Kris could have gone blind

Curtain-raisers:

* Could it be true that the producer of the Balangiga movie directed by Chito Rono has decided to scrap the project because he was scared by the ballooning budget? The pre-producton alone, according to the FunfareI DPA, has already cost almost P20 million, one fourth of the total budget (P80 million). But the other Balangiga movie, directed by Gil Portes, will go on although already delayed, with Sony Pictures as producer.

* The final entries to this year’s Metro Filmfest will be announced this afternoon. Will it be a "Magic 7" or a "Lucky 9"? Among the "candidates" are Spirit Warriors 2: The Short Cut; Mano Po; Lapu-Lapu; Agimat (Anting-Anting ni Lolo); Lastikman; Dekada ’70; Hula Mo, Huli Ko; Alamat ng Lawin; and Home Along D Riber. Will politics play a role in the selection of the finalists? Let’s wait and see.

* Is June the "marrying-est" month of the year? Think again. December is "it." So far, three couples have tied the knot: Laguna Vice Gov. Dan Fernandez and Shiela Ysrael, Ina Raymundo and Canadian boy Brian Poternak, and Isabel Granada and Jeric Genasky. On Saturday, Dec. 14, Rep. Jules Ledesma and Assunta de Rossi will be married in civil rites in San Carlos City, Negros Occidental.

* * *

Thank God, Kris Aquino has finally checked out of the Makati Med yesterday where she was confined for more than 10 days. For a while, the doctors couldn’t pinpoint what was wrong with her, until Kris was diagnosed with "viral measles" after rashes came out all over her body, with her face worst hit, swollen almost beyond recognition. Poor Kris could hardly open her eyes.

"She was such a mess," said Mother Lily who was just as upset and as worried and as concerned as Kris’ mom, Tita Cory, was. So worried was Tita Cory, in fact, that she rushed to the Makati Med when Kris’ condition worsened. Tita Cory’s heart must have sunk when she saw Kris with a swollen face, hardly able to talk and to open her eyes.

Kris fell ill as soon as she and the Regal entourage (including Mother Lily, director Joel Lamangan and co-stars Maricel Soriano and Ara Mina) came home Saturday (Nov. 30) last week after shooting some vital scenes in Beijing for Regal’s epic-drama Mano Po, intended for the 2002 Metro Filmfest.

At first, Kris suffered a 39-plus-degree fever. Could it have been bronchitis? You see, Kris flew to Beijing a day later than the rest of the entourage because she had to do advance episodes for Game KNB? and she hardly had any sleep. She flew right smack into a below-zero temperature and her body must have been too exhausted to take it.

When her fever didn’t subside after a few days, Kris became scared by the thought that she might have contracted pneumonia. She didn’t. Instead, her doctors suspected that she must have suffered from some allergy, prompting Tita Cory to ask Kris’ Beijing companions, "What did you eat in China?" Nothing heavy, Tita Cory was told.

And finally, Kris was diagnosed to be suffering from "viral measles" which could have left her blind.

"My masseuse got blind due to measles," said Dolor Guevarra, Mano Po promotions coordinator, who was also with the Beijing group. "Mabuti na lang naagapan si Kris."

The incident should be a wake-up call for Kris who has been working so hard, working herself to, that’s it, self-destruction. She should learn how to slow down and relax a bit and enjoy herself. Otherwise, what’s all the money for if you earn it at the expense of your health? Remember, Dear Kris, health is wealth.

Kris is safe and sound now, with her vision intact. But she has to rest some more and regain her health, especially now that she is finished with her scenes in Mano Po and in Star Cinema’s Dekada 70 (as guest star) where she plays – don’t look now – a student activist!

‘Prodigal’ Quizon

Jobert Sucaldito asked Funfare to interview Rowell Quizon, Dolphy’s grandson, who created a minor controversy when he was, according to Rowell, mistaken for a "macho dancer" and "call boy" after GMA’s S-Files took footages of him in a gay bar in the Scout Area in Quezon City. A few Quizons, among them Rowell’s uncle Jeffrey, reacted strongly, to the point of almost denouncing and disowning Rowell who is one of the three sons of Dolphy’s son Freddie (by Dolphy’s first woman with whom he has five other children – Boy, Sahlee, Dolphy Jr., Edgar and Rollie).

"I’m so sorry for putting my relatives in a bad light," said Rowell who, at six-feet flat with the Quizon good looks, can very easily become an actor. "It wasn’t my intention. I was in that gay bar for two nights for training. You see, I am going to Japan as a hosto-singer and I asked my friend, who is familiar with gay bars, to help me get some training dahil hindi ako marunong mag-entertain ng customers. Unfortunately, somebody tipped off S-Files. Before I knew it, hayun, iniinterview na nila ako. They edited the interview and the impression you get from the final cut was that nagma-macho dancer ako doon at nagko-call boy pa. When I talked to Lolo Dolphy I explained everything to him; nag-sorry ako sa kanya."

Rowell quit school (Philippine College of Criminology, second year) because he wanted to work in Japan next year. While "training" in the gay bar, he got paid just the same, earning more than P2,000 on his first night, P100 as talent fee and the rest from tips. "Malakas kasi siyang uminom," said Jobert, now Rowell’s manager, "kaya malaki ang tip niya."

A true-blue Quizon, Rowell always joins the other Quizons during special occasions, such as Christmas and his Lolo Dolphy’s birthday, along with his brothers Nico and John and the rest of the Quizon sons and daugthers and grandchildren.

"Lolo Dolphy is good to me," said Rowell. "I always run to him if I have problems. Kaya hindi ako gagawa ng ikakasira niya o sino man sa mga Quizon."

Blink and when you look again, Rowell should be in Seiko Films being touted as the new bold actor.