What about the street kids, Sec. Dinky?

Like most everybody, I was appalled when I saw that little boy macho dancing in tears in Willing Willie a few weeks ago. My first reaction was: Who forced him, if he was, into doing it? Then, I thought that besides or more than show host Willie Revillame, the ones to blame, if they should be, were the boy’s parents or whoever taught him to dance that way, a view shared by Sen. Chiz Escudero (according to a newspaper report).

I’m glad that other groups, led by DSWD Sec. Dinky Soliman, are showing concern for the welfare not only of the boy but also his family — you know, were they “traumatized?” (The family claimed that they’re okay and that the boy, as shown in a follow-up Willing Willie episode, is a born dancer, mimicking not only macho dancers but also, among others, Michael Jackson.)

As to be expected, with the incident generating a lot of publicity, even lawmakers are rushing to share the limelight “in aid of legislation,” even if, as far as I know, we have more than enough laws that protect the rights of children and, I guess, all that’s needed is the strict enforcement of those laws.

I support Sec. Dinky and the concerned groups’ effort to protect the children from being exploited, so I hope and pray that they will expand the scope to include those poor children that you and I see all over the metropolis, boys and girls as young as two-years-old, begging for alms and food and money with the blatant consent and encouragement of their parents or (people pretending to be their parents, some of whom are suspected to be using other people’s infants as emotional blackmail for the gullible).

I’ve been doing my little share by giving food and never money (because they, especially pre-teeners and teeners, might use it to buy rugby which they sniff in street corners and islands). My heart bled a bit for that boy doing macho dancing on national television and it bled even more so for the kids, most of them in tattered and/or dirty clothes, that I pass by every day on the way to and from the office. They are all over…at the intersection of Araneta Avenue and Quezon Boulevard, under the flyovers, in several places at the Port Area, along Ayala Street a stone’s throw from Malacañang, under the bridges, along the banks of the dirty Pasig River, everywhere!

I’m sure that, unless she’s wearing dark glasses, Sec. Dinky also sees what everybody else sees and, I’m also sure, her own heart bleeds for those poor kids, too, who are just as exploited and are as innocent victims as those well-dressed and well-fed kids appearing on TV, some of them made to look and act like adults fully-made-up and prematurely matched as love teams.

What happened on Willing Willie is an eye-opener not just for Willie but for other TV hosts, not just for TV5 which airs Willing Willie but for all networks whose shows also need to be reviewed and looked into. Paging MTRCB Chairman Grace Poe-Llamanzares!

Of course, if Sec. Dinky and concerned groups will mind the poor street kids (and rouse them from sleep on cold pavements), they won’t land on the front pages or in the newscast unlike if the figure involved is somebody as controversial and as hot and as newsworthy as Willie Revillame. But then, I’m sure that it will earn them good points with Somebody Up There.

The most welcome gesture of charity and generosity is that which is done incognito. It should start from the heart.

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Sam is the ‘hottest’ male showbiz body

I agree with Miss Rikka who requested me to include the following item in today’s Funfare:

One does not wonder why many girls are in love with Sam Milby. The public easily fell in love with the good-looking guy from Ohio when he broke into local showbiz via the reality show Pinoy Big Brother. He has proven that there is more to his good looks because he is talented as well. He can sing, act, play the guitar and can solve puzzle like the Rubik’s Cube in just a few minutes!

After being Cosmopolitan Magazine’s No. 1Bachelor in 2010, Sam also ranked first in the recent list of spot.ph <http://spot.ph> of hottest male bodies in showbiz. The website made the public vote online and sought help from abs experts from Men’s Health and Cosmopolitan magazines to come up ten guys with who they describe as hot, sexy, hunky, ripped. They are talking about rock-hard broad shoulders, perfect pecs, bulging biceps, tight glutes, and washboard abs. And they should know, because they have seen the guys upclose!  

To quote the website in their short write-up about Sam, “The showbiz heartthrob has become a showbiz hot bod, and he’s definitely got more to show than that cute smile. That yummy body that we’ve been seeing the past couple of years, in Folded and Hung ads and magazine features (he was last year’s top centerfold for Cosmopolitan magazine), is the product of religious gym visits and a diet that helps him maintain his well-toned figure. Of course, his year-round tan adds to his X factor, too. This pretty boy has finally graduated into a hotter and sexier Sam-not bad for a self-confessed shy guy.”

True, Sam remains shy despite being in showbiz for quite sometime now. He also remains humble and down-to-earth. And that makes Sam Milby sexy in every sense of the word!

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Phoemela goes sexy for Erik Matti

After hosting the Star News segment of ABS-CBN’s early-evening newscast TV Patrol and the showbiz-oriented show The Buzz, model-turned-showbiz star Phoemela Baranda reinvents herself for a sexy drama film to be directed by Erik Matti.

Phoemela takes on a new challenge in her career as she braces herself to go sexy on the big screen in her first starring role. She is said to be the personal choice of direk Erik to star in the project that will launch her as an actress. It will be produced by Reality Entertainment.

Matti is known for his unique and distinctive films — Pasiyam, Scorpio Nights 2, Mano Po 2: My Home, Gagamboy and Exodus — which made him one of the leading and sought-after directors in local cinema.

“This will be a new Phoemela whom audiences will see in this movie,” said direk Erik. “I am convinced that she can act, but she will surely surprise people with what she agreed to do in this project. I am confident that she will do it brilliantly.”

Phoemela started as a print and ramp model after completing her AB Inter-Disciplinary Studies course from the College of St. Benilde. She is presently the president of the Professional Models Association of the Philippines (PMAP).

Acting is not new to Phoemela, who is being managed by Dondon Monteverde and Paula Punla under Star Factor. On TV, she was offered her first assignment in the ABS-CBN soap Pangako sa ‘Yo which starred Jericho Rosales and Kristine Hermosa.

On the big screen, Phoemela played a bad girl in Ang Pamana which took her to the San Francisco Film Festival and Hawaii International Film Festival. Her other film credits include Dubai, starring Aga Muhlach, Claudine Barretto, John Lloyd Cruz; and Tatlong Baraha, the 2006 Metro Manila Film Festival entry with Sen. Lito Lapid and sons Mark and Maynard.

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