It's

It's final: Vilma Santos is playing the female lead, Amanda Bartolome, in Lualhati Bautista's 1982-83 Palanca Award-winning novel (for Literature) Dekada '70, and not Nora Aunor as initial speculations had it, once again placing Vilma and Nora (actually kumares in real life) in a head-on collision course.

Last weekend, Star Cinema people, producer of Dekada '70, sat down with Vilma, Lualhati, direk Chito Roño and Christopher de Leon to finalize the project which will start shooting toward the end of this year, slated for release early next year.

A quick follow-up to Star Cinema's record-breaking Anak (now the all-time box-office local-movie hit), Dekada '70 marks the return teamup not only of Vilma and Lualhati/Roño, who first collaborated on another Star Cinema smash hit, Bata, Bata, Paano Ka Ginawa?, but also that of Vilma and Christopher whose last movie together was OctoArts Films' The Dolzura Cortez Story (about a woman afflicted with AIDS).

Like Bata, Bata, where Vilma played the independent-minded mother Lea Bustamante, Dekada '70 is an explosive novel set in the turbulent '70s, with Vilma cast as Amanda Bartolome, a mother of five sons caught in the political turmoil from which she emerges a totally different woman.

Here are three excerpts of some reviews of Dekada '70:

* Definitely a political novel. More than the individual story of a mother watching her sons grow and plunge into Real Life, Dekada '70 is an indictment of martial law, and here Lualhati minces no words. -- Female Forum, Nov. 21, 1983

* Written even before the assassination of Ninoy Aquino, the novel surprises and delights with its bellicose and definite pro-people stance in these days of between-the-lines journalism, self-censorship, and multi-million-peso libel suits. Where other writers would balk and simply hint by using vague metaphors and parallel cases, Bautista, in a work of supposed fiction, names names, cites actual atrocities and points an unerring finger where the blame lies. -- Veritas, Sept. 16, 1984

* A moving documentary of a turbulent decade in the history of contemporary Philippine society as seen from the point of view of a strong feminine individual. It shows how literary artists can still effectively use their talents and skills of communication despite the very real threat and dangers of censorship. -- Sunday Magazine, Nov. 24, 1985

There. Brace yourselves for another highly-moving performance from Vilma who is facing the challenge of topping her acting in Anak which, many people believe, is her best work thus far.

Can Vilma top herself?

Funfare got several reactions to its recent item on Mariah Carey who, it seems, has been a victim of a smear Internet campaign quoting her as having "maligned" Regine Velasquez by calling her "a brown monkey who can sing," a derogatory comment Mariah would not be capable of saying because she herself has confessed to having been a survivor of racial prejudice.

Donita Rose herself denied that, according to the smear campaign, Mariah ever said that in an interview on MTV Asia. Donita said she never interviewed Mariah, although she did watch her recent concert in Singapore.

Here are some of the reactions from Funfare readers:

* I, Emmanuel O. De Leon from Sta. Mesa, and the other Filipino fans of Mariah Carey, would like to thank you for your investigation on the Mariah-Regine issue! We wish you more power! We salute you from the bottom of our hearts!

* From Beth Ward of Fairfield, California: Thanks for that article of clarification about Mariah Carey. I knew that you will see to it that this story gets straightened out ... once again, thanks and I am very glad that we still have reputable reporters in our local media.

* Hi! My name is Christopher S. Punzalan from Lagro, Quezon City, 18. I am a diehard fan of Mariah Carey, I really like everything about her, her music, her voice, her looks, her style, everything! I even have a complete collection of her nine albums and some singles. I wrote to you because I want to thank you for what you your article (Mariah Carey: Did she or didn't she?, May 25 issue). The first time heard about the gossip, I just ignored and didn't believe it, and then the gossip became bigger and bigger! I started to worry because I also received a chain letter from the e-mail re: Racist Mariah! it says there to boycott Mariah's album. It became even hard for me to convince everybody that Mariah is innocent ... until there was you. You were like an angel who gave me hope. The moment I read your article I was very excited, I answered the chain letter that I received and also created another chain text from the cellphone.

With your article, I even went to my friend's house to show them the truth and called all of my friends. I was really very eager to let everyone in the Philippines read your article, but at least I did something. What you did was very heroic. And you know, I am confident that a lot of Filipinos read your article, besides the reason that they like you. I know many Filipinos read your newspaper and my family is among them.

You know, I kept the copy of your interview with Mariah (In Bed with Mariah Carey) as a collectors item. I was jealous because you had a chance to meet her, but I know someday I will have the chance of meeting her (in my dreams!). Can't Take That Away (Mariah's Theme), her latest single, goes: "They can say anything they want to say, Try to bring me down, But I will not allow, anyone to succeed... They can try but they can't take that away from me."

And again from the bottom of my heart thank you very, very, very, very much and also to Donita! May God bless you and guide you. Good luck and more power to the Philippine STAR.