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| Logo of the "Fitness.Fashion" Fashion Show. |
Fitness.Fashion, the flagship runway project of Samsung and the Philippine Daily Inquirer's Lifestyle section, a catwalk team-up between some of the country's top designers and best-selling activewear brands was held at the Rigodon Ballroom of the Peninsula Manila in Makati City on July 31, 2008. The show was in cooperation with the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP), the Makati Business Club (MBC), the National Commission for the Culture and the Arts (NCCA), the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCor), the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) and the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC).
One idle Sunday lunch, Lulu Tan-Gan was wondering, now that fashion shows are suddenly a dime-a-dozen, what other fashion-show concept could we have? One that could benefit the local fashion design industry, as much as possible.
Then she talked about how she has taken up running, how much she’s enjoying it, and how it’s keeping her blood sugar level in check. Could we do a shoot of her in her running gear, we asked. A lot of today’s women could get many tips and ideas from her everyday wardrobe, one that takes her from workouts to work.
That’s it, we looked at each other, struck by the bolt of an idea. That’s a fashion show that’s so now: activewear that takes a woman, or a man, to the rest of his daily schedule—and that even makes a style statement.
Lulu runs, joins a marathon. Sunday Inquirer Magazine editor Leica Carpo is not only running but is also preparing for a triathlon (Iron Woman). And so is her sister Amanda. Inquirer columnist Tessa Valdes-Prieto is a mother and wife who does yoga, diving, running—as physically demanding as her party whirl. Tweetie de Leon-Gonzales is hardcore when it comes to squash and yoga. Designer Rina Go is a diehard boxer. Sen. Pia Cayetano uses her triathlon for a cause. Metroactive magazine editor-in-chief Jeena Lopez is a wakeboarding champion.
These women are not athletes in the traditional sense. They just lead an active lifestyle, like millions of other men and women in the country. They do so because they want to stay fit and healthy—indeed they want to stay alive. And—this is a big ‘and—they get a major high when they feel the adrenaline rush.
Weekend warriors, we can call some of them. And they live today’s lifestyle that is the antidote to the stress and pressure of contemporary life.
And—they don’t stick to one designer for their clothes. Since activewear is a style statement, they know how to marry the brand with a custom-made design of a Filipino designer.
That was how the idea for the Inquirer Lifestyle series’ Fitness.Fashion show was born. That Samsung chose to share this fashion vision turned the idea into reality. “The collaboration merely confirms Samsung’s sustained efforts to define what a lifestyle brand is all about. And PDI Lifestyle is a strategic alignment,” said Pen Roque, Cheil Country Director for Samsung Philippines.
We tapped some of today’s designers to collaborate with top active brands.
They are Vic Barba, Joey Samson, James Reyes, Louis Claparols, Rhett Eala, Patrice Ramos-Diaz, Tonichi Nocom, Randy Ortiz, Ivarluski Aseron, Arcy Gayatin, Rajo Laurel, and of course, Lulu.
They are collaborating with Kipling, Bench, Speedo, Adidas, Nike Golf, Puma, Marks & Spencer, Fila, Aigle & Oxbow. Virgie Ramos’ Swatch is also supporting this collaboration.
Leica, Tweetie, Amanda, Rina, Sen. Cayetano, Jeena will be guest models in this show on July 31 at Peninsula Manila, with Inquirer contributing editor Apples Aberin-Sadhwani, Ruby Gan, Svetlana Osmena, Fely Atienza, Akiko Thompson, Enchong Dee, Paolo Abrera.
L’Oreal is doing the hair and makeup.
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| From left to right: Rhett Eala, Arcy Gayatin, Vic Barba, Rajo Laurel, Lulu Tan-Gan, James Reyes, Tonichi Nocom, Ivarluski Aseron, Joey Samson, Louis Claparols, Patrice Ramos-Diaz, and Randy Ortiz. |
Then she talked about how she has taken up running, how much she’s enjoying it, and how it’s keeping her blood sugar level in check. Could we do a shoot of her in her running gear, we asked. A lot of today’s women could get many tips and ideas from her everyday wardrobe, one that takes her from workouts to work.
That’s it, we looked at each other, struck by the bolt of an idea. That’s a fashion show that’s so now: activewear that takes a woman, or a man, to the rest of his daily schedule—and that even makes a style statement.
Lulu runs, joins a marathon. Sunday Inquirer Magazine editor Leica Carpo is not only running but is also preparing for a triathlon (Iron Woman). And so is her sister Amanda. Inquirer columnist Tessa Valdes-Prieto is a mother and wife who does yoga, diving, running—as physically demanding as her party whirl. Tweetie de Leon-Gonzales is hardcore when it comes to squash and yoga. Designer Rina Go is a diehard boxer. Sen. Pia Cayetano uses her triathlon for a cause. Metroactive magazine editor-in-chief Jeena Lopez is a wakeboarding champion.
These women are not athletes in the traditional sense. They just lead an active lifestyle, like millions of other men and women in the country. They do so because they want to stay fit and healthy—indeed they want to stay alive. And—this is a big ‘and—they get a major high when they feel the adrenaline rush.
Weekend warriors, we can call some of them. And they live today’s lifestyle that is the antidote to the stress and pressure of contemporary life.
And—they don’t stick to one designer for their clothes. Since activewear is a style statement, they know how to marry the brand with a custom-made design of a Filipino designer.
That was how the idea for the Inquirer Lifestyle series’ Fitness.Fashion show was born. That Samsung chose to share this fashion vision turned the idea into reality. “The collaboration merely confirms Samsung’s sustained efforts to define what a lifestyle brand is all about. And PDI Lifestyle is a strategic alignment,” said Pen Roque, Cheil Country Director for Samsung Philippines.
We tapped some of today’s designers to collaborate with top active brands.
They are Vic Barba, Joey Samson, James Reyes, Louis Claparols, Rhett Eala, Patrice Ramos-Diaz, Tonichi Nocom, Randy Ortiz, Ivarluski Aseron, Arcy Gayatin, Rajo Laurel, and of course, Lulu.
They are collaborating with Kipling, Bench, Speedo, Adidas, Nike Golf, Puma, Marks & Spencer, Fila, Aigle & Oxbow. Virgie Ramos’ Swatch is also supporting this collaboration.
Leica, Tweetie, Amanda, Rina, Sen. Cayetano, Jeena will be guest models in this show on July 31 at Peninsula Manila, with Inquirer contributing editor Apples Aberin-Sadhwani, Ruby Gan, Svetlana Osmena, Fely Atienza, Akiko Thompson, Enchong Dee, Paolo Abrera.
