Sunday, January 24, 2021
Gladys Reyes, Christopher Roxas celebrate 17 years of marriage
Celebrity couple Gladys Reyes and Christopher Roxas celebrated their 17th wedding anniversary on Saturday.
Reyes marked the occasion with a heartfelt message for her husband which she shared on Instagram. She likewise posted a number of their photos together through the years.
“17th wedding anniversary, 28 years of togetherness with four beautiful children. These photos pretty much sum up our journey together,” she wrote.
“You are my forever and you will always be my answered prayer. Happy Anniversary bebe!! We are forever grateful to you dear God,” she added.
Reyes and Roxas first met each other when they became co-stars in the classic ABS-CBN soap opera “Mara Clara.”
Reyes admitted in a past interview that she considers meeting her other half on the show an "answered prayer," and that she already knew then that he would be "the one" for her.
In 2018, the two renewed their wedding vows in front of family and friends, including their "Mara Clara" co-star Judy Ann Santos.
Reyes and Roxas got married in 2004. They have four kids.
North Cotabato guv, church leader favor extension of BARMM transition
Catholic Church leader Cardinal Orlando Quevedo and North Cotabato Gov. Nancy Catamco favor an extension of the transition from the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao to the Bangsamoro self-governing entity.
The more empowered Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao replaced the ARMM only in February 2019, about three weeks after voters in its proposed core territory voted in favor of BARMM’s charter, the Republic Act 11054, through a plebiscite administered by the Commission on Elections.
Catamco, who belongs to North Cotabato’s indigenous non-Moro Obo Manobo community, said Sunday she has willingly endorsed the bid of the BARMM leadership for an extension of the transition process until 2025.
An extension of the transition period shall mean deferment to 2025 of BARMM’s supposed first ever regional elections in 2022.
“I support the request of BARMM’s regional leaders and the members of its interim parliament for an extension of the transition process until 2025,” Catamco said.
Gov. Mamintal Adiong, Jr. of Lanao del Sur and members of the league of mayors in the province, covering 39 towns and more than 90 barangays in its capital, Marawi City, signed last week a manifesto stating their desire for a prolonged ARMM-to-BARMM transition process.
Adiong said the BARMM government needs three more years, from 2022 to 2025, to fully take off and become efficient in the delivery of services to its culturally-pluralistic constituents in the provinces of Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur, Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi, in the cities of Lamitan, Marawi and Cotabato and in 63 barangays in North Cotabato province.
Catamco told reporters Sunday the 2019 to 2022 transition period is too short for the BARMM to put forward its infant ministries essential to public works, health, social welfare and education services.
“We have 63 barangays in different towns in our province whose residents opted to become under the Bangsamoro region through a plebiscite in 2019. The BARMM government cannot deliver to them sustained quality public service within a short transition stage. A lot of legwork need to be done first,” Catamco said.
Catamco said there is also a need for enough time to decommission combatants of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, a major stakeholder in the peace process for which the BARMM was created for.
Rep. Esmael Mangudadatu (Maguindanao) filed last year a bill seeking the deferment of next year’s BARMM regional elections for the ARMM-to-BARMM transition to proceed until 2025 unhampered.
“The COVID-19 pandemic also stymied badly the 2019-2021 transition process. We are praying that the legislature will give its nod to our desire for its three-year extension,” Catamco said.
In a statement last week, Quevedo, a retired bishop of the Cotabato Archdiocese that has parishes in Cotabato City and in Moro-dominated towns in central Mindanao, said holding elections for BARMM elective posts in 2022 can ruin the gains of Malacañang’s peace process with southern Moro communities.
Quevedo is a member of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate congregation, whose pontifical base is in Rome and has been involved in humanitarian missions in central Mindanao and in the BARMM provinces of Sulu and Tawi-Tawi since the 1930s.
“The constraints of time are simply insurmountable. The BTA (Bangsamoro Transition Authority) will surely not be able to complete its mandate within the period of transition,” Quevedo said, referring to the three-year transition process that started in 2019.
The BTA is comprised of 80 members appointed by President Rodrigo Duterte, comprising BARMM’s interim regional parliament.
Quevedo overtly supported the peace talks between the government and the MILF, whose revolutionary figurehead, Ahod Balawag Ebrahim, also known as Kagui Murad, is now appointed chief minister of BARMM.
