Isabel Oli mourns death of her dad + Marc Abaya falls in love with 2 women in 'Faithfully'

Tony Espejo, Artistic Director of Gantimpala Theater is dead. According to Alwyn Ignacio, publicist of Gantimpala Theater, Mr. Espejo died yesterday at 1:50 pm at Manila Doctors hospital, due to multiple organ failure secondary to hospital acquired pneumonia. He suffered a heart attack last Saturday, June 9.

Last June 15, Espejo celebrated his 63rd birthday in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the said hospital. The dramatic arts company where he served as artistic director, Gantimpala Theater, opens its 35th season this August.

Gantimpala Theater is one of the country’s leading dramatic arts companies. In an industry where only the most dedicated, most passionate and most professional survive and thrive, Gantimpala stands out, thanks to the artistic vision and guidance of Espejo, for daring to produce original Filipino plays since the presentation of their initial salvo, Bonifacio Ilagan’s Katipunan: Mga Anak ng Bayan at the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP).

For more than three decades, theater-loving Filipinos have watched and enjoyed the company’s productions. During its reign as one of the original artistic companies of the CCP, it gave life to “untried and untested plays” which were playwriting contest winners of the premiere arts and culture institution.

When it became an independent theater foundation, plays based on the Philippines’ cultural and literary heritage unfold on stage - the corrido Ibong Adarna, the beauty of spokenTagalog poetry in Florante at Laura, Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo, novels of national hero Dr. Jose Rizal, plays and short stories written by our National Artists for Theater and Literature, and original Filipino musicals written by today’s playwrights based on well-known fairy tales and Philippine folklore.

Members of Gantimpala Theater appeal to everyone to pray for the eternal repose of their beloved artistic director. May he rest in peace.

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Kapuso actress Isabel Oli is grieving the loss of her dad, George Daytia, who passed away yesterday after a long bout with “cerebral degeneration.”

According to the website www. steadyhealth.com, cerebral degeneration is a “disease process in which neurons in the cerebellum deteriorate and die.”

Before his death, Isabel’s father was in coma for seven months. He was frequently hospitalized until his family decided that he be brought home where they could take care of him personally.

Last Sunday, Isabel even greeted his dad “Happy Father’s Day” when she appeared in “Showbiz Central” to promote her latest GMA 7 afternoon show “Faithfully” which started airing last Monday.

We’d like to extend our condolences to Isabel and her family and we request our readers to pray for the repose of the soul of Isabel’s dad.

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“I was overwhelmed,” said singer-turned-actor Marc Abaya (son of famed director Marilou Diaz-Abaya) when he learned he had been cast in the lead role of the new GMA Afternoon Prime offering titled “Faithfully” which premiered on the Kapuso channel on Monday, June 11.

Pronto, Marc had to lose weight for him to look fit and dapper for his role as the object of women’s affection in “Faithfully” where he plays the husband of Maxene Magalona but leaves her for another woman.

“So much trust has been given to me by the network to be given this role,” said Marc. “And it keeps me on my toes. What I pray everyday is the peace of mind and presence of mind not to let my co-stars down, not to let the network down because of this big role that they’ve given me,” added Marc who is better known as a singer than as an actor. But he’s getting the hang of acting. “There is pressure for me to do my best.”

Since he is playing a man who fell in love with two women (and friends at that), he had to dig into his past what was it like to fall for two women, something that had happened to him before when he was young and reckless. “That probably happened a decade ago,” says Marc. “The challenge for me, according to direk Mike Tuviera, is for me to play a gray character. I hope the people understand the intricacies of my character.”

But Marc said he doesn’t remember anymore how many women he had loved before and how long ago it really was, although he claims being recklessly in love was a part of his youth.

“I am basically a good, loving partner. I’d like to think so. My girlfriend now has been my best friend for ten years. She knows all of my kagaguhan and we’re on na for three years. And at the end of the day, hindi na kami nagkukunwari. I love her and I can say that this is my most stable relationship.”

Do they plan to get married? “That’s the problem. She wants to get married. I want to have kids,” said Marc with a smile. “Magkaiba kami ng mindset. I want to have all girls as my kids even if baka iyon ang magiging karma ko.”