Who's who in Indie scene come together for amBisyon2010

The who’s who in the local independent filmmaking scene have come together for amBisyon2010, a project by the ABS-CBN News Channel (ANC SKYCABLE ch. 27) featuring 20 filmmakers who will direct the 20 short films on 10 issues that will decide the 2010 elections.

Filmmakers Ditsi Carolino, Emmanuel Dela Cruz, Kiri Dalena, Henry Frejas, Jeffrey Jeturian, Jade Castro, Jim Libiran, Erik Matti, Brillante Mendoza, Ellen Ramos, John Red, Raymond Red, Jerrold Tarog, John Torres, and Paolo Villaluna will each receive a small grant from ANC to produce a four to eight minute short film on their ambition for 2010.

From population to education to health and human rights, these shorts will be the voices of the nation’s best storytellers who will share their dreams for a nation in crisis.

Meanwhile, ANC also opened the project to the public by offering the five remaining slots to aspiring directors. Since Tuesday’s (December 15) deadline, more than 80 aspirants have submitted their entries for the chance to join 15 of the country’s best filmmakers in the theater and television premieres of amBisyon2010.

ABS-CBN News and Current Affairs head Maria Ressa, Philippine Independent Filmmakers Cooperative chairman Dr. Clodualdo del Mundo, and publisher and critic Erwin Romulo will choose the five winning entries, which will be announced on January 2010.

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It was very tiring, but we still enjoyed our trip to Enchanted Kingdom last Sunday, December 20, together with the wards of the House of Refuge. We were in the company of 22 kids, ages between 3 to 17, who were given a treat by Entertainment Press Society (the group of writers that gives out the Golden Screen Awards, with yours truly as outgoing president) and Yellow Trail, in cooperation with Power of 3 Productions. For one whole day, members of ENPRESS played Tatay and Nanay for the kids from the House of Refuge.

We know it's not easy to play parent to a kid, especially a precocious four-year-old boy, as we also have a four-year-old niece whom we dote on. Our anak for the day last Sunday was a four-year-old named Neil Angelo Salvador, whom we accompanied to all the rides. When he threw a tantrum, we had no other recourse but to carry him while waiting in line for the roller coaster ride. But the heat was quite unbearable so the kid threw another tantrum, prompting us to leave the line so as to give him a drink. He was also tired of walking around the theme park, although he was very cheerful when we rode the Riogrande Rapids.

Our other "son" for the day was 14-year-old King Fajad. He was not much of a problem since he was old enough to take care of himself. But we couldn't accompany him to ride the Space Shuttle because we couldn't leave little Neil Angelo behind who, for obvious reasons, could not be allowed to ride the pulse-pounding and nerve-wracking Space Shuttle.

The event on Sunday was some sort of outreach program for ENPRESS. We wanted to send a subtle message that even if we are an association of entertainment writers feasting on gossip and juicy showbiz items, we could also be relied on to help charitable endeavors. Last October, we joined Alfred Vargas when he had his feeding program for young children. When this project on taking the House of Refuge kids to Enchanted Kingdom was presented to us by Ms. Merle Cipriano of Power of 3 Productions, we readily accepted the offer to help them with the project.

Indeed, it was an experience worth cherishing. And it was such a pleasant sight to see the faces of the kids light up when the bus arrived at their temporary home at Loyola Grand Villas where we picked them up and brought them to Enchanted Kingdom. Before leaving the place, we randomly picked names as to who would be our sons or daughters for the day. As soon as we arrived at Enchanted Kingdom, it was instant bonding among the "nanay" and "tatay" and the kids. We were together from afternoon till night, eating together, riding together and roaming around the theme park.

Later at night, Aiza Seguerra had a show at Enchanted Kingdom's concert stage. And joining her onstage were the kids who offered a song number.

We were touched when each one of us were given coffee mugs by the kids which had this inscription - “Thank you for being our Nanay/Tatay—kids of House of Refuge."

We felt the sincerity of the gesture from these young abandoned children. Although we feel sorry for them because they were abandoned by their parents, we are more sorry for the parents who neglected them because they lost the chance of a wonderful experience of parenthood. Even if we were only the tatay of Neil Angelo and King for the day, it was an experience that we would always remember and treasure in our heart.

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We'd like to extend our condelences to Megastar Sharon Cuneta whose Yaya Luring joined Our Creator. We felt sad when we learned the news last Sunday while we were having fun in Enchanted Kingdom since we even had the chance to talk to Yaya Luring when we dropped by the residence of Sharon at Wack Wack Village last December 15 to pick up the raffle prize that the megastar donated for the ENPRESS Christmas party held Friday.

We were about to leave when Yaya Luring saw us and we stopped for a moment to greet her and wish her well. We told her that we don't get to see her anymore whenever Sharon has a presscon, unlike before when she was always present. Yaya Luring said she got sick but is on the way to recovery. She even wished us Merry Christmas.

We feel some affinity to Yaya Luring in a way because we always see her in the shootings of Sharon. We believed this started on the set of a Sharon-Robin movie. Each time I see her, I make it a point to go to her and greet her, and she would smile back. It was only in recent years that I saw less and less of Yaya Luring because Sharon would no longer bring her to the set, owing to her advanced age.

Now that Yaya Luring has joined her Creator, she is now at peace. Wherever she may be, she's surely happy knowing that she gave her all in taking care of, not just Sharon, but also her family.