What the 'other side' says

Curtain-raiser:

• If you bet that Nora Aunor would arrive this morning on PAL PR 103 from Los Angeles, you lost, sorry. But I won and made my friend P1,000 poorer. Funfare’s PAL sources said that Nora, listed under her real name Nora Villamayor among the Business Class passengers, had her ticket cancelled at the last minute. But German “Kuya Germs” Moreno said that Nora might still come — “Maybe end of July for a possible project (under negotiation) with TV5.”

* * *

Even as he ignored a Funfare request for a few comments about her daughter Andi Eigenmann’s pregnancy (four months, due to give birth sometime in December), Mark Gil did let loose quite a mouthful against the guy suspected of having “done it,” without actually naming him (although the whole world seems to know who he is).

In contrast to Mark’s silence, a “sympathizer” of the unnamed actor’s family volunteered to come to the boy’s defense, answering only a few issues raised by Mark in interviews with The Buzz two Sundays ago and some papers of his choice.

Since Mark didn’t name the boy, Funfare is also not naming him. In the spirit of fair play, here are some of the salient issues and the “sympathizer” whose “rebuttal” is in question form:

• Mark: Do you have parents? What kind of parents do you have?

“Sympathizer”: And what kind of parents are you? What kind of values did you instill in your daughter? Your daughter is 21 and the boy was 17, a minor, when “it” was supposed to have happened and he turned 18 only last May.

• Mark: Pinainom pa ng abortive pill si Andi.

“Sympathizer”: The boy was raised in a decent, Catholic family whose members include respectable people in the judiciary and business, so do you think he’s capable of doing it?

• Mark: I feel deceived. Kasi nung lumabas ang gulpihan issue, nung sinampal-sampal daw niya (the boy) si (Andi)…

“Sympathizer”: Does the boy have any violent streak? No, he doesn’t. Could what happened, if indeed it did, be the other way around, with the boy being the battered one?

Incidentally, Mark also said in those interviews (not with The Star) that all he was asking for is for the boy to say sorry and, so to speak, “to own up,” adding that “hindi namin kailangan ng ama sa anak ni Andi kasi ang dami niyang tatay…the whole Eigenmann clan.” That was Mark’s reaction to reports that the boy’s family was requesting for a DNA test which, according to the “sympathizer,” will prove once and for all, beyond any reasonable doubt, who the father really is.

Asked if it’s true that the boy has been drinking to death, the “sympathizer” said, “The boy is a martial arts enthusiast. He’s health-conscious.”

The “sympathizer” added that the boy’s family is monitoring the developments and, if needed, might resort to legal action.

If Mark has anything more to say, Funfare is open anytime.

Isay Alvarez and husband Robert Seña, mentors for the 70-plus members of the Hinilawod musical — NOEL ORSAL

Hinilawod: The Filipino epic is longer than Iliad

I did not know, and neither did you I’m sure, that we have a long, long epic poem and it’s called Hinilawod.

“It has 28,000 verses and it’s longer than Homer’s Iliad,” said Evelyn Yoro who’s producing the “oral epic of Filipino indigenous peoples inhabiting Panay Island” on Sept. 3 and 4 at the CCP Main Theater. “Hinilawod is one of the longest known epics. It’s a monumental saga of heroes, villains, gods and monsters, rivaling the likes of Iliad and Odyssey.”

Revived recently by Hiyas Kayumanggi (a group of artists and culture visionaries led by Joanie SyCip) in Dumaguete City, Hinilawod, whose original chant (by a Babaylan) circa 1950 was in Visayan, was set into music (in English) by Dr. Francisco Landa Jucano.

The husband and wife tandem of Isay Alvarez and Robert Seña is involved in the project not as actors but as mentors.

“The cast is made up of new actors and they needed mentoring,” said Isay. “Robert and I saw the Hinilawod video and we were impressed. Other countries have shows that are their very own, like the Kabuki of Japan and the Rama Hari of Indonesia, at dapat lang na mayroon din tayong na ating-atin talaga.”

Added Robert, “Hinilawod is not just a cultural show, it has a heart in it that is distinctly Filipino.”

Isay and Robert conducted a three-day workshop with the 70-strong members of the Hinilawod cast in Dumaguete, under the couple’s own Spotlight (which produces original Filipino musicals).

I’m curious: How did the people (including creative directors Joanie SyCip, M.D., and Rene Oliva Jr.; musical director Gina A Raakin; dance directors Ronnie Mirabuena and Rodel Fronda; and scriptwriters Adelina Zerrudo [Part I], and Mel Vera Cruz and Eliezer del Carmen [Parts II and III], among others) manage to capsulize the 28,000-plus verses into a two-hour musical?

That we have to see!

(E-mail reactions at [email protected] or at [email protected]. You may also send your questions to [email protected]. For more updates, photos and videos visit http://www.philstar.com/funfare.)