Drew Arellano visits Mangyan tribe in 300 Kilometro

Plus: Karylle is the new face of Philips

Drew Arellano is one reliable travel companion in various places in the Philippines. He once again embarks on a different adventure via the Summer Special of GMA titled "300 Kilometro: Isang Paglalakbay" to air on May 29, Sunday at 10:15 p.m.

This News & Public Affairs Sunday Night Box Office Special will feature Drew in a one-of-kind and unforgettable immersion in Sitio Latag, in the town of Abra de Ilog in the mountains of Mindoro Occidental.

The trip took 13 hours of travel. He walked four hours that’s why he developed blisters on his feet because of the constant contact of his rubber slippers on his sole. But when he reached Sitio Latag, Drew felt it was worth the long walk because of the beauty of the place that greeted his sights.

At first, Drew was kind of worried that the townfolk (katutubo) of Sitio Latag might not welcome him but he immediately warmed up to the people. In the place, he got to know Gabin, Roman and Bidoy who dared to go down the mountain and discover the kind of life in the city and to be somehow inspired by what they see and bring change to their community. Serving as their friendly tour guide is Isabelle Daza.

Drew, on the other hand, stayed in the mountain to try the kind of life that the people lead. The living condition in the mountain is far from the kind of life that Drew knew in the city. There are no toilets and one gets food (like catching fish) by hand.

Says Drew, "It’s called 300 Kilometro because that’s the total distance we traveled. I had an unforgettable experience doing the special. We took a van from Manila to Batangas port and then we rode a RoRo going to Mindoro. Nagbangka kami papunta sa kabilang panig ng Mindoro. It was roughly a 4 to 5 hours hike. We walked through rice fields, under the coconut trees, crossed rivers, and climbed mountains until we reached the valley where an isolated Mangyan tribe lives. Walang electricity at cellphone signals. My initial concern was how the natives will welcome us. Buti na lang sinabi ng tribal leader na okay lang manirahan kasama nila. I had a taste of what life is in the mountains together with the natives. I had fun playing basketball, fishing, and eating with them."

Drew says he learned a lot while doing the special. "You’ll realize that there’s an isolated tribe 300 kilometers from Manila. I could describe it as simplicity at its finest. Walang electricity at masaya ang mga tao na matutunan kung paano humihip ng mga balloons na dala ko. For us, it’s simple but for the natives I met during my stay there, those things mean a lot to them. They do specific things and they do it good. While we do so many things, they focus and devote their time in a particular thing in a day."

The two days that Drew spent up the mountain was full of action and challenges. It was also an emotional moment when Drew bade the people goodbye.

The GMA News and Public Affairs, in setting in this kind of journey, aims to inspire and draw lessons from everyone that we encounter even if we may be separated by 300 or more kilometers. No Filipino should be a stranger in his own land.

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Karylle has established herself as one of the most talented showbiz personalities in the country. She is a respected singer, actress, TV host, athlete, and a writer cum blogger. This multi-faceted persona made her the perfect choice to star in the second installment of the international hit viral campaign Nigel and Victoria, which premieres this June. Already a runaway success in Europe, UK and Russia where it premiered in 2010, the comedy series features the fictional off-screen romance between the sexy, gadget-crazy Victoria, who reviews Philips products in a very personal and honest way; and Nigel, who just can’t stop interfering. It achieved 850,000+ views on Facebook and more than a million on other platforms, like media platforms and blogs.

The first series ended with a cliffhanger, and as the second set of episodes gets underway, Nigel is searching the world for the perfect product reviewer as a replacement for Victoria. The second series will be actively launched in 10 countries of which, the Philippines will have its own presence and own star in Karylle.

As part of her involvement in the series, Karylle flew to London and Amsterdam last week to shoot the episodes where she was professionally reviewing Philips’ new range of headphones and notebook accessories. These will appear at Philips.com and across the internet.

More information on headphones and notebook accessories from the Philips ‘On the Go’ range is available at www.onthego.philips.com.

To see the first series and find out more about Nigel & Victoria, visit: http://www.facebook.com/NigelandVictoria.

Karylle’s involvement in this campaign is one of two big international projects that she is starring in. The other one is The Kitchen Musical, the first Pan-Asian television musical set in a restaurant. In the said project, Karylle is the lead actress. It will be aired in the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia and across 17 other countries.

The said project, to be shot in Singapore, requires the singer-actress-TV host to leave all her commitments in the country for four months.

She’s bidding Showtime goodbye, same with ASAP XV so she could concentrate on these projects. This is also the reason why she turned down the offer to be part of the series 100 Days to Heaven since she won’t be able to put enough time to it.

"Nakakahiya naman kung tanggapin ko ang offer to do 100 Days to Heaven tapos bigla akong aalis while the show is airing so I could attend to my commitments to Philips. So I opted to pass on the project rather than be the cause of delay," explained Karylle.