MANILA, Philippines - The claim of the competition notwithstanding, Yes! magazine is really the leading glossy showbiz magazine, so it has more than just 10 reasons to mark its 10th anniversary with a big bang last Tuesday night at the NBC Tent, The Fort, Taguig City. Over a thousand guests comprised of celebrities, advertisers and the media were welcomed by the YES! team led by editor-in-chief Jo-Ann Maglipon.
The Gutierrezes, led by Eddie Gutierrez and wife Annabelle Rama, were all accounted for, including Ruffa and twin brothers Richard and Raymond. Their presence added a positive note to the glam-and-glitter event because only a few days ago, the Gutierrezes and the YES! guys, headed by Jo-Ann, smoked the peace pipe when Richard withdrew the libel case he had filed against the magazine after Jo-Ann apologized for a misleading story about Richard having poked a gun at an actor. As the cliche goes, all’s well that ends well.
According to Jo-Ann, YES! is welcoming the new decade with a bigger bang. Since its first issue in April 2000, YES! has grown to be the Filipino’s most trusted entertainment magazine, giving its readers in-depth exclusives and photos of local celebrities that allowed the fans to really get to know their favorite stars.
At the NBC Tent, Lisa Gokongwei, president of Summit Media which publishes YES! and other magazines, paid tribute to the late Douglas Quijano, followed by a celebratory toast led by Lance Gokongwei, president & COO of JG Summit Holdings, Co. Then, the party was in full swing.
Among those who performed were La Diva, Bituin Escalante, Jed Madela and Rhap Salazar. The guests stars themselves took the stage for a jamming session as they partied the night away. Those who gave impromptu numbers included Julia Clarete, Cookie Chua, Ciara Sotto and Pops Fernandez.
While the No. 1 entertainment magazine in the country has set many records in the past 10 years, there’s still so much more that the future holds.
According to Danio Caw, team publisher of YES!, “The magazine will continue to remain abreast with what’s happening in the local entertainment scene and strive to give our readers exclusive stories that they will see only in our pages. We are also coming out with two special bookazines this year — the YES! 100 Most Beautiful Celebrities Vol. 4 and the YES! House Special Vol. 4.”
By the way, for readers abroad, YES! is also fully online. Caw urges readers to tell their kababayan friends abroad that YES! is now available in an e-magazine format through PEP.ph where they can virtually flip through the pages of the latest issue and then gain access to its archives. — RICKY LO