‘ANG BABAENG HUMAYO’ WINS HIGHEST AWARD IN A-LIST FILM 
FESTIVAL. At nearly four hours long, Lav Diaz’s Ang Babaeng Humayo, a black- and-white film nominally inspired by Leo Tolstoy’s 1872 short story God Sees the Truth, But Waits, won the top Golden Lion prize at the Venice Film Festival. In a story about the absurdity of human existence, Horacia (Charo Santos-Cancio) is a wrongly convicted schoolteacher, who plots retribution against the ex-boyfriend who framed her, disguising herself in a bid to get close to her prey.
‘MA’ ROSA’ FAILS TO MAKE IT. Jaclyn Jose bagged the Best Actress award for her role as Rosa Reyes in Brillante Mendoza’s Ma’ Rosa at the 69th Cannes Film Festival. In it she ably plays a woman who owns a sari-sari store in a poor Manila neighborhood, and to make ends meet, she sells drugs with husband Nestor (Julio Diaz). Chosen as the Philippines’ entry to the 89th Academy Awards Best Foreign Language Film category, it failed to make the nine final choices.
LAST FULL SHOWS. German Moreno, known as “Master Showman” in the entertainment industry, passed away from cardiac arrest at 3:20 a.m. He was 82 years old. Moreno’s death came a year after he had a stroke. Known for his loyalty and professionalism, Kuya Germs was hospitalized after suffering from a stroke and he had to rest for several months in January 2015. Film and movie director Wenn Deramas died due to cardiac arrest. His last movie was the 2015 Metro Manila Film Festival entry, Beauty and the Bestie, with Vice Ganda and Coco Martin.
THE RETURN OF TAWAG NG TANGHALAN. Tawag ng Tanghalan is a singing competition conducted as one of the segments of the noontime show It’s Showtime, airing its first episode on January 2, 2016. It is hosted by Vice Ganda, Amy Perez, Mariel Rodriguez and Anne Curtis. The standards of the reformatted version is the same as the original. The daily contender wins P10,000, and a consolation prize of P5,000 to the other contenders, while the defending champion wins a pot money of P25,000.
WILLIE IS BACK WITH A DAILY SHOW. In February 2016, Wowowin with Willie Revillame as co-producer and host turned GMA Network’s Weeknights Primetime block, serving as the lead-in to the network’s flagship national evening newscast, 24 Oras. Wowowin began broadcasting from its new home located at Studio 6 at the GMA Network Studios starting April 18, 2016. The program opens with a grand production number introducing new songs such as “Zumbahan Na” and “Sige Sige Sumayaw” and segments like Gandang Filipina Ms. Wow 2016.
TALK IS BEAUTIFUL. The showbiz talk show that tends to focus on the negative has metamorphosed into a lifestyle show. In a model home setting with high-profile female entertainers as hosts talking intelligently about life issues, they often portray the ideal woman. Frequently conducted in Taglish, they do not appeal as gossip, but as talk, since they come from the source aspects of personal reality so they sing, dance, cook, exercise, splurge, pamper and tittle-tattle about themselves and peers in generally positive terms, frequently in a humorous tone.
FOURTH SERIES OF ‘ENCANTADIA.’ Eleven years apart from the third one, Encantadia began airing on July 18, 2016 in the Philippines and worldwide through GMA Pinoy TV. It is also shown exclusively online through iflix at 1080p high-de finition video as video on demand. Portraying the sang’gres or keepers of the four gems are Kylie Padilla played the role of Amihan, Alena by Gabbi Garcia, Danaya by Sanya Lopez and Pirena by Glaiza de Castro. The series is committed to air until December 2016, but later extended until February 2017.
THE TRAVEL SHOW TAKES A NEW ROUTE. The travel show has taken a new route in Happy Life as hosted by beauty queens and directed by A1-list actor-director-writer-producer-restaurateur Eric Quizon as produced by White Lion Media Production that piloted on December 11, 2016, Sunday, at 9:30 a.m. over free channel GMA News TV. A remarkable three-in-one show, beauty queens led by Miss Universe Philippines 2014 Mary Jean Lastimosa and Miss International 2013 Bea Rose Santiago appear two at a time get to travel, have fun and help others all in one show.