L’Oreal is doing the hair and makeup.
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| Pia Cayetano |
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| Marco Protacio |
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| Tweetie de Leon-Gonzalez |
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| Amparito Lhuillier |
Exactly eight years, seven months, and thirty-one days ago, on Saturday, January 1, 2000, at 12:00:00 midnight, the entire Philippines and the rest of the whole world celebrates the New Year 2000 and the first decade of the third millennium, and the 21st century. It's twenty-two years after the first EDSA People-Power Revolution and the downfall of the late former President Ferdinand Marcos on February 25, 1986, and seven-year and six months after the second revolution on January 20, 2001, 25 years after former Senator Benigno Aquino, Jr. was assassinated at the Manila International Airport on August 21, 1983, and 36 years after Martial Law was declared by former President Ferdinand E. Marcos on September 21, 1972.
Fashion becomes less a spectator sport when sport itself becomes the fashion.
The Marcos regime was on its last legs, the effects of the 1983 assassination of Ninoy Aquino coming to a head and the steady, stirring inroads of his widow Cory chipping away at the dictatorship’s base. The strongman tried to revive his crumbling apparat by announcing a snap election in February 1986. The fledgling newspaper covered the history and put out the momentous headline: “Marcos flees!”
Fast forward to 30 years later, and the Inquirer continues to deliver the news and commentary that make history. But today, operating from its own buildings in Makati, it does so in various platforms to reach a fast-changing, ever-widening readership. From print to online to mobile to digital, Twitter, Instagram, video, and radio broadcasts, Inquirer Multimedia can be accessed anywhere, anytime.
As the newspaper grew its readership, it built strength and stature, gathering awards and recognition for its groundbreaking reports, eventually becoming No. 1 in the industry. Agenda-setting is, after all, part of the Inquirer DNA. It kicked in during those tumultuous days before, during, and after Edsa 1, when Filipinos hungry to learn about the unfolding events turned to the newspaper for unvarnished news that others had been too timid, too browbeaten, to report. No wonder the Edsa People Power Revolt has often been described as the media revolution, with the Inquirer firmly at the front-row center.
On December 5, 2015’s launch of “The Inquirer Story: 30 Years of Shaping History,” Inquirer president Sandy Prieto-Romualdez defined our reportage philosophy: “We do not believe that there is such a thing as ‘alternative press’—as a counterweight against a so-called ‘crony press.’ There is only one kind of journalism and it is neither ‘alternative’ nor ‘crony.’ It is journalism that reports the facts, neither tailoring them to suit our friends nor twisting them to dismay nor destroy our enemies.”
On Dec. 9, 1985, the first issue of the Philippine Daily INQUIRER rolled off the press with its banner story— “It’s Cory-Doy”. It didn’t even have a slogan, and so atop its masthead was a kicker: ‘A slogan? Help us write one and win a prize.’ The maiden issue, all 30,000 copies, sold out at P2 each.
The country’s paper of record, the Inquirer has chronicled the country’s history over the last quarter-century. From the 1986 Edsa Revolution, the Inquirer was at the forefront of covering major upheavals, momentous events, and powerful stories that changed the course of the nation’s history.
Filipinos gathered at the historic thoroughfare EDSA, where freedom was once won against a dictator in 1986.
The footsteps came at a break of light. Agapito “Butz” Aquino reckoned that just twenty people answered his call to gather and march to Camp Aguinaldo, where they would take a stand against the Marcos Dictatorship. But in a few minutes, more footsteps arrived. The crowd of twenty grew into a hundred and then teemed into thousands. And the march of a few Filipinos transformed into the journey of an entire nation.
From February 22 to 25, 1986, the 1986 EDSA People Power Revolution would continue to astound Butz Aquino. Thousands more flocked to Camp Aguinaldo, responding to Archbishop Jaime Cardinal Sin’s appeal for them to protect soldiers who defected against the Marcos Dictatorship. “I ask you to support Mr. Enrile and Gen. Ramos, give them food if you like, they are our friends," the Manila Archbishop earlier said over Radio Veritas.
Each time the Marcos Dictatorship would send its military forces to stifle People Power, it seemed that another miracle would transpire. Frustrated over decades of injustice, misrule, and widespread fraud during the snap elections, Filipinos defiantly stood their ground against tear gas and tanks. When General Artemio Tadiar led a contingent of Marines in tanks to attack the rebel soldiers, the people formed a human barricade and held them at bay. When the gunships of the 15th Strike Wing began to circle Camp Crame with orders to attack, the civilians still would not disperse. However, instead of firing their cannons and rockets, the gunships landed on Crame, the pilots disembarked, and Colonel Antonio Sotelo announced the defection of the entire 15th Strike Wing.
People Power also astounded observers throughout the world. Members of the international media documented poignant stories of nuns sharing food with the soldiers sent to hurt them, of strangers linking arms despite apparent differences, and of the music of “Bayan Ko” — banned by the Dictatorship after being labeled an opposition song — triumphantly being sung on the streets and broadcasted over Radyo Bandido.
At daybreak of February 25, the Dictatorship — started 14 years ago through lies and the imprisonment of those who spoke against it — finally fell. The courage and solidarity shown by the Filipino people had defeated the country’s most brutal regime. United States senator Paul Laxalt told former President Marcos: “I think you should cut, and cut cleanly.” At 10:15 am on that same day, Cory Aquino arrived at the Club Filipino and was inaugurated as the President of the Philippines. At 7:30 pm, United States helicopters landed on the Pangarap golf course to pick up the Marcos family. The news was later announced over DZRH: “The Marcoses have fled the country.”
In her inaugural speech, President Cory Aquino addressed a liberated nation, and in words that would resound through history, described the victory of People Power: “We became exiles, we Filipinos who are at home only in freedom when Marcos destroyed the Republic fourteen years ago. Now, by God’s grace and the power of the people, we are free again.”
From the installation of Aquino’s widow Corazon Aquino on February 25, 1986, to her death on August 1, 2009, that led to the election of her only son Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III as President on June 30, 2010, and Rodrigo “Rody” Duterte on June 30, 2016; from the unforgettable visits of Pope John Paul II in February 1981 and January 1995 for the 10th World Youth Day, and Pope Francis in January 2015, to the devastating earthquake in July 1990, the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo in June 1991 and the horrific Supertyphoon “Yolanda” on November 8, 2013; from the Senate vote to end the US military bases agreement on September 16, 1991, to the Centennial of Philippine Independence on June 12, 1998, when the Inquirer first published in full color and celebration of the new millennium on December 31, 1999, to January 1, 2000.
