fainted while taping "Mga Mata ni Anghelita." "Alam n’yo naman dito sa’tin, ‘pag nahilo ka’t nahimatay, buntis ka na agad," she says.
"The truth is mababa ang sugar ko kaya I get tired so easily. E, halos three days straight na kami nagte-taping, so it took its toll on me at nahimatay nga ako sa sobrang pagod. But I’m now taking the necessary medicine to make sugar level normal. I’m just peeved na inisip agad na buntis ako. Unfair naman ‘yun. Wala ba akong concern sa career ko at basta na lang ako magpapabuntis?"
She admits she has reconciled with Paolo Contis now that they’re constantly together on the set of "Mga Mata ni Anghelita."
"But that doesn’t mean we’re having sex openly. Even Paolo was surprised when someone wrote na buntis ako, kasi we’re both Christians and against pre-marital sex. It’s a no-no in our church. We have to be married before we can do that. Kaya sumama ang loob ko, kasi parang... ano bang klaseng babae ang tingin nila sa’kin. Bago ko magka-baby, uunahin ko muna ang pagpapakasal dahil ako na ang unang mahihiya sa parents ko na I’d get pregnant without a husband."
She’s happy to have Paolo at her side now that her dad has been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. "He’s always there to comfort me," she adds. (MNS)
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MANILA -- HOW true are rumors that Richard Gutierrez’s new GMA-7 series, “Kamandag,” will be competing with the first show of his former ka-love team, Angel Locsin, tentatively titled “Taong Lobo,” on ABS-CBN?
Richard supported to Angel when she jumped ober da bakod, not knowing that their shows will be rivals later on.
Originally, the leading lady of “Taong Lobo” was Kristine Hermosa, but when Angel joined ABS, she became the top choice. “Kamandag” is mainly an action series, just like “Lupin.”
“Taong Lobo” is a fantasy. Let’s see which one will the viewers bless.
The title “Taong Lobo” is now unfamiliar to most viewers who think of “lobo” as “balloon” and not as “wolf.” Maybe they should just translate the title into English, as in “Wolf Man.”
Before “Kamandag,” Richard has already started shooting “Dagao” for GMA Films, directed by Chito Roño. He fell in love with this thriller after reading the script. (MNS)
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MANILA -- SAM Concepcion’s multi-faceted talent comfortably makes him much more than a mere teen heartthrob.
He’ll be turning 16 this October and yet he has already achieved so much as a singer, dancer, host and an actor. In fact, his formidable resume will make even veteran artists green with envy.
As he begins another interesting phase of his showbiz career, debuting as a solo recording artist with his eponymous album from Universal Records, Sam Concepcion is solidly backed-up by works that only artists with genuine talents would be able to achieve.
As a stage actor Sam’s credits include “Sino Ka Ba, Jose Rizal” (2002) as the young National Hero, The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe (2002), “Song of Mulan” as the Little Lion and narrator (2003) and the most recent, “High School Musical” for which he has been receiving critical acclaim.
Sam Concepcion is also a champion (Brightest Star) in the first season of ABS-CBN’s “Little Big Star” hosted by Sarah Geronimo. In a world travel fair staged In Korea, Sam bagged the Best Folklore Performance Award along with Playshop Kids (2006).
In last year’s Nickelodeon Kid’s Choice Awards, Sam is the Pinoy Wannabe winner. He is also Candy magazine’s No. 1 Celeb Cutie for 2006.
Sam played the lead character in “Miko” which received the Best Film trophy in the Bogen Imaging Film and Video Shorts Festival in New York last June, 2006.
Known as the Singing Crush ng Bayan on Little Big Star, Sam was also voted My Favorite Star for garnering the most number of text votes.
Among today’s crop of young stars, Sam’s fans (collectively known as Samsters) is said to be more than a hundred thousand. His admirers come from all over the country, making him win all popularity tilts in every contest he joins.
Now Sam Concepcion’s ever-growing following are rejoicing the release of his self-titled album from Universal Records. The CD with free full-color postcards and a poster inside the package, has been enjoying brisk sales even before it has been promoted.
With “Even If” as carrier single the Sam Concepcion album contains 11 carefully selected songs which the artist performs with youthful effervescence and the sincerest sentiments.
His rendition of the Michael Jackson “Happy” would easily be everybody’s favorite. There’s the upbeat and updated “Da Doo Ron Ron” which could be a dance party staple.
Sam’s further conveys the pain of growing up in songs like “Hanggang Tingin” and “Stay The Same”.
If you suspect that romantic ditties would not be proper for the wholesome Sam, listen to “Walang Hanggan”, “Kay Dali”, “Paano Na” and “Wishing You’ll Be Mine”.
Is he still old to be a child and too young to be a man? Find the answers in the “Sam Concepcion’ album. (MNS)
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MANILA, Aug 29 (Mabuhay) -- Snooky Serna has admitted that she has a personality disorder.
"It’s the kindergarten level of manic depression," she says. "I want to say sorry to all the people I hustled in my work before. May moments kasi noong takot akong humarap sa tao. I felt I’m no worthy of my husband and my children and I thought of ending my own life. But I now thank God I was able to accept this and lumagpas na ko sa denial. I now take my depression pills properly."
At the lowest point of her life, she and her two daughters, Saatchi and Samantha, suffered the humiliation of having their electricity cut and living with their neighbors.
"I’m just thankful my daughters have wisdom that’s above mine. Very mature sila. Awang-awa ako sa mga anak ko. I keep saying sorry to them and they’d say ‘We understand you, mom.’"
She admits her mom, Mila Ocampo, squandered a lot of her earnings in the casino. "But it’s not solely her fault. Talagang sobrang magastos din ako. I earned so much, but I’m so trusting to people, I have a soft heart kaya give ako ng give na parang one-day millionaire."
She says her life got much better nine months ago when she became a Christian. "I want to make a comeback and with God’s grace, I want to do better this time." (MNS)
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