Maja Salvador's wish granted

Rochelle Pangilinan, easily the most popular member of the Sexbomb Girls, denies reports that she wants to go back to "Eat Bulaga." She also corrects impressions that she's no longer renewing her contract with Joy Cancio, the manager of Sexbomb, since she was supposedly offered to be managed by GMA 7.

"That's not true. I am not leaving Sexbomb and I am also not leaving Tita Joy," says Rochelle at the presscon of the Season 12 of their afternoon series "Daisy Siete." She says she's totally unaware of rumors that a talent manager is eyeing her and wants to sign her up once her contract with Joy Cancio expires. But the talented dancer put a stop to all speculations by saying she's happy with her manager. Besides, she doesn't even know when her contract is expiring.

"I know it's expiring on September, but I don't know if it's this year or next year," says the sexy Rochelle. "If ever I do decide to sign up with a new manager, I would definitely talk to Tita Joy even before the press gets the wind of such plan. If ever I do have one, pero wala talaga. I am also not the kind of person who'd burn bridges."

She also denies feuding anew with Jopay Paguia because of the billing in the new season of "Daisy Siete" which starts airing on Monday, July 3. "We don't have a problem with regards to billing or anything. Jopay and I are not fighting. We do get along fine and there's no reason for you to believe that we are not in good terms. While we may not always have the time to spend together because we have different schedules, Jopay and I are good friends," she stresses.

For the Season 12 of "Daisy Siete" titled "Landas," Rochelle and the rest of the Sexbomb girls dabble in action scenes. This is a dream come true for Rochelle who intimated to several press people that she wants to try action. The biggest role as well as the biggest scenes in "Landas" went to Rochelle, and this could certainly lead Jopay to fits of jealousy. But no feud exists between the two most popular members of the Sexbomb girls. Not even when it comes to disputes regarding talent fees since it's their manager Joy Cancio who takes of this matter.

"I did hear that rumor that Jopay complained about the billing but we are just here to do our jobs. There should be no issue with regards to billing. Jopay and I do talk a lot although we don't discuss matters related to billing or to any issue concerning work. Ayaw namin magpapaapekto sa intriga," says Rochelle. "Our friendship is intact and we don't want it to be affected by intrigues."

Meanwhile, is it true that a former politician is sending her flowers on the set of "Daisy Siete"? Rochelle, at first, didn't want to name the politician (or ex-politician) since he has only sent him flowers once or twice. "He has only sent me flowers and I don't think we should put meaning into that," says Rochelle about the politician who turned out to be Dan Fernandez, former husband of actress Shiela Ysrael and who used to be the vice governor of Laguna.

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Maja Salavador needed a strong follow-up vehicle after an acting tandem with Star For All Seasons, Miss Vilma Santos, which was shown on "Maalaala Mo Kaya" as its special Mother's Day presentation. Even if Maja is a newbie in the business, she was no patsy when it comes to acting. The 17-year-old charmer held her own against the grandslam best actress winner.

Well, "Maalaala Mo Kaya" is fulfilling another wish of Maja, and that is, acting alongside her uncle Philip Salvador in tonight's episode of the top-rating drama anthology that now occupies the Friday slot. It's another acting coup for Maja since her Uncle Ipe had not been appearing on TV, much less on an episode of MMK for the longest time, plus she's also really fortunate that the comeback vehicle of her uncle on MMK features her with him.

Aside from being the Father's Day special of MMK, the episode also sees Maja with a new ka-loveteam, in the person of Jason Abalos-a tandem MMK bigwigs felt as a perfect combination. In the episode entitled "Tanan," Maja found out that she has instant chemistry with Jason. And her uncle Ipe approves of the tandem.

What happens now to John Wayne Sace, Maja's perennial partner? Well, ABS-CBN decided that it's about time that the two screen partners disengaged for a while so that the audience would not tire of seeing them always. John Wayne is being reunited with previous partner Pia Romero.

When Kuya Ipe learned he'd be working with Maja, he immediately accepted the offer to do this MMK episode, which was shot in Batangas. The story is about an aggressive young woman who falls head over heels in love with her suitor. Her father (played by Ipe) is so strict that the young woman would elope with her boyfriend.

This is another exciting chapter in Maja's young career. And Ipe's brilliance onscreen rubbed on both Maja and Jason, whose performances drew praise from Ipe himself. The award-winning actor even gave acting pointers to Maja and Jason to inspire them to give their best. The episode is directed by Mae Cruz.

Maja even thanked her uncle Ipe who acted like a father to her own father (Ross Rival), whom Ipe has helped in many ways. Whenever Ross Rival got sick, it was always Phillip who'd extend a helping hand to tide his brother over hard times.

For his part, Jason also expressed delight for having worked with the Phillip Salvador. "I was really so nervous in our scene together because Tito Philip became so mad at me. When we did our chase scene, I thought he'd really beat me up. His eyes showed the rage within him. After the take, I was overwhelmed. Doing a scene with him is like going through a workshop," says Jason.

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Maricel Soriano and Albert Martinez just finished doing a digital film title "Numbalikdiwa," a suspense-thriller directed by Bobby Bonifacio.

This is a thriller about a love story between souls unfazed by life or death. This is a novel approach to the uniquely Filipino horror genre. The style in this movie may yet launch a new cult of Filipino horror films, the same way Japan's "The Ring" launched a new cinematic way of scaring people out of their wits.

The story treats the nuances and extremes of daily life as incomparable, familiar, curious, even revolting. But the differences ultimately prevail and become apparent as the story unfolds in gory, bloody detail.

This is the second time Maricel is doing a digital film. She earlier finished the digital film "Inang Yaya" for Unitel Films while Albert has produced a digital film. "Numbalikdiwa" also stars Meryl Soriano, Ping Medina and Estrella Kuenzler.