New year, new start

New year, new beginning. A quick and exciting journey awaits us. Don’t we often say with wonder, “Ang bilis ng panahon. Maya-maya, Christmas na!” We can only pray and hope for the best, better yet, let’s claim the best! As we usher in 2016, let us take a look at the year that was. There are many memorable and significant events that happened in the Philippines in 2015.

On my show Tonight with Boy Abunda, we listed the 10 hottest stories we did in 2015. Read on:

Pope Francis’ historic visit to the Philippines (January 2015) — The Philippines has been blessed by Pope Francis’ first state and pastoral visit. Jorge Mario Bergoglio is the third pontiff to visit the country after his predecessors Blessed Paul VI and Saint John Paul II who visited twice. Pope Francis stayed for four days and one of the highlights of his visit was his rain-drenched trip to Tacloban, Leyte in the middle of Typhoon Amang. Pope Francis braved the stormy weather and proceeded to celebrate the Eucharist donning a yellow raincoat like the faithful in attendance.

Jolo Revilla accidentally injured himself (March 2015) — It was alleged in some reports that Cavite Vice Gov. Jolo Revilla attempted to commit suicide. It was allegedly self-inflicted following the incarceration of his father, Sen. Bong Revilla Jr. The Revilla camp vehemently denied the allegations claiming that the young Revilla accidentally shot himself on the chest while cleaning his gun. He was rushed to the Asian Hospital and Medical Center. He survived the gunshot wound after several operations.

Gerald Anderson and Maja Salvador break-up after a two-year relationship (April 2015) — Gerald Anderson confirmed in the press conference of his teleserye Nathaniel that he and Maja had separated. He explained they needed “time off” from each other. Gerald didn’t divulge any more details about their break-up.

Manny Pacquiao lost to Floyd Mayweather Jr. in the ‘Fight of the Century’ (May 2015) — Floyd Mayweather was declared the champion in a unanimous decision following his and Manny Pacquiao’s highly-anticipated boxing bout held at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Mayweather camp threw more punches at Manny after the fight when they accused Pacman of using steroids. To this day, I believe Manny won the fight.

El Gamma Penumbra won Asia’s Got Talent (May 2015) — Tanauan, Batangas pride El Gamma Penumbra is the first winner of Asia’s Got Talent which was held in Singapore. Throughout the competition, the group consistently wowed the audience and the four judges composed of Grammy award-winning musician David Foster, Taiwanese-American F4 member Vanness Wu, former Spice Girl Melanie C. and Indonesian music icon Anggun. They performed the song Colors of the Wind for their shadow play in the finals night. Other finalists included our very own Gerphil Flores and Mongolia’s Khusugtun.

Direk Paul Soriano and Toni Gonzaga wedding (June 2015) — After eight years, showbiz couple direk Paul Soriano and Toni Gonzaga finally tied the knot before their family and friends at the Taytay United Methodist Church in Taytay, Rizal. A match made in heaven, chorused their friends.

Jiro Manio left home; found roaming inside airport (June 2015) — Jiro was spotted dressed in old clothes and wandering in  the vicinity of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport for several days. He was reportedly saying that he wanted to go to Japan and meet his Japanese biological father. According to news reports, Jiro was not lucid. Ai-Ai delas Alas, who played his mother in the hit film Tanging Ina, came to his rescue right away.

Jessy Mendiola and JM de Guzman reconciled (April 2015) and called it quits shortly after (November 2015) — JM de Guzman was active again in showbiz after a long hiatus. JM and Jessy Mendiola reconciled after their break-up only to separate again after several months.

A Second Chance became Biggest-Selling Filipino Movie of All Time (November 2015) — The movie A Second Chance started showing in cinemas last November. It was the sequel to the ultimate hugot film One More Chance. It was record-breaking. In less than a week, ticket sales reached P300M. As of this writing, A Second Chance earned over P500M making it the highest grossing movie of all time.

Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach won Miss Universe 2015, bringing home the crown after 42 years (December 2015) — After 42 years, Miss Philippines Pia Wurtzbach won the highly-coveted Miss Universe title. The beauty pageant was controversial, thanks to host Steve Harvey’s blunder in declaring Miss Colombia as the winner instead of Miss Philippines. But all’s well that ends well. Pia was crowned Miss Universe 2015, after Miss Colombia wore the crown for four minutes.