Did you know that PLDT-Smart big boss Manny V. Pangilinan (MVP as in Most Valuable Philanthropist) taught catechism at the then National Mental Hospital when he was in college?
No wonder he has a soft spot for teachers.
An advocate of the Project 2G: Gabay Guro project of PLDT-Smart (in partnership with Department of Education), MVP has declared today as Teachers Day which is marked by several activities, including the distribution of 10,000 2G cards to member-teachers from four partner-schools. The card entitled holders to discounts and freebies from several companies, including Air Philippines, Complink, Flawless, GigaHertZ, Julie’s Bakeshop, Med Express, Microsoft, National Bookstore, Netopia Internet Café, PC Express, Sun Cruises, VillMan and Ystilo.
I share with MVP’s thoughts and feelings in his letter to teachers, just as I wish all my teachers from grade school (in Las Navas, Northern Samar), high school (Tabaco Pei Ching in Tabaco City, Albay) and college (University of the East) “more power!”
Here’s MVP’s letter:
Dear Teacher,
Whoever you are. Thank you. For I know that you have played a great deal in shaping the minds of the future. Though the memories may be lost and forgotten through the years, the aim of the lessons will live on in each and everyone who has been in your classroom.
Someone once said: “In teaching, you cannot see the fruits of a day’s work. It is invisible and remains so, maybe for twenty years.”
These words show what it takes to be a teacher. Amazing patience. Dedication. Selflessness. Sacrifice.
I cannot find the right words of praise when I think of a teacher I once had. One who enriched my mind and helped guide me where I am now.
And so, as a token of gratitude PLDT-Smart Foundation and the PLDT Managers Club have banded together to honor and salute teachers like you with Project 2G: Gabay Guro.
This is a landmark program that aims to foster the professional development of teachers through scholarship grants, English proficiency and computer literacy trainings and at the same time, pay tribute to the unsung heroes who have played a pivotal role in our country’s development — You.
All you have to do is sign up now for the program so you may continue to do what you do best — cultivate minds for the growth of the nation.
Respectfully yours,
MANUEL V. PANGILINAN
Gabay Guro Advocate
* * *
When Sam Milby holds his I Am Sam: Rockoustic Heartthrob concert at the Aliw Theater on Oct. 25, somebody who was once closest to his heart might be sorely missed. She’s none other than Anne Curtis, Sam’s girlfriend of more than a year, with whom Sam recently broke up. Anne is listed among Sam’s special guests (also including Pokwang, Yeng Constantino, Arnel Pineda, with G Force choreographed by Georcelle Dapat as back-up dancers and “surprise” ones) but unless Sam soothes her broken heart, Anne might, according to the Funfare DPA, “beg off.”
Did I say “Sam broke Anne’s heart?” Well, that’s what the Funfare DPA said.
“It was Sam who called it quits,” insisted the DPA on whose shoulder Anne poured her heart out. “It was painful to Anne.”
Suspected to be the “third party” is Michaela Milenia, a Filipino-German beauty who was a member of Star Circle Batch 16. She grew up in Germany and arrived in the Philippines only last year. “Sam is popular in his own right, but let’s face it, Anne has become even more popular than he is. Has the green-eyed monster called professional jealousy reared its ugly head between them?”
Incidentally, Sam was recently named spokesperson for the youth by the Department of Education Center for Students and Co-Curricular Affairs (DepEd CSCA), an appointment met with protests from some sector who claimed that Sam doesn’t deserve the “honor” because he doesn’t even speak straight Filipino (Sam having grown up in the States).
(Note: Sponsored by Bench and The Belo Medical Group, I Am Sam: Rockoustic Heartthrob is produced by ASAP Live, with Johnny Manahan as director and Marvin Querido as musical director. For tickets, call Ticketnet at 911-5555. Prices are P1,995; P1,575; P1,260; and P630.)
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Like Jet Li in the San Miguel Beer commercial, Richard Gutierrez goes “action” in his own new commercial for Unique toothpaste (with Tintin Bersola as endorser a few years ago).
“I did my own stunts,” said Richard. “I choreographed the martial-arts sequence of the commercial. It wasn’t hard for me because I trained in martial arts for my GMA shows (Mulawin, Kamandag, Lupin, Sugo and Captain Barbell).”
Richard just came back from an extended trip to Europe (that’s why the Unique press launch was moved from Friday last week to last Tuesday) with KC Concepcion for the screening of their Star Cinema movie For the First Time. The “special friends” spent a few days in Paris which KC knows like the lines on her hands because she studied there.
“She acted as my guide,” said Richard. “We spent time in Greece for the shoot of For the First Time but that was work. During this trip, KC and I were able to really bond; we became much closer.”
Before the end of the year, Richard and KC might go abroad again to shoot some scenes for their second team-up (untitled just yet), this time for GMA Films.
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Not everybody perhaps knows that it was Tintin Escudero’s enchanting singing voice that initially won the heart of her husband, Sen. Chiz Escudero. Tintin was then singing at Sulo Hotel where Chiz used to hang out with his friends.
Friday last week, our group watched Tintin as special guest of Bo (formerly Bimbo) Cerrudo at the Captain’s Bar of Mandarin Oriental. What a great “dessert” Tintin was after a hearty meal at the nearby Tin Hau Restaurant!
Trained in classical music (she owns and manages her own voice school on West Ave., Quezon City) and also a theater performer, Tintin regaled the audience by singing a few songs with so much feeling that she left us with mouths agape. No wonder Chiz fell in love with her voice — among other beautiful qualities, of course, not to say her good looks that reminds people of Katie Holmes. Tintin’s version of Historia de un Amor was a winner and so was All I Ask of You (from Phantom of the Opera) which she did with Bo.
I’m sure that if Chiz was at Captain’s Bar that night, he would have fallen all the more in love with Tintin (now mother of their twins).
Come to think of it, if ever Chiz decides to run for...vice president?...in 2010, he should ask Tintin to sing and win even more votes for him. (During the 2006 elections, Tintin wasn’t able to campaign for Chiz because she was pregnant.)
Briefly noted
??It will be a brother-sister act when Cocoy Laurel and Marissa Laurel team up in a concert tonight (starting at 8 o’clock) at the Teatrino Promenade in Greenhills (outside Music Museum), San Juan City. A repeat is scheduled on Oct. 17.
(E-mail reactions at rickylo@philstar.net.ph or at entphilstar@yahoo.com)