GMA to attend Mandy Moore’s anti-AIDS concert

American pop sensation Mandy Moore’s concert tonight at the Fort Bonifacio Global City will have an unlikely fan in the audience in President Arroyo.

The President accepted Moore’s invitation to be at the concert and is scheduled to make brief remarks and have a photo session with Moore.

Moore will perform her hit songs "Cry," "It’s Gonna Be Love" and her remake of "Someday We’ll Know, "among other hits, for the MTV Music Summit for AIDS that aims to spread AIDS awareness and raise funds for those stricken with the deadly disease.

Moore arrived Monday night for a concert at the Araneta Coliseum in Cubao, Quezon City and the MTV Music Summit for AIDS.

The live performances for the AIDS music summit begin at 7 p.m. and the President is scheduled to arrive at the event at 9 p.m., in time for Moore’s segment.

At a press conference at Camp John Hay in Baguio City yesterday, the President refused to comment when asked about Moore’s courtesy call on her, vis-a-vis the fact that American pop diva Mariah Carey was given no such honor. Carey was in Manila last week for the Manila leg of her Charmbracelet world tour.

Carey’s bodyguards had a run-in with Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) officials led by general manager Edgar Manda. Carey’s bodyguards shooed Manda and the other NAIA officials out of the VIP lounge at the NAIA Centennial Terminal Saturday night while the pop star was retouching her makeup.

Manda gave the more amiable Moore VIP courtesies when the 19-year-old singer accepted Filipino hospitality and reciprocated with warmth and smiles.

The President dodged questions from the press on the matter by asking Tourism Secretary Richard Gordon to comment on the influx of foreign entertainers like Moore and Carey for performances in the Philippines.

Besides Moore and Carey, American crooner Stephen Bishop is also here for a concert with Filipina singer Lani Misalucha.

Mrs. Arroyo is a staunch activist for AIDS awareness benefit programs and has been drumming up support from world leaders for AIDS prevention and awareness programs. Despite this, the government has shifted funding from artificial programs that promote the use of condoms, among other contraceptives, to education programs for natural family planning.

Condom use and safe sex practices are considered among the best ways to prevent the transmission and spread of AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome).

AIDS is a viral infection that attacks the immune system and destroys the body’s ability to fight off disease.

It is spread by unprotected sexual contact with an infected person, from an infected mother to her unborn child, needle-sharing among drug addicts and contaminated blood transfusions.

AIDS is not transmissible by casual contact with an infected person, kissing or other non-sexual contact.

There is no cure yet for AIDS, though anti-retroviral therapy has been known to prolong the life and improve the quality of life for people infected with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) that causes AIDS.