Donna Cruz preparing hard for US marathon

We recently received an email from our former alaga Donna Cruz-Larrazabal (we used to be her publicist when she was still in showbiz) wherein she wrote that she has taken an interest in running and is hoping to really make good at it. In fact, she told us that she is joining the Big Sur Marathon in Monterey, California this April 26 and is earnestly preparing herself for it.

After joining the Pink October Run last year, where she clocked 43 minutes and was among the tail-enders (she wasn’t ashamed to admit it as it was her first time to join a marathon), Donna joined the recent Sinulog Run where she clocked a respectable time of 30 minutes and finished in the 12th place in the women’s division. Her husband, Dr. Yong Larrazabal, joined the 10K run in the men’s division.

It was in November last year when Donna felt the urge to give running as a sport a shot, taking after her husband who was earlier bitten by the running bug. Even if the Sinulog Run was only her second race, her 12th place finish was considered respectable enough.  

“My goal is to reach a time of 27 to 28 minutes for a 5K distance,” said Donna in her email. She also sent us a photo of herself in full running gear. She also happily noted that she has bigger and firmer legs now because of constant exercise and regular running.

She and her husband are looking forward to joining the San Francisco Sur Marathon to be held at Monterey, California on April 26. She’s very much excited to join the event since she’s running a longer distance. Good luck, Doings!

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Senator Bong Revilla joined the millions of Cebuano devotees as well as local and foreign tourists who celebrated the prestigious and annual Sinulog Festival last January 18. The good senator also took the occasion to give a P1 million medical assistance fund and P10 million infrastructure fund for the province of Cebu as part of his pledge to help in the health programs and infrastructure projects throughout the country.

From his Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF), Sen. Bong’s granting of P1 million assistance fund was certified through a Memorandum of Agreement signed by the Senator himself, Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia and Dr. Gerardo Aquino, Jr. of the Vicente Sotto Sr. Memorial Medical Center through a program held at the hospital premises last Jan. 17.

According to Sen. Revilla, because of abject poverty, majority of Filipino families often take for granted the monitoring of their physical health condition and this often leads to more serious complications as they fail to seek medical treatment.

“This is the reason why I see to it that a significant portion of my Priority Development Assistance Fund or PDAF will go to medical assistance. This is one of my ways to fulfill my self-directed task of alleviating our underprivileged countrymen,” said Sen. Revilla in his message before the signing of the MOA.

According to him, any needy patient or his representative can go to the Provincial Capitol and apply for medical assistance. This will be given to him in the form of a guarantee letter which states the amount that the patient could use under the program.

Aside from the medical assistance fund, Sen. Revilla said he will conduct dental mission, blood-letting and relief operations regularly under his “Kalusugan Ating Pangalagaan” or KAP Program.

Incidentally, Sen. Bong, together with his lovely wife Lani Mercado and his sister, Andeng Ynares, held a thanksgiving party cum belated Christmas treat for the members of the movie press held Tuesday night at Annabel’s Restaurant in Tomas Morato. Sen. Bong raffled off cash prizes, as he thanked the movie press for the support that they have been giving the Revillas all these years.

In the said occasion, a teaser video of “Panday,” the Carlo J. Caparas creation, was also shown. This is the entry of Bong to the Metro Manila Film Festival in December. It will be directed by Mac Alejandre and Rico Gutierrez. This early, Bong is seeking the support of the movie press for his filmfest entry.

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Acclaimed writer Ricardo Lee will be reprinting his classic anthology, “Si Tatang at Ang Mga Himala ng Ating Panahon,” 20 years after it first saw publication. It is a collection of fiction and non-fiction and also includes the script of multi-awarded film Himala.

Ricky Lee is the author of the bestselling novel “Para Kay B (o kung paano dinevastate ng pag-ibig ang 4 out of 5 sa atin)” and the scriptwriting manual, “Trip to Quiapo.”