ABS-CBN would reopen on September 14, 1986, after a popular rebellion toppled Marcos and Corazon Aquino, the widow of slain opposition senator Benigno Aquino Jr. brought to power.
On June 10, 1991, the US government began evacuating some 14,500 personnel and their dependents from Clark Air Base, which was located 15 kilometers from the volcano. Military vehicles transported the personnel to Subic Bay Naval Base, where navy ships awaited to bring them stateside. Philippine authorities also began evacuating some 12,000 residents living within a 30-km radius danger zone, including Aeta residents from the slopes of Pinatubo.
Then, without warning, came the monstrous explosion followed by the gigantic columns of ash and smoke from the volcano’s crater that quickly billowed for miles in the sky.
Pinatubo was finally awake.
The eruption on June 12, during the country’s 93rd Independence Day, was Pinatubo’s first major eruption. But it wasn’t the last and the most explosive. In the days that followed, it unleashed nature’s wrath in the form of ash, sulfur gas, and pyroclastic material that roared down the slopes of Pinatubo. Eyewitnesses reported seeing boulders the size of cars falling from the mountain.
Three days later, on June 15, Pinatubo’s climactic and most powerful eruption happened. Volcanologists pegged the eruption at Level 6 in the Volcanic Explosivity Index — the second-highest level. The climactic eruption ejected five cubic km. of pyroclastic material and 20 million tons of sulfur dioxide. The explosion created a massive ash cloud that rose 35 kilometers. Reporters said the sky was so dark it was “like the night.”
Such was the force of the eruption that ash clouds were able to reach as far as the Indian Ocean and were enough to cool the Earth’s temperature by half a degree.
The cataclysm was a nightmare for Philippine authorities as they struggled to evacuate thousands of residents in the affected areas and provide basic needs. Some residents refused to leave their homes even at gunpoint, unaware of the imminent danger from the volcano.
To make matters worse, Typhoon Diding formed in the Pacific Ocean off Samar and moved northwest, bringing rain to Luzon and causing ash from Pinatubo to turn into massive mudflows called a lahar.
A total of 847 people died in the catastrophe, many of whom were buried in houses that collapsed under the heavyweight of the wet ash on the roofs. Others were killed by lahar that inundated homes along major rivers that flowed from the volcano.
Evacuees swelled to 329,000 families, who were resettled in Pampanga, Bulacan, Tarlac and Metro Manila. Respiratory ailments, diarrhea, and measles also became widespread among evacuees, particularly children.
A government post-assessment of the damage showed the startling cost of the cataclysm: Damage to agriculture, infrastructure, and personal property totaled at least P10.1 billion in 1991 and another P1.9 billion in 1992. Region III lost a total of P454 million in business in 1991, with manufacturing as the most affected sector.
Pinatubo’s monumental impact placed a heavy burden on the Cory Aquino administration, which was still recovering from the 1990 Luzon earthquake and a series of bloody coup d’états in 1989.
The Pinatubo eruption was its last major challenge.
To consolidate government and private sector response to the disaster, Aquino signed Memorandum Order 369 on June 26, creating Task Force Mount Pinatubo. The government response harnessed Bayanihan as its rehabilitation, reconstruction, and development strategy. It formed Kabisig programs, participated in by various local and foreign aid agencies both from the government and private sectors. The Kabisig programs created alternative livelihood, built new communities, distributed aid, and took care of affected families.
The success of the Kabisig programs proved that the Cory Aquino administration was up to the challenge. Indeed, with a nation working hand-in-hand in the face of disaster, a nation can endure and triumph over even a monstrous hail of ash and stone.
Second visit
The Pope visited the Philippines again in January 1995 in time for the 10th World Youth Day. Some 3 million people lined the streets to welcome John Paul II, who arrived on Jan. 12, 1995.
The five-day visit was the Pope’s first overseas trip after he underwent an artificial bone implant in the leg following a hip injury in April 1994.
On his arrival, the Pope addressed the youth and invited them “… to [s]ee the world around you with the eyes of Jesus himself! The Gospel says that when he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.”
The following day, the Pontiff met with then-President Fidel Ramos at Malacañang and later celebrated Mass for the 233 delegates of the International Youth Forum at Central Seminary Chapel of the UST. He also gave a 20-minute speech to some 200,000 cheering students and academicians gathered at UST Grandstand and Parade Grounds.
“I see that it is my great privilege to be here, to be here and discover anew this phenomenon I knew before, and today I know better,” the Pontiff said.
Fourth centenary
During this visit, Pope John Paul II celebrated Mass to mark the fourth centenary of the Archdiocese of Manila and the Dioceses of Cebu, Caceres, and Nueva Segovia at the Philippine International Convention Center grounds in Pasay City.
In a private meeting with members of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, the Pope made the “strongest comments” defending the Catholic ban on artificial contraceptives. He also condemned the injustice in the country and noted the “increasing” gap between rich and poor.
“When powerful interests promote policies which are against the moral law inscribed on the human heart, they offend the dignity of a man who is made in the image and likeness of God,” the Pontiff said. “In doing so, they undermine the foundations of society itself.”
Four million people, the biggest in his 16 years, 2 months, 29 days reign, thronged the Rizal Park yesterday to see and hear Pope John Paul II celebrate a Mass marking the end of the 1995 World Youth Day (WYD).
Even the Pope could not get through the surging mass in his Popemobile. He had to be transported to the Quirino Grandstand in the presidential helicopter.
He was visibly moved by the sight of the huge turnout.
“The Pope was reluctant to ride the helicopter because he was thinking of the multitude that would somehow be disappointed,” the aide said.
“He knew that since last night, they were already at the site.”
He boarded the helicopter only after being informed by security personnel that even President Ramos was forced to use it because the streets had become impassable.
“I do not remember an instance when the Holy Father rode a helicopter (to attend) a big gathering like this one,” the aide said.
“He wants to be seen by the people so he can bless them as he passes by.”
The Pope was disappointed over the last-minute change, he was overwhelmed by the Filipinos’ very warm welcome, the aide added.
It was a dramatic climax to his triumphant five-day visit and confirmed his view that the future of the Catholic Church lies in Asia.
“I personally have never seen a crowd this big in my life,” said Archbishop John Foley, President of the Pontifical Council for Special Communications.