‘ANG BABAE SA SEPTIC TANK 2’ AND A DOWNSIZED MMFF. Turning out as a smaller version of the Metro Manila Film Festival with a pared down Parade of Stars featuring simplified floats on December 23, taking off from the Manila City Hall and ending at Plaza Miranda, it strongly suggested that the filmfest was a Manila-centered event. What used to be a semi-partial national film festival involving capital cities is now strictly a Metro Manila event. Its run was cut to January 3, 2017 with the Gabi ng Parangal rescheduled on December 29 at the Kia Theater. Aiming to promote quality Filipino films, it eliminated box-office superstars from films in its eight official entries.
BRINGING THE BIGGEST TRIBUTE EVENT FOR TEACHERS IN DAVAO. The pinnacle of PLDT Gabay Guro’s celebration is embodied in the tribute event held every year where the organizers leave no stones unturned, ensuring that teachers get treated like royalty, even for just a day in a year.
This is the day where our teachers get to let their hair loose, meet the biggest celebrities, be treated to a whole day of world-class entertainment and win huge raffle prizes — just about anything to remind them of their immeasurable value in our lives.
This year on its ninth anniversary, PLDT Gabay Guro didn’t just hold one, but two of this kind of grand tribute. The first teacherfest happened last September 25 at the MoA Arena, while the second one took place for the energetic teachers in Davao and its nearby provinces.
Considered to be a culmination of a year of trainings, scholarships and livelihood programs for the teacher-beneficiaries, TeacherFest 2016 honored their hard work, dedication and impact on society with heartwarming tribute held last November 27 at the SMX in Lanang, Davao City.
As the educational arm and flagship project of the PLDT-Smart Foundation, PLDT Gabay Guro focuses on upholding the vocation of teachers. Its tagline “building the nation one teacher at a time” highlights the valuable role of teachers in leading their students to the future and shaping the next generation of nation builders. Since its establishment in 2007, Gabay Guro has been able to grant over 1,100 scholarships in various state colleges and universities nationwide and train over 16,000 teachers across eight annual training programs. 2G also donated laptops and computers to schools and foundations, and built over 40 classrooms located in Cebu, Bohol, Leyte and Capiz.
The Davao leg of TeacherFest 2016 was graced by Gabay Guro celebrity volunteers — Asia’s Songbird and PLDT Home ambassador Regine Velasquez, concert queen Pops Fernandez, international pop star Christian Bautista, multitalented performer Aicelle Santos, Miss Universe-Philippines 2014 MJ Lastimosa and Philippine Volcanoes rugby star Andrew Wolff. Top-caliber performers from Manila and Davao (Kris Aquino impersonator Divine Tetay, singer-songwriter Wency Cornejo, among others) all came together in one stage to entertain the teachers for free.
On top of being star-studded, the celebration was glittered by amazing raffle prizes ranging from huge cash prizes to laptops with Smart Bro Pocket WiFi modems and other livelihood opportunities. The event also honored an outstanding teacher from Davao, Teacher Ching, for her outstanding commitment to serve her students with the meager income that she earns from the job, even after she has retired from work.
“It is our honor to be able to bring this grand celebration to the deserving teachers of Davao.” PLDT Gabay Guro chairman Chaye Cabal-Revilla said. “After the main event in Manila, we decided to bring the experience to our teachers from other areas, including Japan and now Davao. This is our way of rewarding as many teachers as possible for their valuable presence in our lives.”
Chaye, who gets emotional every single time she sees the impact Gabay Guro is making to the Filipino teachers in all its activities, said “we will never get tired of doing this. For as long as we are able, for as long as we can convince partners to share this joy with us of serving our teachers, Gabay Guro will be here,” she promised.
Brand Advocacy head and PLDT VP and Home Marketing director Gary Dujali added, “After nine years and counting, we look forward to giving our teachers more wonderful, memorable surprises. The bond that brought us all volunteers together on Day 1 stands to this day — we want to impact the lives of our educators in a positive way, one teacher at a time. We want Gabay Guro to be their avenue of support for their noble mission of shaping our country’s future leaders.”
The PLDT Gabay Guro TeacherFest Davao 2016 was made possible with the help of the following partners: Bonamine, Flanax, Tempra, PR Savings Bank, among many others. For more information, visit gabayguro.com, like the PLDT Gabay Guro Facebook page and follow @PLDTGabayGuro on Twitter and Instagram.
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‘Ang Babae’ rules entertainment 2016
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