Page 21 - LM Confidential Issue September 2014

fad (is it?) of making proposals to their girlfriends when he proposed to Kim Chiu, not to marry him, but to be his date in the Star Magic Ball.
The trouble is, neither one of them is admitting to the public that there is something
between them
which is more
than being friends
or love team
mates.
May nagsasabi
tuloy na mahilig lang gumimik si Xian. O baka naman pakana lang ito ng mga handlers nila?
Hmmm.
Rocco Nacino’s Hard Work Pays Off
Just ask Rocco Nacino who has gone from being an artista hopeful to one of the top leading men of the Kapuso Network—in just a span of almost five
years.
Rocco made his mark
as a serious drama actor
in the afternoon soap, Gumapang Ka Sa Lusak. He also took part in GMA News TV’s Pluma: Rizal, Ang Dakilang Manunulat, a multi- awarded docu-drama produced to commemorate Jose Rizal’s 150th birth anniversary where he portrayed the character of Jose Rizal, depicting scenes from historical events in our national hero’s life. It wasn’t long before Rocco’s acting performance was noticed. His stint in the drama series Koreana earned him his first acting nomination from the Golden TV Awards for his outstanding
portrayal in the said teleserye.
Rocco also captured the hearts of TV
audience as he portrayed leading man characters in GMA’s drama programs.
His acting prowess excelled role after role. In GMA’s new primetime drama this September, Hiram na Alaala, Rocco will breathe life into the character of Joseph Corpuz, an ideal soldier and a dedicated boyfriend, whose life is forever altered upon his captivity.
There is no doubt that the GMA Artist Center star’s career took flight after joining Starstruck V with his string of teleseryes, films, and endorsements as major testaments to this.
Ruffa Gutierrez, Shaina Magdayao reconcile
Three years after their reported rift, Shaina Magdayao and Ruffa Gutierrez have settled their differences.
John Lloyd Cruz’s ex-girlfriends bumped into each other at the gym after not seeing each other for
many years.
#happyday at House of Pain
“Back at the #HouseOfPain with @
cjaplyo2 & guess who I
bump into? After all these years dito pa kami nagkita. and just like that, all’s well that ends well. Peace, Shaina! #happyday at House Of Pain,” Ruffa said in her Instagram post, which showed her and Shaina together with other friends in the gym.
Shaina and Ruffa’s rift started in 2011, when they accused each other of sending hurtful messages in relation to John Lloyd. Ruffa and John Lloyd had a relationship in 2009, while Shaina became the actor’s girlfriend a year after.
Shaina reposted Ruffa’s photo and said, “Talk about starting this BER season right.”
TASTE OF MANILA continued from page 16
go to a washroom but got trapped in her booth by the deluge of people watching Kapamilya star Gerald Anderson on the second day. On a happy note, this is the first festival I’ve seen where the people stayed even after the star left at 4:30. They stayed until closing time at 6 pm on Sunday, the last day.
Visitors also soaked up the saucy and greasy goodness with garlic fried rice or pansit - and washed it down with traditional beverages like sago at gulaman (made of brown sugar, water, gelatin and tapioca pearls) or buko pandan (refreshing coconut and gelatin beverage known for its distinct green colour).
There were also desserts like Halo Halo (“mix mix” of shaved ice, evaporated milk and ingredients like red bean and purple yam ice cream).
Ironically, I heard that Cusina Restaurant, one of the organizers, run out of Halo-Halo on Sunday, a hot day too.
The organizers estimated a crowd of 2000- 5000 people coming. In fact, the City of Toronto was only estimating a low of 2000. They probably based it on Filipino festivals that happen downtown.
Philip Beloso, a board member of the Philippine Cultural Community Centre, who organized the fest said that 20,000 came, based on estimates of the city. “What do you want us to do” was PCCC’s CEO Rolly Mangante’s response when the city asked him about his estimate that only 5000 people were expected.
”The turnout has been incredible,”said Pepito Torramba, Vice Chairman of the PCCC, which was expected to attract over 10,000 people. Torramba said the neighbourhood is the ideal festival location, because of its vibrant Filipino population.
Mark Adler, MP for York Centre christened the area Little Manila. Afterwards, the Philippine Ambassador did their own photo- op to christen it also but got confused whether to call it Little Manila or Little Philippines.
I think all this christening is just ceremonial anyway. Until Toronto council designate it,
Filipinos will know it unofficially as Little Manila.