“This is marvelous. This is a wonderful outpouring of faith, love, fervor, and the (Pope) is very pleased. The crowd surpassed the two million people who turned out in 1979 at the Pope’s hometown of Krakow for the first visit to his Polish homeland after his elevation to the papacy,” Foley said.
It also dwarfed the million or so who faced down tanks and guns in the February 1986 uprising that toppled the strongman Ferdinand Marcos from power.
And the two million who rallied behind Cory Aquino at the Luneta after the snap elections.
People started massing at the Rizal Park as early as midnight Saturday, swelling the one-million crowd that attended the WYD delegates’ sunset vigil at the 20-hectare Rizal Park.
The throng grew swiftly as more and more people arrived early yesterday morning.
Among those who came for the Mass were delegations from the provinces, some coming from as far north as Vigan.
`Heal, transform’
In his homily, the Pope roused the youth of the world to “heal and transform society” and to participate in God’s mission “in a unique and personal way.”
He urged them to respect the “beautiful gift of sexuality” and to resist the lure of alcohol and drugs as well as “peer pressure and . . . the pervasive influence of trends and fashions publicized by the media.”
As in the previous day, the Pope called on Filipinos “to play a fuller role in the Church’s elevating and liberating service to the human family.”
The themes of “mission” and “becoming apostles” prevailed in the Pope’s homilies and speeches in the past days.
His constant quote from the Bible was “As the Father has sent me, so do I send you.”
At the 1993 WYD celebration in Denver, the theme was “newness of life.”
According to an aide, the Pontiff had insisted on using the Popemobile to get to the Rizal Park.
`Excess of success’
“There is no security problem,” said Vatican spokesperson Joaquin Navarro-Valls as officials tried to decide on how to get the Pope to the park. “This is an excess of success.”
In a statement issued later in the day, Navarro-Valls said canceling the Mass due to security risks was never considered.
“The Pope truly has a big heart,” he said. Navarro-Valls added that the turnout was estimated at five million.
From the Apostolic Nunciature on Taft Avenue, the Pontiff arrived at Malacanang Park aboard the Popemobile at 9:20 a.m., where he was greeted by the families of members of the Presidential Security Group.
They waved copies of his photograph and raised rosaries and images of Jesus Christ and the Blessed Mother for his blessing.
He then boarded the helicopter along with Manila Archbishop Jaime Cardinal Sin and Papal Nuncio Gian Vincenzo Moreni.
The President arrived at the grandstand on board the same helicopter at exactly 9 a.m. He was accompanied by his daughter Angel, her husband Norman Jones, and Ambassador Lolita R. Haney.
The three-and-a-half-hour Mass, earlier set at 8:45 a.m., did not begin until past 10.
After mounting the podium, the Pope stared out at the pennant-waving throng which stretched as far as he could see.
His face was almost devoid of expression, and his lips quivered as if he were talking to himself.
But he seemed to respond to the warmth of the crowd as the Mass continued.
At the end of the Mass, the multilingual Pope delivered special farewell messages in 13 languages, including Filipino.
He was brought back by the same helicopter to Malacanang Park, where he boarded the Popemobile for the trip to the San Carlos Seminary in Makati.
`Hope’
The Pope called the world’s youth the “hope for the future” on which will depend the coming Third Millennium which he described as “a marvelous epoch for humanity but which also raises not a few fears and anxieties.”
“Build your lives on the one model that will not deceive you,” he urged the youth.
“I invite you to open the Gospel and discover that Jesus Christ wants to be your friend.”
He challenged the Christian laity to do its part.
He called on “people who till the soil, factory workers, engineers, technicians, doctors, nurses and health care personnel, teachers, men and women in the legal profession, those who serve in public life.”
He also challenged “writers, people who work in the theater and cinema and the media, artists, musicians, sculptors and painters” to take part in the mission.
Again addressing the youth, the Pope added “one specific challenge and appeal, which involves the healing of a source of immense frustration and suffering in many families all over the world.”
Gratitude toward parents He said: “Parents and older people sometimes feel that they have lost contact with you, and they are upset, just as Mary and Joseph felt anguish when they realized that Jesus had stayed behind in Jerusalem.
“Sometimes you are very critical of the world of adults, and sometimes they are very critical of you . . . But always remember that you owe your life and upbringing to your parents.”
He exhorted both parents and children “to build bridges of dialogue and communication.
Young people from all over the world, including a black youth clad in a g-string, presented offerings at the Mass.
A young man from the Netherlands read the manifesto of the International Youth Forum.
The main concelebrants of the Mass were Sin, Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal, Vatican Secretary of State Angelo Cardinal Sudano, and Eduardo Cardinal Pironio, head of the Pontifical Council for the Laity.
Hundreds of cardinals, bishops, and priests also served as concelebrants.
`To see him’
Scores of people who had been waiting for the Pope started leaving Rizal Park when they learned he had taken a helicopter.
“Why should I stay when I won’t see him, after all?” said an elderly woman. “I just came here to see the Pope.”
By the time the Mass started, the crowd in front of the Manila Hotel had shrunk to a third of its original size.
More than 100 children aged seven and below were reported missing while thousands suffering from intense heat and cold collapsed in the mass camp-out at the Nunciature and Rizal Park from Saturday night to Sunday morning.
As of 5:30 p.m. yesterday, the Department of Health counted 1,720 persons who were brought to emergency medical stations at the park.
The complaints involved dizziness, asthma, allergies, and headaches, said Dr. John Layugan, a member of the Stop Disasters, Epidemics, Accidents, and Traumas for Health (Stop Death) team.
Criselda Tungcol, 19, a WYD delegate from San Juan, Metro Manila, was rushed to the Polymedic General Hospital in Mandaluyong after suffering spasms at Rizal Park. She has since been discharged.
Although the Pope looked very tired and lost in thought as he arrived for a Sunday evening meeting with Asian bishops, aides said his Manila reception was just what he needed to help get through the loss of his former active lifestyle.
“That kind of change is difficult psychologically and this trip has helped him come to peace with himself about this new phase in his life,” the aide added.
“It has recharged his batteries.”
The following morning, the Pope left Manila for Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea.
In his farewell speech before some 10,000 people at the old Manila International Airport, the Pontiff said: “The Pope feels so well in the Philippines that he looks at another opportunity perhaps to return.”
Jan. 3, 1997 throwback: The headline quotes former President Fidel Ramos in his annual report to the nation or Ulat sa Bayan at Malacañang the day before, heralding to Filipinos the economic and social progress ushered in by his administration.
