Vilma, Angel film starrer to begin shooting January

Regal Entertainment matriarch Mother Lily Monteverde is very vocal in her admiration of Governor Vilma Santos. She has always considered Gov. Vi as her daughter, as a precious Regal Baby.

The actress-politico won her first grand slam for best actress for the movie “Relasyon,” and garnered more acting plaudits for her work in “Broken Marriage” and “Sister Stella L” where she won Urian best actress awards.

After making her mark as an actress, Gov. Vi entered politics. She served for nine years as Mayor of Lipa City, and is about to finish her term as Batangas governor come 2016. She has kept her unblemished record as a public servant and her term has not been tainted with any ugly controversy.

With Gov. Vi’s good track record, many people, Mother Lily included, is wishing that she’d run for national office come 2016. They believe she’d surely win because of her sincere commitment and dedication to her job.

But at the surprise party cum presscon for Gov. Vi that Mother Lily arranged on Monday, the Golden Screen Awards best actress winner for “Ekstra” said she’s not even entertaining thoughts of running for higher office after her term as governor ends on 2016.

“I haven’t decided on running again. But I do miss showbiz and I am looking forward to being active in the industry. I might do a movie or probably go into film production again,” she said. She was offered by the people of Lipa to run for mayor anew but she wants to rest after her term as governor and would like to actively pursue her acting career.

Aside from belatedly celebrating her birthday (she turned 61 last November 3), the event on Monday was also the launching of “Ala-Eh Festival to celebrate the 433rdanniversary of the founding of Batangas as a province, to be held from December 1-8. She started the Ala-Eh Festival eight years ago when she learned that all towns in Batangas have their foundation day festival but the province had none. It was Gov. Vi who led an inquiry into the province’s founding date, which was finally established on December 8, with this year marking its 433rd year.

“This year, the Mother of all Festivals in Batangas will be held at the Heritage Town of Taal, right in front of its historic church, with Michael Montenegro as Mayor and Pong Mercado as Vice Mayor. It starts with a Fun Run at 5 a.m. on December 1. Kasali si Mother Lily roon. Then we have a Trade Fair and Agri Fair where all our products from food to barong Tagalog will be sold,” shared Gov. Vi.

She continued, “Meron din Street Party sa gabi. May Mutya ng Taal beauty contest on December 2 and talent contest on December 3. Coronation night naman ng Mutya ng Batangas on December 5, with the swimsuit competition to be held at Mother Lily’s Taal Imperial Resort Hotel. The grand finals of the singing contest called Voices Songs and Rhythms will be on December 7. The week-long festival will end on December 8, birthday of Mama Mary, with a mass at the Basilica of St. Martin, followed by a parade with street dancing and colorful floats. We’re doing this to attract more tourists to Batangas, so come and visit us during the festival and surely, you’ll enjoy it.”

She was offered by Star Cinema to do a movie with Angel Locsin. They were supposed to start shooting a few months back, but Gov. Vi got sick so they might begin shooting by January. It will be directed by Olive Lamasan. “It has a different kind of story and they will even change the way I look,” she said.

There were reports that her son Luis Manzano is running in the next elections as mayor of Lipa but she is neither encouraging nor discouraging him since she knows that politics is not easy. “His career is doing good and same with his business. I told him that if he will just force himself but it is not in his heart to enter politics then he should not do it. In the end, it will be his decision. But if ever he’d run, I will tell him to study about local government before plunging into action. That was what I did before I ran for mayor in Lipa,” said Gov. Vi.

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After a two-year absence from the recording scene, Christian Bautista is back with a brand new album titled “Soundtrack” under Universal Records, which was launched last Thursday.

The album is made up of movie theme songs including “Up Where We Belong,” “A Thousand Years,” “Kiss From a Rose,” “Cruisin,” and “Way Back Into Love.” His last album was mostly made of original songs. For this latest effort, Christian said they are tapping into the romantic wave.

After ten years in the business, the singer-actor believes he needs to reinvent himself for people to continue to take notice. Sometimes, his kind of music clicks; sometimes, it doesn’t, so he has to find the right mix to make an album or concert work. He also recognizes the competition posed by new singers so Christian believes he really has to be on his toes and not be content with previous successes.

Christian transferred to GMA-7 last year and it has been a rewarding experience. He is now doing three shows at the moment – “Marian,” “Strawberry Lane” and “Sunday All Stars.” It is tiring, he says, to do three shows in a week but he is not complaining. In fact, he is very thankful for the opportunity to be able to share his talents.