Liezl hindi na kayang banggitin si Amalia

Ang panayam ni Ricky Lo kay Liezl Martinez sa Star­talk kahapon ay bilang pagtupad sa matagal nang ipinangako ng huli. Liezl, who celebrated her birth­­day yesterday, had to wait until her hair grew back na nalagas noong sumailalim siya sa six che­mo­the­rapy sessions to arrest her breast cancer (stage 3).

At present, nasa remission (meaning, cancer-free) stage na ang may-bahay ni Albert, but she lost her left breast.

Ang maganda kay Liezl, bagama’t normal lang na ang isang cancer patient ay dumadaan sa denial stage, hindi nabawasan ang kanyang pananam­palataya sa Panginoon. She may have questioned: ‘‘Why me?’’ pero aniya, it’s her spirituality that helps her cope with her condition.

Sa interbyu ni Tito Ricky, there was hardly any reference to Liezl’s mom, Amalia Fuentes, na kamakailan ay lumantad upang isiwalat ang kanyang loob sa anak at pati na rin sa manugang.

Ewan kung off-camera’y nakiusap si Liezl kay Tito Ricky never to ask questions about her mother, bagay na lalo lang sinisilipan ng intriga na ‘‘kakaibang sakit’’ naman sa kanyang pamilya ang dapat malampasan ni Liezl.

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If Kapuso is to GMA 7 and Kapamilya is to ABS-CBN, Kapatid naman is to TV 5 (surely, hindi pu­matok ang Ka-Shake branding noon) that held its grand launch last Thursday announcing its upcoming new shows to watch out for.

Bumabandera sa kanilang weekend program­ming ang Pidol’s Wonderland ni Dolphy (Sunday, 6:30 p.m.) at May Darling Kong Aswang ni Vic Sotto (Sun­day, 8:30 p.m.). Hari naman ng bagong game show na House or Not si Joey de Leon (Tuesday, 8 p.m.). Face to Face hosted by Amy Perez (M-F, 11 a.m.) prides itself in being the first talak­serye on Philip­pine TV, samantalang ang prog­ramang Juicy tastes a lot juicier with Cristy Fermin (M-F, 2:15 p.m.).

Nasa primetime block din ang 5-Star Specials ni Maricel Soriano. Pinalakas naman ang Midnight DJ ni Oyo Sotto, himself dubbed as one of the three princes of TV 5 along with JC de Vera and John Prats. Patuloy pa ring hahataw ang Talentadong Pinoy ni Ryan Agoncillo (Satur­day at Sunday, 7:30 p.m.) at ang Who Wants to be a Millionaire ni Bossing Vic.

Tuwing Linggo naman, 2:30 p.m., isisilang ang isa na namang showbiz-oriented talk show na Paparazzi with Cristy, Dolly Ann Carvajal, Ruffa Gutierrez, and Cristy.

Of all TV 5’s shows, mas exciting sa amin ang PO5 (Party on 5), its Sunday noontime program na ipantatapat sa Party Pilipinas ng GMA 7 at ASAP ng ABS-CBN.

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Isa lang ang Mang Inasal (West Avenue) sa limang franchise branches ng mag-business partners na Jobert Sucaldito at Mama Fely dela Cruz which opened over the weekend.

Such an event transcends network competition dahil tinipon ni Jobert ang mga artista from ABS-CBN and GMA 7 in recognition of the fact that reporters can also be successful in other fields.