The crowd was predominantly Filipino indeed. Visitors packed the streets - many sitting on the edge of the sidewalk with overflowing styrofoam containers in hand. Chatter and laughter was muffled by the loud live music and performances.
”It’s like being back home,” said Bolivar Bao, Vice Consul, Philippine Consulate General of Toronto. “The support that the City has given to the street festival has simply been great and shows the strength in (Toronto’s) diversity.”
However, not all reviews were glowing. The blog ‘Foodie, EH?’ has this to say.
As much as we like Filipino food, this event was an epic fail as a food event. It failed in that it didn’t showcase savoury, and often considered delicacy, that is Filipino streetfood. Instead it was a collection of existing local Filipino restaurants in the area bringing their menu to a tent. We felt it was a missed opportunity here to highlight what Philippine street food is all about. The food vendors offered combos (often rice with 1 or 2 side dishes) like the ones they offer in their restaurants instead of a sampling of authentic dishes that is more conducive to these types of events. There was no opportunity for legit food event goer to get a sampling of dishes. Instead, the food vendors banked on monopolizing the business by offering a slew of dishes in a combo. One to note is the Kabalen Restaurant’s food tent, which offered a buffet table style service. You get a serving of rice and 2 sides of your choice for $9. In fact, Kabalen was such a turn off for us with just overall bad servers (one decided to be mute to patrons but not to fellow staff ) and food running out, that we left the queue. Another one to note was Bella’s Lechon, who wasted an opportunity to advertise their lechon (roast pork) by not serving any at all. Just as bad was Grill Heaven, which has ran out of their own specialty (Filipino style skewered pork and chicken) just as the crowd was gathering. We just don’t think the food vendors and organizers get what a “taste” festival means. If this is the Filipino community’s translation of the word, it is an epic fail.
The majority of attendees may not have noticed it but thge above points merit some attention.
All in all, it was a fantastic event as a result of the hard work of all the people involved.
This is a great festival that needs to grow and be supported by the community.
BALIKBAYAN continued from page 1
anchorage and berthing,” Zapata said. Starting this September, importers intend to get hold of their cargoes ahead
of the Christmas holidays.
From an average of 1,000 and 2,000
container vans per day, POM and MICP should be releasing 1,500 and 3,000 containers daily, respectively, during the “ber” months.
But Zapata said the Manila ports remain congested and that these ports can’t accommodate more shipments in time for the expected spike in cargo volume.
POLITICAL THREAT, TOO
Meanwhile, the daytime truck ban imposed by the Manila city government is not only an economic scourge but also a political threat to the Aquino administration, according to the influential Japan-based Nikkei Asian Review.
The report asked “Who has power?” amid the stubborn refusal of the Manila city government to lift or even suspend the ban despite its negative effect on the economy.
“The Philippines is Southeast Asia’s fastest growing economy, but there are concerns that this growth could slow in the face of looming political risks,” the report said.
OVERSTAYING CARGOES
The government has given importers and brokers a week to claim their overstaying customs-cleared cargoes inside the ports of Manila before finally relocating them off to Subic and Batangas to reduce port congestion in the capital.
Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) General Manager Juan C. Sta. Ana said containers that will be left unclaimed by Sept. 8 will taken out and hauled off to locations identified by government as temporary warehousing facility.
‘LAST MILE’
In a latest bid to help decongest the port of Manila, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) is considering the implementation of what it called “the last mile” wherein delivery trucks would be allowed to ply beyond designated truck lanes in the metropolis.
BALIKBAYAN BOXES
UMAC and Forex Cargo were affected by this. Some customers were wondering why the Estimated Time of Arrival (ETA) kept getting pushed back.
“It’s the truck ban in Manila. Our containers are actually parked in Taiwan right now, waiting for a call when they can sail for the Philippines,” said Anna when asked about this. “There is no space at the Manila port.”
And that ETA is just the time the cargo vessel will arrive in Manila, not the delivery of your box to the final destination yet. So, add a couple or more days until it is delivered.
CANADIAN EXPERIENCE
When Vancouver truckers went on strike, Prime Minister Stephen Harper called unaccpetable. Besides calling the strike unacceptable, Harper said he cannot get involved because the labor dispute falls under provincial jurisdiction even if the port is under Federal authority.
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SEPTEMBER 2014 L. M. Confidential