Mamma Mia! stars to perform at PeopleAsia's 12th anniversary

PeopleAsia magazine celebrates its 12th anniversary with aplomb as it honors Filipinos who shone brightly on the world stage boxing champ Sarangani Rep. Manny Pacquiao, Miss Universe third runner-up Shamcey Supsup and Miss World First Princess Gwendoline Ruais. This Thursday at the Dusit Thani Hotel in Makati City, for one brief shining moment, they will be sharing one stage as beacons of Filipino pride for their world-class achievements.

To complement this world-class trio, no less than the stars of the world’s number one musical, Mamma Mia!, will perform at the anniversary celebration-cum-awarding-ceremony. They will also be raffling off coveted tickets to their limited performances at the Cultural Center of the Philippines starting Jan. 24.

Pacquiao is PeopleAsia’s “Man of the Decade” while its “People of the Year,” aside from Shamcey and Gwen, include Senators Edgardo Angara and Miriam Defensor-Santiago, visionary real estate magnate Henry Sy Jr., National Artist Ben Cabrera, composer and musical director Louie Ocampo, broadcast journalists Mel Tiangco and Ted Failon, photographer Jun de Leon and top woman executive Evelyn Singson. Special awardees include McDonald’s Philippines founder George Yang and Señorita Maruxa Pita, a Spanish-born educator who began her career in the Philippines at the Poveda and now teaches street children at a school she established in Pasig City, the Makabata School.

Balladeer Richard Poon and the Opera Belles will also perform during the much-awaited event, which is strictly by invitation only. It will not only be a star-studded affair — it will be also be an evening of world-class caliber and international flair.

* * *

In his Publisher’s Note for the premiere issue of PeopleAsia in December 1999, founding publisher Max V. Soliven’s opening salvo was this: “Six billion people: That’s what this world has come to.”

LOOKING BACK AT THE YEAR 2000: Then PeopleAsia vice chairman Babe Romualdez, chairman and publisher Max Soliven and president Choy Cojuangco.

“This figure terrifies those who are worried about feeding the denizens of our global village… (But) in this magazine we’re launching, on the brink of the Third Millennium, that statistic of six billion people, living and breathing, buoys us up instead of plunging us into depression. You know what we’re here for: there are six billion stories to tell about you and your neighbors — tales uplifting, edifying, discouraging, even disgusting: but fascinating nonetheless,” Soliven, who passed away in 2006, wrote.

Quoting Robert Zend, Soliven further wrote: “People have one thing in common: they are all different.”

He summed up PeopleAsia’s philosophy with a line from the great Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.: “Life is a great bundle of little things.”

“It is our purpose to celebrate life by gathering up all those little things to amuse, inspire, entertain and divert you. We plan to shamelessly touch your heart, tickle your funny bone, plumb for you the secrets of the famous and infamous (so you can be instructed or warned),” he promised.

For Soliven, there was “never a life which is trivial or commonplace.”

And that, my dear friends, is what we’ve been trying to do at PeopleAsia for the last 12 years, celebrating life by “gathering up all those little things to amuse, inspire, entertain and divert you.”

It could be the story of a law student (Raissa Laurel, last year’s special awardee) who got up on her feet to continue her studies and her life of hope despite losing both legs in a senseless bomb blast. Or the edifying story of courage of Muelmar Magallanes, a teenager who risked and lost his life to save dozens during the height of typhoon Ondoy. 

We were the first to put Fernando Poe Jr. on the cover (December 2003) after he announced his intention to seek the presidency and then Sen. Mar Roxas and Korina Sanchez after they confirmed their romance in 2004. Poe passed away in 2004 and Mar and Korina are now Mr. and Mrs. Roxas.

We’ve had to reprint copies when we put out a commemorative issue after the passing of the venerated “Icon of Democracy” former President Cory Aquino in 2009. When we put out another commemorative issue, this time to celebrate her son Noynoy’s presidency in 2010, we’ve had to reprint once again.

And now, with seven billion people on this planet, one billion more than when we started this magazine’s journey, we have one billion more stories to tell, one billion more reasons to look forward to our (lucky) 13th year, and beyond…

(You may e-mail me at [email protected].)