‘Meteor Garden’ star returns

Taiwanese actress Barbie Xu, one of the stars of the hit television series "Meteor Garden," arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) in Parañaque City yesterday .

Fans saw Xu for about 40 seconds before she was whisked away by her security detail. She was wearing a pink printed blouse, blue denim pants, white rubber shoes, an apple green scarf, a black sweater and a matching black cap.

Xu and her entourage flew into the country on board an EVA Air flight at around 11:30 a.m.

Two other actors in the television series, Jerry Yan and Vic Zhou, are expected to arrive this morning. Yan and Zhou are members of the Taiwanese boy band F4.

Xu, Yan and Zhou are special guests for a concert of ABS-CBN, the network airing the show, dubbed "Happy 50 TV, The Concert" which will be held at The Fort in Makati City tomorrow night.

Gen. Angel Atutubo, NAIA’s assistant general manager for security and emergency services, said there was better coordination and security for Xu’s second visit to the Philippines, compared to her arrival last Sept. 12.

"We talked and reasoned out with the organizers that they should let the public see Barbie Xu kaysa parang tinatago nila. Otherwise they will only be criticized because she is popular. We told them we were able to secure the arrival of United States President George W. Bush last month, si Barbie Xu pa," he said.

Pandemonium erupted when Xu and two other members of F4 — Ken Zhu and Vanness Wu — arrived at the airport for a concert over two months ago. Concert organizers used decoys to mislead fans and media.

Atutubo said that they are now better prepared, with 60 security men from the airport police, the Philippine National Police-Aviation Security Group, and security guards assigned to protect Xu and her entourage.

ABS-CBN also deployed its close-in security group, clad in barong tagalog.

Three vehicles provided by the network were waiting at the tarmac for Xu and her entourage. The actress boarded a white Ford F150 pickup truck.

Airport officials said Xu went through the routine inspection for Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). Dr. Eileen Pilenia and her assistant, Michelle So, took her temperature before they allowed her to disembark from the plane.

Taiwan was one of the countries hit hard by the SARS epidemic earlier this year.