Among the achievements Ramos touted in his speech was the economic growth the country experienced in 1996, as proven by the 7.1 percent gross national product growth that year, record-low inflation rates since 1992, declining unemployment rates, and increase in exports.
Ramos noted that these achievements were the result of his administration’s efforts to establish peace and security through agreements with Moro rebels and intensified crime prevention and law enforcement.
“This past year, we could say we have crossed the threshold from the point of takeoff toward sustainable development,” Ramos said in his address, adding that the country had come to a point when it ceased to be the Sick Man of Asia, but rather loomed as Asia’s newest tiger economy.
This headline is crucial because that pronouncement would be turned upside down a few months later. By July of that year, the 1997 Asian financial crisis would affect the Philippines, raising interest rates, sending the peso plummeting from P26.00 to P46.50 versus the dollar, causing the Philippine Stock Exchange composite index to drop to 1,000 points from the previous 3,000, and contracting economic growth to a paltry three percent. It was a lesson on cautious optimism that we can use today, given our own economic achievements in recent years.
It was Friday, June 12, 1998, a public holiday. Thousands of spectators flocked to Rizal Park awaiting the start of festivities for the Philippine Centennial Year celebrations.
They came by the busloads – couples, families, friends, even whole villages – donning caps, holding umbrellas, and wearing Filipiniana attire amid the morning heat. Others wore the nation’s colors and carried various sizes of Philippine flags.
It was a field day for many, and the beginning of a long weekend. They laid mats and cardboard on the grass, brought out packed lunch in Tupperware, and exchanged small talk.
For some, the park became an instant classroom for parents to give impromptu lectures to their children on Philippine history, culture, and tradition.
One parent, Elizabeth Montecillo, brought her two sons and a nephew so she could tell them about the country’s heroes and the important events of the past. “Earlier, they inquired about the Rizal Monument,” she said. “It’s good for them to learn history at an early age.”
The children had a lot to look back to; it was, after all, 100 years of Philippine history. The festivities commemorated the day when Filipino revolutionaries, led by then-president Emilio Aguinaldo, declared the country’s independence from Spanish colonial rule in Kawit, Cavite on June 12, 1898.
A 42-float parade depicted the country’s history during the celebrations at Quirino Grandstand, which was witnessed by then-president Fidel Ramos, vice president Joseph Estrada, members of government, the diplomatic corps, and other guests.
One float featured a life-size caravel, which showed the arrival of the Spanish colonizers in 1521 led by explorer Ferdinand Magellan. A mock battle was performed reenacting the Battle in Mactan between Magellan and the island’s natives.
The 300-year Spanish colonial rule was portrayed in the succeeding floats. It showed the country’s conversion to Christianity, the people’s enslavement to serve the Spanish empire’s economic needs, the revolts against colonial rule, the period of nationalist enlightenment, and the bloody revolution that it brought forth.
At the apex of the parade, a two-story replica of the Aguinaldo Mansion slowly made its way along the parade grounds. On the balcony, actor Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr., an actor who starred in numerous action movies, played the part of President Aguinaldo.
With a solemn expression, Revilla held the flag from a long pole as he stood along with two other actors, Dante Rivero and Juan Rodrigo, who read the Declaration of Independence. When the declaration was read, he slowly waved the flag to the cheers of spectators wearing farmer costumes.
He then went downstairs, walked out of the mansion with the flag, and went up the stage to the awe of government dignitaries. As the drums rolled, Revilla handed the flag to Ramos, who then raised it with one hand before planting it on a stand at the stage.
Ramos had reenacted the same event from the balcony of the Aguinaldo Mansion in Kawit, Cavite, earlier that day.
In his speech during the celebrations, Ramos addressed the crowd. “Today, we have grown into the responsibility and the glory of nationhood. We are prepared to account for ourselves in the global community. We have begun to make our own history.”
“We, Filipinos, are rejoicing in our coming of age — in the final proof of our ability to understand, to use, and to protect the liberty our heroes won for us a century ago,” he said.
The celebrations culminated with a military parade that showcased our armed forces’ might, including a fly-by of Air Force jets. The evening was capped by a 30-minute fireworks display at Manila Bay — the largest and longest the country has seen — in the colors of the republic: red, white, yellow, and blue.
EDSA II: Estrada's downfall, Arroyo’s rise
On May 11, 1998, Estrada – a popular actor-turned-politician – won the presidential race with his slogan, “Erap para sa mahirap” (Erap for the poor).
His political troubles started shortly two years later, when then Ilocos Sur governor Chavit Singson, his longtime friend, went public with accusations that Estrada and his cronies received millions of pesos from illegal operations of jueteng.
To get back at the Inquirer for its exposes on his involvement in corruption, Estrada instigated an ad boycott against the paper on July 3, 1999, that lasted five months. The Inquirer survived on support from its loyal advertisers and readers who sent encouraging letters and even donations to keep the Inquirer going.
During Estrada's impeachment trial, senator-judges had to decide on whether or not to open an envelope supposed to contain strong evidence linking Estrada to over a billion pesos in deposits under the name "Jose Velarde".
Ten voted "yes" while 11 said "no" – a decision that prompted Aquilino "Nene" Pimentel Jr to resign as Senate President and walk out of the hall, joined by 9 other senators.
This dramatic scene was the final trigger that sent Filipinos to EDSA on January 16, 2001. Throughout the first night of the rally, people began to swarm around the historical EDSA Shrine to express their sentiments. More Filipinos, including students, activists, and personalities in the fashion, lifestyle, showbiz, and sports industry, joined in the next few days, while the Philippine National Police and Armed Forces of the Philippines withdrew their support from the president.
EDSA People Power II, as it came to be known, was a series of protests held from January 16 to 20, 2001, against former president Joseph Estrada who was then facing plunder charges. The protests eventually triggered Estrada's downfall – and paved the way for Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, his vice president, to enter the spotlight on the political scene.
But Arroyo would later face her own share of troubles during her administration. Both former presidents seemed to follow the same track in politics: they were both vice presidents before assuming the highest seat of the land, and both have been accused of criminal offenses.
On the last day of the protest, January 20, Arroyo took her oath in the presence of clamoring crowds on EDSA as the 14th president of the Republic of the Philippines. Estrada released a letter about Arroyo’s proclamation, saying he had strong doubts about the legality and constitutionality of her proclamation as president. However, he said he would step down to allow national reconciliation.
Estrada left Malacañang Palace together with his family.
He was convicted of plunder on September 12, 2007.
