After the ‘15 minutes of fame,’ what? - STAR BYTES by Butch Francisco

Do you want to have your 15 minutes of fame?

Some bank employees I know wished that they had worked for Land Bank and Equitable so that they, too, could have a chance to act as witnesses for the prosecution in the ongoing impeachment trial against President Estrada and – in the process – get their share of the limelight.

Well, I don’t know if these people from the bank I spoke to would still want their 15 minutes of fame if they saw Vicky Morales’ report on I-Witness last Monday.

According to this I-Witness feature (a really good one – I have to say), Clarissa Ocampo and some of the other witnesses for the prosecution are no longer allowed to return to their respective homes and are now kept in undisclosed safehouses. In effect, their lives (and even those of their loved ones) have already been stolen from them.

I-Witness, of course, assured everyone that they’re being given comfortable lodgings. But then, I’m sure, they’d rather sleep on their own beds and come home to the arms of their spouses and kids.

But such is the price they have to pay in order for truth to come out and so that this nation may finally move on.

Unsung hero

In any TV program, there are a lot of unsung heroes whose works and contributions to the show are hardly ever acknowledged: cameramen, audiomen, propsmen – down to the water boy.

Late last week, a cameraman of Channel 7 finally got a lot of attention – but not necessarily because of his skills at handling the TV camera.

However, he still got a lot of media mileage when some senators became hysterical all because of a "mysterious microphone" he put inside the Senate hall during the coverage of the impeachment trial.

Well, as we all know by now, the Senate inquiry yielded nothing because, well, there was really nothing to that microphone. In any TV coverage it is SOP to put microphones everywhere – within the sphere of the place to be covered. An employee from the rival ABS-CBN whom I spoke to over the weekend even sided with Channel 7 and said that those senators were indeed overreacting to a non-issue.

Anyway, with that issue over, the cameraman of the House – Jose Canlas – finally reported to work on Startalk last Saturday and was greeted with much fanfare.

The poor guy must have felt uneasy with all the attention being heaped on him. Manilyn Reynes (who was promoting Super Idol in Startalk) even interviewed him during one of the breaks and asked him how he felt when he was made to sit on the witness stand. ("Nervous and scared," – he shot back).

And just to show you what that 15-minutes of fame brought him: He eclipsed no less than the "Pantasya ng Bayan" Joyce Jimenez and hogged the limelight – at least, among the people in the studio that afternoon.

Wedding in May

S-Files segment host VP Hernandez had her merriest Christmas as ever when she got a marriage proposal from her boyfriend of four years, Jingo Hervas, right on Christmas morning. Hervas is a 31-year-old businessman who belongs to the family that runs and operates Carpet Masters. VP and Jingo have set their wedding date on May 30, 2001 – probably in Silang, Cavite, where VP’s parents conduct marriage encounter seminars.

Manunuri last-quarter citations

Even if Jeffrey Jeturian’s Tuhog has yet to be shown in Metro Manila theaters, it is already qualified to vie for awards in the 24th annual Gawad Urian to be held either in March or April of this year. The members of the Manunuri ng Pelikulang Pilipino are including this controversial Regal movie in this year’s awards race because it already had a public screening (to a paying movie audience) at the UP Film Center last November 2000.

Rated B by the Film Ratings Board (this writer gave it a score of A, though, at the FRB screening), Tuhog earned several citations from the local critics’ group. Its citations include direction (Jeturian), script (Armando Lao), cinematography (Boy Yñiguez, Shane Clemente, Sherman So), music (Jay Durias), editing (Ron Dale), production design (Ron Heritas), sound (Ross Diaz and Ric Loresto, Jr.) and the performances of Ina Raymundo, Klaudia Koronel, Jacklyn Jose, Irma Adlawan, Dante Rivero and Nante Montreal.

The Manunuri also gave citations to the following films during the last quarter of the year 2000:

Laro sa Baga – Direction (Chito Roño), screenplay (Edgardo Reyes), cinematography (Neil Daza), editing (Menet Dayrit), production design (Michael Guison), sound (Albert Michael Idioma and Rudy Canzalan) and the performances of Carlos Morales, Angel Aquino and Monique Wilson.

Biyaheng Langit – Direction (Tikoy Aguiluz), screenplay (Aguiluz, Myrna Medina Bhunjhun, Ianco de la Cruz and Rey Ventura), cinematography (Romulo Araojo), production design (Ben Payumo), editing (Bhunjhun), sound (Ramon Reyes) and the performances of Mark Anthony Fernandez, Joyce Jimenez and Nida Blanca.

Kahit Isang Saglit – The performances of Judy Ann Santos, Piolo Pascual and Leandro Muñoz.

Abandonada – The performance of Maricel Soriano as lead actress.

Deathrow – Direction (Joey Lamangan), screenplay (Ricky Lee and Manny Palo), cinematography (Mossino Duque), music (Ryan Cayabyab), editing (Kelly Cruz and Jess Navarro), production design (Joey Luna), sound (Albert Michael Idioma), and the performances of Eddie Garcia, Cogie Domingo, Jaclyn Jose, Spanky Manikan, Pen Medina, Rey Ventura and Nanding Josef.

Markova – Direction (Gil Portes), screenplay (Clodualdo del Mundo, Jr.), cinematography (Johnny Araojo), editing (George Jarlego), music (Joy Marfil), sound (Art Traflo and Albert Michael Idioma).

Aray! – The performance of Anna Capri.

Sugatang Puso – Direction and screenplay (Jose Javier Reyes), cinematography (Eduardo Jacinto), music (Jesse Lucas) and the performances of Lorna Tolentino, Christopher de Leon, Patrick Garcia, Cherie Gil and Carlo Aquino.

Spirit Warriors – Cinematography (Neil Daza), editing (Manet Dayrit), music (Jesse Lasaten), production design (Elmer Bais) and sound (Albert Michael Idioma).

Tanging Yaman – Direction (Laurice Guillen), screenplay (Guillen, Mela Salvador and Raymond Lee), cinematography (Videlle Meily), editing (George Jarlego), music (Nonong Buencamino), production design (Edgar Martin Littana), sound (Ramon Reyes), and the performances of Gloria Romero, Johnny Delgado, Dina Bonnevie, Edu Manzano, Hilda Koronel, Cherry Pie Picache, Jericho Rosales and Jeanette MacBride.