The loudest whisper in town
is that, finally, John Lloyd Cruz
and Bea Alonzo have made their
partnership not only for reel but
also even off screen. Yes, if we’d
believe the rumor, then that
means he has broken up with
Angelica Panganiban, while Bea has
called it quits with Zanjoe Marudo.
The last time we saw JLC withAngelica
was at the press preview
of “Honor Thy Father” at Dolphy
Theater just before Christmas andt
hey were still so sweet to each other.
We also saw Zanjoe in a bar
after the New Year and he denied that
he and Bea have split. When asked about this at
the congressional investigation on the anomalies at
the MMFF, he was evasive.
This made folks conclude
that the rumor must be true
because, if it were not, it’s so
easy for him to deny that he
and Bea are now the ones playing
beautiful music together.
But we agree with JLC’s declarations
at the hearing that theremust be positive changes on
how the annual filmfest is con
ducted to make it a true festival
of quality movies and not just a
flagrant money-making affair for
producers who come up with
nothing but commercial flicks.
As JLC said: “It’s about time na
gawin nating totoong festival
ang Metro Manila Film Festival.
Hindi ito parang venue lang para
pagkakitaan. Ibalik natin ‘yung
panahon noon na ipalabas natin
‘yung mga importanteng pelikula.”
He adds that he’s doing this
not just for their entry, “Honor Thy
Father,” which was disqualified
for the best picture award. “I’m
not saying na kung hindi kami
na-disqualify, mananalo kami.
We don’t know that. Wala
namang nakakaalam nun.
Pero ang alam ko lang, dahil sa
disqualification, natanggalan
kami ng opportunity, ng pagkakataon
para malaman kung paano mag-perform
‘yung aming pelikula sa panlasa ng mga hurado.”
Well, we just hope the hearing
will eventually lead to a revamp in
the way that the annual filmfest is
now being conducted.•
– M Bautista, Malaya
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