Corruption allegations
When he was president, Estrada allegedly received P10 million monthly from November 1998 to August 2000 from jueteng lords as protection money. He was also accused of bagging a P130-million kickback from the P200 million released by then budget secretary Benjamin Diokno for tobacco farmers. He also allegedly received P100 million as a “donation” from government funds allegedly given by a private organization run by Estrada’s wife.
Aside from kickbacks, he reportedly ordered 52 impounded luxury vehicles from the Bureau of Customs commissioner to give to his Cabinet members and other officials.
Impeachment complaints
Before EDSA II, then-Senate president Franklin Drilon referred arguments on Estrada’s corruption allegations to the Senate's Blue Ribbon Committee and the Committee on Justice for joint investigation. Another committee in the House of Representatives investigated the case, while other members of the House wanted the president’s impeachment.
More political figures suggested Estrada’s resignation, including then Manila Cardinal Archbishop Jaime Sin and former presidents Corazon Aquino and Fidel Ramos. Then vice president Macapagal-Arroyo, meanwhile, resigned from her Cabinet position as social welfare secretary to signify her protest.
On November 13, 2000, the House of Representatives led by Speaker Manuel Villar transferred the Articles of Impeachment to the Senate. The impeachment trial formally began in the same month, with then-Supreme Court chief justice Hillario Davide Jr presiding over 21 senators sitting as judges.
Estrada faced the impeachment trial with allegations of bribery, graft and corruption, betrayal of public trust, and culpable violation of the Constitution.
During her own term, Arroyo faced multiple impeachment attempts over the NBN-ZTE deal, human rights violations, the Northrail project, the Mt Diwalwal project, fertilizer fund scam, alleged bribery of members of Congress, and electoral fraud in the 2004 elections, better known as the "Hello Garci" controversy.
Arroyo’s grounds for impeachment were much the same as Estrada's, including betrayal of public trust, culpable violation of the Constitution, bribery, graft, corruption, and other high crimes.
Acquittals
Last Thursday, Inquirer Lifestyle staged the rousing, filled-to-the-bleachers (despite the heavy rains and flooding) curtain-raiser to its Lifestyle Series of events with “Fitness.Fashion,” a catwalk team-up between some of the country’s top designers and best-selling activewear brands, at the Rigodon Ballroom of the Peninsula Manila in Makati City.
Co-presented with LOOKbook and Samsung, it drew guests who cut across the fields of fashion, business, and commerce, arts, media, and entertainment. With the support of Caltex, Landers, HSBC, Mastercard, Peninsula, Philippine Airlines, PNB, Rustan’s, San Miguel Corporation, Shangri-La Plaza Mall, PLDT, Smart Communications, Viva Entertainment, Asterisk Digital Entertainment, Cornerstone Entertainment Inc., TEAM Tyronne, Eat Bulaga and Frontrow, the show had 12 sought-after designers melding their creations with the latest brand collections: Kipling with Vic Barba; Fila with Lulu Tan-Gan; Nike Golf with Anthony Nocom; Speedo with Louis Claparols; Adidas with Patrice Ramos-Diaz and Rhett Eala; Marks & Spencer with Arcy Gayatin; Aigle and Oxbow with Rajo Laurel; Bench with Joey Samson, Val Taguba, Furne One, Ezra Santos, Albert Andrada, and Michael Cinco; and Puma with Ivarluski Aseron and Randy Ortiz. Also present were JC Buendia, Ito Curata, Tipay Caintic, KC Pusing, Riza Bulawin, Cebu designers Jun Escario, Edwin Ao, OJ Hofer, Lord Maturan, and Philip Rodriguez.
The young guns and millennial designers also showcased their own renditions. Present were Daryl Maat, Paolo Miguel Jaofar, Patrick Lazol, Thian Rodriguez, Michael Leyva, Joseph Bagasao, KC Pusing, Vania Romoff, Wilbur Lang, Rei Escario, Andrea Lopa, Riza Bulawan, Joel Escober, Tipay Caintic, Caroline Alaba, and Bon Hansen.
It that adding features to the kids and teens apparel from Hobbes and Landes, Osh Kosh B’Gosh, Mothercare, Gingersnaps, Chicco, Cotton on Kids, and Big and Small. Followed by the casual pieces from XOXO, Topshop, Topman, Miss Selfridge, Warehouse, Tint, Carbon, Eterno, Paul Smith, American Eagle, Cotton On, 7 for All Mankind, Via Veneto, Onitsuka Tiger, Asics, Kikay, Dune, Kate Spade, Diesel, Zara, Replay, Steve Madden, Bratpack, Muji, AC+632, Firma and Penguin, as well as the latest collection from our very own local designers: Religioso, Albert Andrada, Azucar Clothing, Myth, Joanna Preysler, the latest pieces, and designs were unveiled from Escada Sport, Van Laack, Michael Kors, Furla, LeSportsac, Massimo Dutti and Jewelmer, the menswear collections of designers like Sassa Jimenez, Herbert Custodio Ulysses King, Avel Bacudio, Regine Dulay, Dennis Lustico, DO.SE, Anthony Ramirez, Jerome Ang and M Barretto and the latest collections of top foreign labels including Mango, Cotton On, Giordano and Zara. (Read the fashion report in this Friday’s Lifestyle Fashion and Beauty.)
On September 22, 1972, soldiers seized and padlocked the broadcast center of ABS-CBN, a leading TV network in the Philippines, upon the orders of dictator Ferdinand Marcos.
Just a day earlier, Marcos had declared martial law across the Philippines. His first letter of instruction? To close all radio and TV stations in the country. Dictators, after all, abhor a free press.
Months after ABS-CBN was closed, then ABS-CBN president Eugenio Lopez Jr was also arrested on November 27, 1972, for alleged plots to kill Marcos.
When “Eat Bulaga!” debuted on July 30, 1979, main hosts Tito Sotto, Vic Sotto, and Joey de Leon did not expect to be in it for the long haul.
“When we started, my main goal was to earn money and save for a car,” said Vic. “I never really imagined we’ll go this far.”
He claimed they weren’t even paid on time for months in the beginning. Apparently, the producers then we're in the red.
“The first time we were to receive our salary, the money was left in a taxi,” the TV host-actor said.
The late Pope John Paul II, who served as Pontiff from 1978 to 2005, visited the Philippines twice—in February 1981, when he beatified the first Filipino martyr, Lorenzo Ruiz, and in January 1995, when an estimated 4 million Filipinos attended the Mass he celebrated at the close of World Youth Day.
He first visited the country in February 1973, as Kraków Archbishop Karol Cardinal Wojtyla.
