Henry has own share of death threats

Curtain-raisers:

* If and when the life story of Angelo "Ador" Mawanay is made into a movie, it should be titled Historia de un Ador.

* Who would be the perfect leading lady for Ador (who should play himself, what with the media mileage he has been getting)? Ask Ai-Ai delas Alas. No, they wouldn’t be having any lips-to-lips love scene but a "chin to chin" one.

* And who should play Sen. Ping Lacson and Col. Victor Corpus? Yes, of course, Rudy Fernandez who has played both men in two previous bio-flicks. Maybe Rudy should be cast in a dual role, playing both good and evil (Funfare isn’t saying who’s good and who’s evil, I want to make it clear).

* * *

Like fellow ABS-CBN anchorman Erwin Tulfo, TV Patrol’s Henry Omaga-Diaz (brother of prize-winning designer Dong Omaga-Diaz) has been getting his own share of death threats, especially when he was still covering hot beats.

No, Henry doesn’t carry a gun; neither does he go around with bodyguards (unlike Erwin who has been provided with his own security force by his kuya Ramon Tulfo).

Laughed the soft-spoken Henry, "I have a gun, all right, given to me by my father years ago, but it has become rusty."

Henry’s name started to ring a bell among showbiz followers when he and his group kind of "trapped" a bold star and her manager inside the room of Hotel Rembrandt for an expose on The Correspondents to show that, yes, some actresses do sell their body for an extra bucks.

But these days, Henry is as familiar as the ABS-CBN logo, having taken over (along with Korina Sanchez and Aljo Bendijo) as main host of TV Patrol a few months ago after Noli "Kabayan" de Castro quit the show to run for the Senate. See, how clean-cut and sartorially-correct Henry is now. (His younger brother Dong complains how difficult it is to convince Henry to drop by his shop along Kamias Road, Quezon City, for fitting, adding that Henry is the type who hates dressing up.)

"I used to have long hair and a thicker mustache when I was at Radio Veritas," recalled Henry who trained for the church-backed station when he was still at Lyceum finishing B.S. Journalism. "It was supposed to be my practicum but Radio Veritas asked me to stay. I did... for 10 years (1981 to 1991)."

Henry left Radio Veritas when it decided "to go commercial" and joined DZMM in 1991 as a field reporter, graduating two years later as pinchhitter for Noli de Castro as TV Patrol host while at the same time segment-hosting for Magandang Gabi, Bayan (also hosted by Noli even now that he’s a Senator) and The Correspondents.

A native of Guinobatan, Albay (but he grew up in Manila), Henry has three other brothers – aside from Dong – and two sisters. He explained his hyphenated surname by disclosing that Omaga is his father’s surname while Diaz is his grandfather’s surname which he and the rest of the brood adopted because it was their grandfather who reared them. Henry is married to the former Gigi Cabigon of Basey, Samar (provincemate of such celebrities as Boy Abunda, Bibeth Orteza and Aster Amoyo).

A few weeks ago, an akyat-bahay man broke into Henry’s house and carted away valuables like his laptop and notebook.

Could the thief have any other motive than stealing? Was he after Henry’s life? Did he get any confidential file on Henry?

"I don’t think so," smiled Henry. "These days, I’m not getting as many death threats as I used to."

Well, not that he’s missing them...

Ladine’s winning performance

There were some misconceptions that Ladine Roxas clarified about the Voice of Asia 2001 competition which she won two weeks ago in Kazakhstan (a gold trophy plus $10,000, roughly equivalent to P500,000) when she met the press the other day.

No, Ladine said, she won not just for one but for the three songs she sang during the three-day competition among 17 countries.

On the first night, Ladine sang Pity On Me (about the street children of Manila); on the second night, Bakit Inibig Pa Kita; and on the third and final night, Where There Is Love, all composed by Vehnee Saturno (winner as Best Composer, with a $1,000 cash prize and a certificate).

The contestants were graded on all three nights and Ladine got the highest score. She’s the second Filipino singer to win in the Voice of Asia contest, the first being Geneva Cruz in 1991. The only other Filipina who competed in Kazakhstan was Dessa who won a special prize in 1993.

Because their luggage was left behind in Seoul, Ladine had to wear two new gowns she bought in Kazakhstan, freezing in the zero-degree temperature in the open-air stage while doing her songs. It was only on their third day in Kazakhstan did their maletas arrive so Ladine wore a gown from Manila on the finals night, quickly covering herself with a thick leather jacket after doing her number.

Still euphoric over her victory, Ladine is looking forward to doing an album for a British recording company and a month-long stint at the Shangri-La Hotel in Hong Kong. She’s also promoting her new album for Viva Records.

Daisy’s ungrateful daughter

Friends have been advising Daisy Romualdez to "forget" foster daughter Tina Paner after last Wednesday’s Pure Music concert at Hotel Rembrandt’s Downtown which Daisy herself produced, featuring Tina along with guests Janno Gibbs, Ogie Alcasid and Jun Polistico, with Daisy’s daughter Danita Paner as added attraction.

On that show, Tina showed the audience, composed mostly of Daisy’s friends, what an ungrateful daughter she is. She very conveniently "forgot" to thank or acknowledge Daisy even if the show director, Nestor Cuartero, underlined it in his script. It was only at the end of the show did Tina grudgingly "thank" Daisy who, by then, was already feeling bad.

Tina has been "snubbing" her own folks who are blaming somebody they describe as a "bad influence" on Tina. Friends are telling Daisy that bad karma would soon catch up with Tina, just wait and see.

Meanwhile, Daisy was happy with the response to Danita who did Britney Spears songs, prompting Daisy to include Danita in shows she’s producing for PAGCOR (Parañaque) starting Sept. 14.

Among those at Downtown during the Pure Music show were jeweller Amerisa "Amy" Lim, Liberty Ilagan, Baby Gibbs, Fely Vallejo, Chari Bagatsing, Criselda Lontok, Jesi Mendez, Fanny Serrano, Helen Cruz, Letty Tan (wife of Lucio Tan), May Gatchalian, Manoling Morato and PCSO Head Honey Girl Singson-De Leon.