Aliya Parcs: A real Dutch treat

First, let’s put her in the proper perspective:

Aliya is spelled without an "h" at the end and Parcs with a "c," not with a "k".

As in Aliya Parcs.

I bore that in mind when Jose Mari Chan called up Funfare not to miss out Aliya Parcs as one of his special guests in his recent show – yes, without an "h" and not with a "k."

But I bet that Joe Mari didn’t know that Aliya is the girl’s real name "mis-spelled" backwards – Maila, that is. She’s half-Dutch and half-Filipino.

Anyway, what difference do two letters make? Call Aliya Parcs any name and she’ll still be as sweet and as beautiful and as talented as she is.

The name doesn’t ring bells – yet – but the face, maybe not the voice, is starting to look familiar. You must have seen her in one of the eight commercials she has done so far – Heinz Catsup, perhaps, or Rexona with Marc Nelson? – or, for all you know, you must have caught her in one of the concerts of big(ger) singers she has been guesting on lately.

For starters, now that we’ve named her, let’s go over her vital statistics – 5’6" tall, 120 lbs. and truly whistlebait at 34-25-35. She could be a beauty queen but Aliya would rather make a name not on the ramp but on the spotlight as a singer – or a veejay (that’s why she competed with a dozen others in last night’s MTV Veejay Hunt). Recently, she was declared No. 55 in FHM magazine’s monthly listing of the world’s sexiest women.

Aliya is the newest addition to the fast-growing list of half-bred Filipinas lighting up the showbiz scene, including Nancy Castiglione (half-Italian, half-Filipino) with whom Aliya shared a pad for two years.

"We shared the same modeling agency and the same agent (Apple Antiporda)," said Aliya who speaks tolerable Tagalog, "but not outlook in life. We’re opposites. Nancy seems to live only for today while I live for the future. We’re like sisters; I treat her like the sister that I never had. I am an only child, you see."

An Arian (April 7), Aliya was born and raised in The Netherlands. Her father, Hcees Parcs is a retired businessman; and her mother, Portia Parcon, is a retired PAL stewardess from Bacolod. Both parents are Catholic, now residing in Isabela, a few kilometers from Bacolod.

"My mom is a brave woman," said Aliya who is a cross between Pilar Pilapil and her daughter Pia. "Twenty-five years ago, she got involved in a PAL accident and she was hospitalized for more than nine months. Then she flew again, until she retired several years later."

Aliya first came here when she was a year old, too young to remember anything. She stayed mostly in Isabela and Bacolod. The second time she came, she was 14. And then, at 16, she came back and had her first taste of Philippine summer. She suffered from heat stroke and passed out.

That was also the time she decided to return – for good.

"I went to Boracay. My friends and I rode on a banca and I was mesmerized by the beautiful scenery. The water was cool and clear. There and then, I told myself, ‘This is the country where I want to stay forever.’ So I came back."

But first, Aliya finished college (with a degree in Commerce) at the Economic College in Amsterdam, choosing to support herself through college by working as a saleslady at a boutique. "Working in a boutique there," she clarified, "is different from working in a boutique here. There, you can live comfortably on your salary."

She started in showbiz as a guest vocalist of the band Tribe of Levi. Then, she moved to Prime Council, also a band, as a vocalist. Managed by Primeline, Inc. (headed by Ronnie Henares), Aliya has decided to go solo – with promising results.

She sings regularly at Hyatt’s Calesa Bar where she entertains habitues with a repertoire of R&B, classical, pop, jazz and hard rock music. Aliya’s favorite singers are Natalie Cole and Kuh Ledesma.

Like Nancy Castiglione, will Aliya eventually venture into television and movies?

"Maybe. But now, I want to establish myself first as a singer."

That’s why she has been avoiding getting seriously involved with anybody, unlike Nancy who’s going steady with Paolo Contis (who has taken over from Luis/Lucky Manzano).

"Guys seem to be intimidated by me," observed Aliya with amusement. "I don’t know why. When I go out, guys just look; they don’t come near me," adding that the rumor linking her to TJ Manotoc wasn’t true. "I was muse for Coca-Cola and I played at Rockstar which was co-owned by TJ and Hans (Montenegro). TJ and I were never an item."

There you are. A real Dutch treat for you. Serve yourself.

Starry notebooks

Stars sell anything – including notebooks.

Ask Connie Haw, the lady behind Advance Paper Corp. (and sister company Topline Paper) which have been putting out those starry, starry notebooks for more than two decades, featuring the bright and pretty faces of stars on the covers.

"We started with the batch of Vilma Santos and Christopher de Leon and then the Regal Babies (Maricel Soriano, Snooky Serna, etc.)," said Connie who inherited the business from her father-in-law. "At first, parang experiment lang. It clicked, so...."

It takes eight months to prepare the bunch, starting with the conceptualization to the pictorial to the layouting/printing (color separation is done abroad) to the distribution starting March and April in time for the school opening in June. From several thousands 22 years ago, Advance/Topline now prints more than one million notebooks annually, distributed nationwide.

Current best-sellers include Judy Ann Santos and Jolina Magdangal.

"Our notebooks feature not only stars," qualified Connie. "We also put on the cover colorful artworks, cartoon characters, animals (butterflies, etc.) and flowers."

But stars sell much more copies, no doubt about it.

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