Maricel Soriano settles issue with her 2 helpers

The past weeks had been quite challenging for the members of the Entertainment Press Society as we prepared for the Golden Screen Awards which is on its 9th year now. The controversy brought by the non-inclusion of Laguna Governor Jeorge “ER” Ejercito as one of the finalists for best actor (for the movie “The Manila Kingpin: The Asiong Salonga Story”) was really quite daunting. But no matter the controversy, we at the Golden Screen Awards are holding to our belief and standing by the choices we made.

Of course, we all know that not everyone would agree with our choices. It is subject to criticism from the public and we very well know that we can’t please everybody. We can all argue from dusk till dawn as to who should be there (or not be there) on the list of nominees but still eventually only one will emerge as the winner. That winner will likewise be subjected to praise (if the public believes in our choice) or ridicule (if they feel we did a cop out and they don’t believe in our choice or choices (as the case may be).

But that is the beauty in a democracy. There is a free exchange of ideas. Everyone is entitled to his own opinion. What may be good in my eyes might not be good to the person seated next to me or even to the one reading this item.

To say that this year’s Golden Screen Awards went through a rough time is an understatement. You could only imagine the problems we went through just to be able to mount a simple awards night tomorrow at Teatrino (at the Promenade of Greenhills). There were lots of pakiusapan at paghingi ng tulong with friends just to put up an awards. We know that times are hard and we would appreciate any help extended to us. We can keep the awards night simple but with one major concern - come out with a credible list of winners. That would be our statement to the public. We have to stand by our choices which were chosen on the basis of excellence, nothing less.

Gov. ER might not be a nominee this year but that doesn’t mean he may no longer earn a nomination in the future. Hope springs eternal. We do hope that as we reveal our choices for the winners tomorrow night, these will be met with approval from everyone, not only from the showbiz side but from the general public as well. We remember promising to our dear colleague, the late Archie de Calma, one of the pioneers of the Golden Screen Awards that we will continue to safeguard the integrity of the Golden Screen Awards. It is a promise that we intend to keep.

Today, the 15 voting members will come together in an undisclosed place to deliberate and cast their votes. We pray for guidance and discernment from our dear Lord that He may guide the voting members to choose the right winners. Good luck to all the nominees and our advanced congratulations to all the winners.

The 9th Golden Screen Awards will be held at Teatrino at the Promenade in Greenhills tomorrow at 8 pm. The Superstar Ms. Nora Aunor is recipient of the Gawad Lino Brocka Lifetime Achievement Award. It will be simple rites, minus the pageantry and pomp, but we can assure the followers of the Golden Screen Awards that we have one important thing in mind - credibility and faith. Many thanks to those who continue to believe in us.

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July of last year, Ms. Maricel Soriano had a problem with her “kasambahay,” which resulted to a misunderstanding, prompting the two kasambahays, Ms. Acojedo and Ms. Cachuela to file a case against Maricel.

The two parties had recently issued a statement regarding the case. The statement, translated into English, says through the help of Mon Tulfo and Cong. Bagasina of ALE Partylist, both parties were given the chance to explain their side regarding the case.

Because of this, they learned that everything stemmed from a misunderstanding because of the sudden surge of their emotions. After a peaceful and orderly talk, the two parties decided to patch up their differences and end their dispute. The two parties decided to let forget their animosity and give way to a peaceful settlement of their misunderstanding.

Ms. Soriano, Ms. Acojedo and Ms. Cachuela would like to thank Mr. Mon Tulfo and Cong. Bagasina for the help extended to them to end the discord and be at peace again.