The creation of BARMM was premised on two compacts reached by the MILF and Malacañang during 22 years of negotiations — the 2012 Framework Agreement on Bangsamoro and, subsequently, the 2014 Comprehensive Agreement on Bangsamoro.
'Parang panaginip talaga': Janine Gutierrez makes 'ASAP' debut
“Surreal, parang panaginip talaga.”
These were the words of Janine Gutierrez as she received a warm Kapamilya welcome on Sunday as she appeared on “ASAP Natin To” for the first time.
On her debut in the variety show, Gutierrez sang “Panaginip” along with Martin Nievera, Gary Valenciano and Ogie Alcasid.
“I am so happy to be here with all of you. Thank you so much for the warm Kapamilya welcome. I am so grateful and honored na kayo pa ang kasama ko dito sa first time ko sa ASAP stage. Thank you so much,” she said after her number.
“This is the first time I’ve been inside a studio here. Surreal, parang panaginip talaga. I am just so happy that everything has fallen into place. It’s a new year, new opportunities,” she added.
Prior to her song number, “ASAP Natin To” surprised Gutierrez with pre-recorded messages from her family.
“Congratulations Janine. I know that you will be very happy in your new home and I hope all the projects that you will do, you will do just as well as when you won best actress for a movie. I am so proud of you,” said her grandmother Pilita Corrales.
“Hi, Ate. Congratulations on your new journey bilang isang Kapamilya. Excited ako, I’m sure excited ka rin sa mga proyektong gagawin mo sa kanila. I just want you to know that we are all very proud of you. We are all very happy for you. Keep up the good work. I love you,” said Gutierrez’s father, Monching.
Meanwhile, her mom Lotlot de Leon had this message for her: “Hi anak. Congratulations! Kapamilya na siya. Alam ko anak, nararamdaman ko na sobrang happy ka. I know also na aalagaan ka nila diyan at talagang mamahalin. I am really super proud of you sa lahat ng mga accomplishments mo. Huwag kang makakalimot sa Panginoon sa lahat ng oras. Ngayong Kapamilya ka na, alam ko lahat ng mga pangarap mo matutupad sa tulong nila.”
Gutierrez’s grandfather Christopher de Leon also has a special message for her.
“Just remember to thank God for the talent He has given you. Work hard with humility. Basta enjoy, have fun but take care always. We love you,” the award-winning actor said.
Gutierrez will be a co-host of “ASAP Natin ‘To.” She is joining her younger brother Diego on the musical variety show after she signed a deal with ABS-CBN on January 15.
Her entry to “ASAP Natin ‘To” comes during a milestone for the 25-year-old program, which added TV5 as one of its airing venues through a landmark partnership between the network and ABS-CBN.
An ABS-CBN series and a Star Cinema film are also lined up for Gutierrez, who reaped several best-actress trophies last year for “Babae at Baril.”
Aside from its free-TV channel, TV5 is seen nationwide through Cignal, Sky Cable, and other cable providers.
TV5 will simulcast “ASAP Natin ‘To” alongside the program’s current airing platforms: Kapamilya Channel (cable), A2Z Channel 11 (free TV), Kapamilya Online Live (free live streaming), iWant TFC (on-demand streaming), and TFC (overseas subscription).
#ASAPasONE trends as ABS-CBN variety show airs on TV5 for the first time
ABS-CBN’s “ASAP Natin To” is now able to reach more Filipinos nationwide as it joined the Sunday programming of TV5 following a landmark partnership between the two networks.
The simulcast of the long-running concert variety show on TV5 began on Sunday, much to the delight of avid Kapamilya and Kapatid viewers.
Several netizens were overjoyed by this development that the hashtag #ASAPasONE became the top trending topic on Twitter Philippines even before the show aired.
The first episode of “ASAP Natin To” that was simulcast on TV5 opened with a song number from some of ABS-CBN and the industry's best singers, namely Regine Velasquez, Ogie Alcasid, Martin Nievera, Gary Valenciano and Zsa Zsa Padilla, who sang “Sama-Sama” by Alamid.
It was followed by performances from the Gold Squad, Jason Dy, Jed Madela, Nyoy Volante, Joshua Garcia, Janine Berdin, Elha Nympha, Jona, Angeline Quinto, KZ, Enchong Dee, Loisa Andalio and Kim Chiu, among others.