ARA  MINA  SICK  OF  RUMORS  LINKING  HER  TO  PACQUIAO

MANILA, SEPTEMBER 1, 2009 (MALAYA) DREAM FACTORY by MARIO BAUTISTA (His best director award is the highest honor ever received by a Filipino director in the international film scene.’)

ARA Mina is annoyed that she continues to be linked to Manny Pacquiao. "They saw me raw in a casino with me massaging his back," she said at the presscon of her movie with Allen Dizon, "Marino." "That’s a big lie. Sa totoo lang, nakakapikon na. Kung kami nga, ba’t naman kami pupunta in a place where people can see us easily, naiintriga na nga kami? Kalokohan naman, di ba? The truth is I haven’t seen him since we did a movie. Ang tagal na nun. We’re now both with GMA pero ni hindi ko siya nakikita roon. Kung gusto nila magkita kami, they can invite me as a guest in his sitcom. Okay lang sa’kin dahil hindi naman ako guilty. I already said, may non-showbiz boyfriend ako ngayon and I’m committed to him. Hindi ko talaga maintindihan kung bakit hindi mamatay ang issue about Manny and I. Buti na lang understanding ang boyfriend ko at di niya pinapansin ang ganyang mga tsismis. Alam naman niya kasi ang totoo na faithful ako. Basta may free time ako, kami ang laging magkasama. Happy na ako with my life. Tahimik ang love life ko. Ba’t ko pa guguluhin? Lumang-luma na yang Manny issue. Puede ba kay Nonito Donaire naman ako i-link para bago naman?"

Ara plays Allen’s patient wife in "Marino." "The film shows what happens kapag magkalayo nang matagal ang mag-asawa. Seaman si Allen dito at ako, naiwan sa probinsiya. I didn’t know may kabit siya sa Bangkok, si Krista Ranillo. Sa’kin, may nanliligaw, pero hindi ko pinansin kasi loyal ako sa marriage namin."

"Marino" is produced by Carina D. Pagcu of CDP Entertainment with Allen Dizon’s ATD Entertainment, directed by the young and talented Paul Sta. Ana. It also stars Emilio Garcia, Mike Tan, Bangs Garcia, and Rico Barrera. Aside from "Marino," Ara will soon start taping her latest soap for GMA-7, the remake of "Tinik sa Dibdib." She’ll play the role originally interpreted by Pilar Pilapil as the lover of Marvin Agustin (originally by Philip Salvador) even if he’s already married to Sunshine Dizon (originally by Nora Aunor.)

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Carla Abellana is happy with all the breaks she’s getting from GMA-7. After developing her as an actress in "Rosalinda," she’s now tapped to be the co-host of Dingdong Dantes and Raymond Gutierrez in "Starstruck 5." "It’s really a good break for me to show I can also do hosting jobs," she says. "I promised to do my best sa bagong pagtitiwala nilang ito sa akin. Aside from this, magkakaroon pa ako ng debut album sa Universal Records and I will also do my first movies, ‘Nanay Kong Aswang’ and ‘Nieves, Encanto Slayer’ with Marian Rivera. Ang dami talagang blessings for a newcomer like me so I’m really excited."

Meantime, as the title-roler in "Rosalinda," she continues to tackle more demanding scenes as the days go by. Last week, she lost her sanity after her baby daughter, Erica, went missing. Like Rizal’s ill-fated heroine, Sisa, she goes on looking for her daughter in the streets and. when she sees an old doll in the trash can, she thinks it’s her missing baby and brings the doll home to Fernando Jose who then takes pity on her after seeing her now going crazy. Valeria (Sheryl Cruz) sees her and snatches the doll from her, breaking its arm. Rosalinda runs amuck and fights Valeria for hurting her "daughter."

It turns out her mom Soledad (Glydel Mercado) is looking for her and sees her being mauled by Valeria while Fernando Jose discovers that it’s her mom’s friend (Ayen Munji) who is keeping Erica after Valeria took the baby away from Rosalinda. Valeria orders that Rosalinda be arrested but she runs up a building and Valeria shoots her. In fairness to Carla, she’s able to tackle all her difficult drama scenes convincingly, considering that she’s still a neophyte. We’re sure her acting will be honed further as the series goes on, what with the help of director Maryo de los Reyes who has given many acting trophies to a lot of actors.