“The Filipino people are never far from my mind and heart,” the Pope said on his arrival in January 1995, when cheers of “Mabuhay” and “Viva il Papa” greeted him at the old Manila International Airport. The Polish-born Pontiff was then 74 years old.
“Father, look at your children eagerly awaiting the Holy Father,” then Manila Archbishop Jaime Cardinal Sin said, gesturing toward the costumed schoolchildren who performed folk dances as the Pope’s plane taxied on the runway.
Most beloved
A crowd numbering in the hundreds of thousands lined the streets from the airport to Roxas Boulevard, Quirino Avenue, and the Apostolic Nunciature on Taft Avenue to welcome one of history’s most beloved popes.
It was “the most rousing welcome ever given a visiting foreign dignitary that is yet unparalleled in the country’s history,” Inquirer columnist Ceres Doyo wrote.
Ahead of the Pope’s visit on Feb. 17, 1981, then President Ferdinand Marcos declared that he had “lifted” martial law.
On this visit, Pope John Paul II’s first agenda was to celebrate Mass at Manila Cathedral, after which he expressed to Cardinal Sin his wish for Manila Cathedral to become a basilica.
The Pope next visited the Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church in Baclaran where he met with religious women, and the archbishop’s residence, Villa San Miguel, where he met with the Philippine Episcopate and Asian bishops.
Sign of vitality
The following day, the Pope delivered a message at Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City. He next addressed the Filipino youth at the University of Santo Tomas (UST), telling them that “[t]he Church is not frightened at the intensity of your feeling. It is a sign of vitality. It indicates pent-up energy, which of itself is neither good nor bad, but can be used for good causes or for bad.”
The Pope also addressed the poor in Tondo and later proceeded to Manila’s Rizal Park where he beatified Lorenzo Ruiz and other martyrs who were persecuted in Japan in the 17th century. It was the first beatification outside of Rome in history.
The Chinese Catholic communities in Asia and later, the Diplomatic Corps, had an audience with the Pope as well.
On Feb. 19, 1981, the Pope flew to Cebu City, where he met with the priests and seminarians of the Sacred Heart before celebrating a Mass for families at the old Lahug Airport.
Muslim community
The following day, the Pope celebrated Mass for the community of Davao City before meeting with representatives of the Muslim community at the Davao airport. On the same day, he met with landowners and workers of sugarcane plantations in the reclaimed area of Bacolod City, as well as with representatives of Catholic organizations in the Cathedral of Jaro in Iloilo province.
On Feb. 21, 1981, the Pope visited a refugee camp in Morong, Bataan, and met with Vietnamese, Laotian, and Cambodian war refugees. He then met with a group of lepers in Tala at Radio Veritas in Manila. Over Radio Veritas, the Pope addressed the other Asian nations that have never had a pontifical visit, among them China, North Korea, and Vietnam. His message was a prayer for peace in these nations’ quest for prosperity.
The Pope later met with representatives of mass media and of other Christian churches in the Philippines and with the labor committees in the Apostolic Nunciature in Manila.
Pope John Paul II’s last day in the Philippines on Feb. 22, 1981, began in Baguio City with a Mass for indigenous tribes after which farewell ceremonies were held at Manila International Airport.
It was December 1985 and the rented office in the Port Area building was crowded with Eggie Apostol’s editors, reporters, photographers, other personnel—and an overwhelming sense of purpose. As though to foreshadow the shape of things to come, a brief power outage marked the eve of the newspaper’s inaugural, and reports had to be written and edited by shaky candlelight, by hand, and on (a few) typewriters. Even so, the Philippine Daily Inquirer, its front page famously looking like “an unmade bed,” came into being. Even then, it managed to beat the odds.
Just a day earlier, Marcos had declared martial law across the Philippines. His first letter of instruction? To close all radio and TV stations in the country. Dictators, after all, abhor a free press.
Months after ABS-CBN was closed, then ABS-CBN president Eugenio Lopez Jr was also arrested on November 27, 1972, for alleged plots to kill Marcos.
When “Eat Bulaga!” debuted on July 30, 1979, main hosts Tito Sotto, Vic Sotto, and Joey de Leon did not expect to be in it for the long haul.
“When we started, my main goal was to earn money and save for a car,” said Vic. “I never really imagined we’ll go this far.”
He claimed they weren’t even paid on time for months in the beginning. Apparently, the producers then we're in the red.
“The first time we were to receive our salary, the money was left in a taxi,” the TV host-actor said.
The late Pope John Paul II, who served as Pontiff from 1978 to 2005, visited the Philippines twice—in February 1981, when he beatified the first Filipino martyr, Lorenzo Ruiz, and in January 1995, when an estimated 4 million Filipinos attended the Mass he celebrated at the close of World Youth Day.
He first visited the country in February 1973, as Kraków Archbishop Karol Cardinal Wojtyla.
“The Filipino people are never far from my mind and heart,” the Pope said on his arrival in January 1995, when cheers of “Mabuhay” and “Viva il Papa” greeted him at the old Manila International Airport. The Polish-born Pontiff was then 74 years old.
“Father, look at your children eagerly awaiting the Holy Father,” then Manila Archbishop Jaime Cardinal Sin said, gesturing toward the costumed schoolchildren who performed folk dances as the Pope’s plane taxied on the runway.
Most beloved
A crowd numbering in the hundreds of thousands lined the streets from the airport to Roxas Boulevard, Quirino Avenue, and the Apostolic Nunciature on Taft Avenue to welcome one of history’s most beloved popes.
It was “the most rousing welcome ever given a visiting foreign dignitary that is yet unparalleled in the country’s history,” Inquirer columnist Ceres Doyo wrote.
Ahead of the Pope’s visit on Feb. 17, 1981, then President Ferdinand Marcos declared that he had “lifted” martial law.
On this visit, Pope John Paul II’s first agenda was to celebrate Mass at Manila Cathedral, after which he expressed to Cardinal Sin his wish for Manila Cathedral to become a basilica.
The Pope next visited the Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church in Baclaran where he met with religious women, and the archbishop’s residence, Villa San Miguel, where he met with the Philippine Episcopate and Asian bishops.
Sign of vitality
The following day, the Pope delivered a message at Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City. He next addressed the Filipino youth at the University of Santo Tomas (UST), telling them that “[t]he Church is not frightened at the intensity of your feeling. It is a sign of vitality. It indicates pent-up energy, which of itself is neither good nor bad, but can be used for good causes or for bad.”
