Ryan more than ready to marry Judy Ann?

I wonder if this t-shirt maker realizes the

damage to its brand caused by its

billboard in Quiapo. The billboard features a smiling Willie Revillame wearing the manufacturer's shirt and the heading "Wowowille."

Revillame is still too much identified with the deadly stampede in Ultra to be an effective endorser at this time. He and several officers of ABS-CBN and the show are due to testify at an NBI hearing next week. Until they are cleared of accountability in the incident a cloud of uncertainty will hang over their reputation.

And what do the families of the victims feel every time they see the billboard? Even ABS-CBN was prudent and sensitive enough to close down the noontime show. o0o

I'm glad the spat between Optical Media Board Chairman Edu Manzano and Film Academy of the Philippines Director General Leo Martinez is over.

President Arroyo herself called the two to Malacañang and told them to settle their differences.

A lot of people wanted to ride on the rift. I was forwarded a text message supposedly from Mr. Manny Morfe. It read: Ang kapal at bastos ni Edu. We demand an apology from Edu to Mr. Leo immediately or we will make every effort and destroy Edu. We will expose his lies. We know him and what he does. We work with Edu and Mr. Leo. Edu be careful. Mr. Leo is honorable. Please pass until it reaches Edu and Mr. Leo. So they may know who we are. We shall not stop here. MANNY MORFE.

What is Mr. Morfe's motive for vilifying Edu? He's only fanning the flames of dissent instead of fostering unity to get the entertainment industry to move forward.

It was astute of the President to reconcile Edu and Leo. The feud was affecting other industry bigwigs like Vic del Rosario, the presidential consultant on entertainment, as well. o0o

Judy Ann Santos and Ryan Agoncillo have not lost their pulling power. I watched the couple being interviewed by Desiree del Valle on Persona's (Cinema One) Valentine episode. They were super-sweet! The two held hands and sometimes Ryan embraced Juday. They are aglow with love.

Someone close to the lovebirds said Ryan is more than ready to tie the knot with Juday because he doesn't want her to have another screen partner. Ryan, however, refuses to confirm this.

All I can say is that the two are a perfect love match. Desiree impressed me as a capable interviewer. She knows how to draw out juicy tidbits of information from her subjects. I do believe she's ready to be given a break as a talk show host. How about it, ABS-CBN? o0o

FROM MY INBOX: Here is an e-mail I got from the US (I translated the mail from Filipino):

Good day to you and your followers. I e-mailed to voice out a few things about GMA-7's Pinoy TV. First of all I want to thank GMA-7 for the enjoyment it has brought to us Filipinos here in America. Watching the programs of that channel makes us feel like we never left home.

We subscribed to DirectTV to acquire access to Pinoy TV. Sometimes, though, we feel we are not getting our money's worth. That's because the programs on Pinoy TV have been condensed. "Eat Bulaga," for example, run for only 40 minutes. So does "Bubble Gang." Even "24 Oras" is abridged.

Is it GMA-7's policy to condense its programs on Pinoy TV? We subscribed to the channel because we wanted to feel closer to home. Now watching Pinoy TV isn't as exciting anymore.

We don't care if the programs carry commercials as long as they don't eat up too much of the shows' time.

We hope you can help us bring our problem to the attention of GMA-7's management.

Thank you and God bless!

Sincerely,

Alice

* * *

The US embassy has congratulated the Philippines for being stricken off the Priority Watch List of countries where violations of intellectual property rights (IPR) are rampant. Since 1994, the US Trade Representative has been monitoring US trading partners, listing those that deny adequate and effective protection of intellectual property rights.

The list has several levels, depending on the degree of violations. The Philippines has been on the Priority Watch List until last February 15 when it was move to the Watch List, a step away from being dropped altogether from the list of monitored countries.

The US embassy credited President Arroyo for the improvement in IPR protection in the Philippines. It also cited other government officials, including Edu Manzano, the chairman of the Optical Media Board.

The US embassy stressed that Improved intellectual property "is in the interest of all countries; it contributes to a better business climate for both domestic and foreign investors in the Philippines, and encourages entrepreneurship."

Edu himself will attest to the fact that intellectual pirates are far from beaten in the Philippines. Pirated CDs, DVDs and VCDs still abound in Quiapo and other retail outlets.

But thanks to the OMB, the pirates are finding it harder to ply their illicit trade. o0o

For your comments, you may e-mail me at: [email protected].