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While the controversy over the National Artist issue is now with the Supreme Court, Direk Carlo J. Caparas just busies himself with a new movie, "Pangarap Kong Jackpot Trilogy," which is his and wife Donna Villa’s way of helping revive the local film industry. "I’ll just leave the issue up to the Supreme Court to decide," says Carlo. "I respect them at wala naman silang hindi nareresolba. Meantime, aasikasuhin ko na lang ang bago kong pelikula to make sure all who’ll watch it will be entertained and be satisfied."

The movie features the inspiring stories of three people who refuse to lose hope because of poverty. "Sa Ngalan ng Busabos" stars boxing champ Manny Pacquiao with Gina Pareno. Eddie Garcia plays the title role in "Hiwaga ni Lolo Hugo" while young stars Jake Cuenca and Megan Young topbill "Hawak Kita, Hawak Mo Ko." Also in the cast are Mark Herras, Tommy Abuel, Baron Geisler, Jackie Rice, Ryza Cenon, Rainier Castillo, Joel Torre and Donna and Carlo’s son and daughter, CJ (who’s with Manny) and Peach (who’s with Eddie.)

"We owe our success to Filipino moviegoers at gusto namin silang bigyan ng isang magandang pelikula that we also hope will help in bringing back the glory days of local films," says Donna, ever the gracious host. "Ito na lang ang aasikasuhin namin at dedma na lang kami sa mga nang-iintriga kay Carlo."

Manny finished all his scenes in the film before leaving for his training for his fight with Miguel Cotto on November 14. "I’m thankful to Direk Carlo for giving me the chance na makapagdrama in my episode," he says. "I play the role of a man who’s looking for the love of his family. Marami akong pagsubok na dinaanan at naging kriminal pa ako, but I change for the better when a poor family treats me like their own. Mahirap pero nag-enjoy ako kasi kakaiba talaga ang role ko. I was able to relate with some scenes kasi galing naman talaga ako sa hirap."

"Maraming gugulatin si Manny rito," says Direk Carlo J. "He shows na hindi lang siya magaling sa action kundi pati sa drama. He defended his new family here against a violent syndicate."

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GMA-7 started two new romantic Asianovelas yesterday. "Shining Inheritance," shown on primetime, is No. 1 in Korea this year with its very high ratings. This is an engaging fairy tale about a modern Cinderella, Inna (Han Hoy Joo), who’s thrown out by her wicked stepmom and stepsister after her dad dies. She helps nurse an old woman with temporary amnesia who turns out to be very rich and later serves as her fairy godmother, introducing her to her Prince Charming who’s responsible for the disappearance of Inna’s autistic brother, Nono.

In the afternoon, "Game About Love" is an amusing rom-com starring Jo Chen of "Frog Prince" and "Fated to Love You" as a girl involved with two guys, Benjo, a rich guy, and Ivan, a painter, who she helps rescue in a fire. Don’t miss this two shows on GMA-7.

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TV 5 senior vice president for management Jasper Evangelista says their slogan "Shake Mo TV Mo" is really quite effective.

"When our reorganization started last year, our aim was really to shake the viewing habits of people by thinking out of the box and this is why we dubbed ‘Spongebob Squarepants’ in Tagalog to make it easier to understand to Pinoy kids. We also made an outreach project to various barangays showing free Pinoy films through ‘5Max Movies,’ giving them the chance to watch the auditions of Ryan Agoncillo’s number one show, ‘Talentadong Pinoy,’ in the process. It’s now our banner show, attracting about 3 million viewers every Saturday night. We now have our month-long first anniversary celebration that includes visiting campuses where kids and teeners get to know more about our shows as part of our massive information campaign that we offer good alternative programming."

Saturday is really their strongest night as it also includes Vic Sotto’s toprating "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" where his pal Joey de Leon of "Wow Mali" was the special guest last Saturday. This is followed by Vic son Oyo Sotto’s horror-comedy show, "Midnight DJ," which Jasper says is "consistently going up the ratings and beating out other shows." This is the reason why they’re coming up with another horror-comedy show, "Moomoo and Me," topbilled by John Prats as the friendly Moomoo and BJ Forbes as the little boy who’s the only one who can see him. This will be shown Thursdays at 8 p.m.

"As we go into our second year, we aim to give our viewers shows that not only please and entertain them but also impart good and positive family values," he adds. "You will see this slant even more clearly in ‘Moomoo and Me’ that centers on a happy family headed by real life couple William Martinez and Yayo Aguila."

As for William and Yayo, they both deny that they have broken up and filed for divorce. "Ilang beses na yang napabalita, pero hindi naman totoo," they add.