The Pope also addressed the poor in Tondo and later proceeded to Manila’s Rizal Park where he beatified Lorenzo Ruiz and other martyrs who were persecuted in Japan in the 17th century. It was the first beatification outside of Rome in history.
The Chinese Catholic communities in Asia and later, the Diplomatic Corps, had an audience with the Pope as well.
On Feb. 19, 1981, the Pope flew to Cebu City, where he met with the priests and seminarians of the Sacred Heart before celebrating a Mass for families at the old Lahug Airport.
Muslim community
The following day, the Pope celebrated Mass for the community of Davao City before meeting with representatives of the Muslim community at the Davao airport. On the same day, he met with landowners and workers of sugarcane plantations in the reclaimed area of Bacolod City, as well as with representatives of Catholic organizations in the Cathedral of Jaro in Iloilo province.
On Feb. 21, 1981, the Pope visited a refugee camp in Morong, Bataan, and met with Vietnamese, Laotian, and Cambodian war refugees. He then met with a group of lepers in Tala at Radio Veritas in Manila. Over Radio Veritas, the Pope addressed the other Asian nations that have never had a pontifical visit, among them China, North Korea, and Vietnam. His message was a prayer for peace in these nations’ quest for prosperity.
The Pope later met with representatives of mass media and of other Christian churches in the Philippines and with the labor committees in the Apostolic Nunciature in Manila.
Pope John Paul II’s last day in the Philippines on Feb. 22, 1981, began in Baguio City with a Mass for indigenous tribes after which farewell ceremonies were held at Manila International Airport.
It was December 1985 and the rented office in the Port Area building was crowded with Eggie Apostol’s editors, reporters, photographers, other personnel—and an overwhelming sense of purpose. As though to foreshadow the shape of things to come, a brief power outage marked the eve of the newspaper’s inaugural, and reports had to be written and edited by shaky candlelight, by hand, and on (a few) typewriters. Even so, the Philippine Daily Inquirer, its front page famously looking like “an unmade bed,” came into being. Even then, it managed to beat the odds.
The Marcos regime was on its last legs, the effects of the 1983 assassination of Ninoy Aquino coming to a head and the steady, stirring inroads of his widow Cory chipping away at the dictatorship’s base. The strongman tried to revive his crumbling apparat by announcing a snap election in February 1986. The fledgling newspaper covered the history and put out the momentous headline: “Marcos flees!”
Fast forward to 30 years later, and the Inquirer continues to deliver the news and commentary that make history. But today, operating from its own buildings in Makati, it does so in various platforms to reach a fast-changing, ever-widening readership. From print to online to mobile to digital, Twitter, Instagram, video, and radio broadcasts, Inquirer Multimedia can be accessed anywhere, anytime.
As the newspaper grew its readership, it built strength and stature, gathering awards and recognition for its groundbreaking reports, eventually becoming No. 1 in the industry. Agenda-setting is, after all, part of the Inquirer DNA. It kicked in during those tumultuous days before, during, and after Edsa 1, when Filipinos hungry to learn about the unfolding events turned to the newspaper for unvarnished news that others had been too timid, too browbeaten, to report. No wonder the Edsa People Power Revolt has often been described as the media revolution, with the Inquirer firmly at the front-row center.
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| The first issue of Philippine Daily Inquirer, December 9, 1985 |
On December 5, 2015’s launch of “The Inquirer Story: 30 Years of Shaping History,” Inquirer president Sandy Prieto-Romualdez defined our reportage philosophy: “We do not believe that there is such a thing as ‘alternative press’—as a counterweight against a so-called ‘crony press.’ There is only one kind of journalism and it is neither ‘alternative’ nor ‘crony.’ It is journalism that reports the facts, neither tailoring them to suit our friends nor twisting them to dismay nor destroy our enemies.”
In 312 pages of words and images, the book carries the Inquirer’s voice through the years.
Sandy Prieto takes trikeIt brings together front pages, editorials, and stories from the December 9s of the past 30 years, including the maiden issue, in which the newspaper declared a statement of purpose the organization—now multimedia—abides by to this day:
“We do not believe that there is such a thing as an ‘alternative press’—as a counterweight to a so-called ‘crony press.’ There is only one kind of journalism—and it is neither alternative nor crony. It is journalism that reports the facts, neither tailoring them to suit our friends nor twisting them to dismay nor destroy our enemies.”
The book also features pieces from historical turning points that marked the history of the paper and the nation. Banner stories include the 1989 death of Ferdinand Marcos, the July 1990 quake, the 1992 ejection of American bases, the 1998 independence centennial, and the 1999 “Media Shakeup” under then-President Joseph Estrada—when advertisers pulled out.
From the turn of the millennium, the front pages selected include July 27, 2003, Oakwood Mutiny, Manny Pacquiao’s December 6, 2008 victory over Oscar de la Hoya, and democracy icon Corazon Aquino’s 2009 funeral.
And in this decade, memorable ones include Supertyphoon “Yolanda’s” 2013 devastation, the 2014 exposé on the pork barrel scam by whistle-blower Benhur Luy and Pope Francis’ visit in January 2015.
“It’s the first that sort of strung together … stories about ourselves. It was nice to see how we felt about ourselves during that time,” Romualdez said. “It’s nice to be able to see it from that perspective. There are things there that (show) we’ve been able to evolve.”
“We did a lot more of speaking about ourselves. In the past books, there’s a lot about our work. That’s still there. But this has a perspective (that’s) more personal and more like how we do our work, how we do things. That’s never been done before,” she said.
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| FIRST COPY The first copy of the book “The Inquirer Story: 30 Years of Shaping History” is received by UP President Alfredo Pascual (right) from Inquirer president and CEO Sandy Prieto-Romualdez. The commemorative book was launched on Saturday. RAFFY LERMA |
The anniversary book team got together in September to realize editor-in-chief Letty Jimenez-Magsanoc’s concept: Put together the Inquirer’s anniversary supplements from the very beginning.
“This is the biggest thing we’ve done so far. And we have a timeline that runs from 1985 to 2015 that can show you the Inquirer history,” said Ruel de Vera, publisher and editor of the new book.
“We’ve done a lot of stuff about our role in Philippine history but this book is really about the Inquirer as an organization. It’s the first one we’ve done that serves to pay tribute (to the people behind the Inquirer),” he said.
Thirty-four people from different departments—editors, writers, researchers, designers, photographers, and editorial production assistants—worked on the book.
“It’s a great way to see the history of the Philippines for the last 30 years, not just the Inquirer … I’m so proud of the team. There’s so much talent,” Romualdez said.
The book paid tribute to Inquirer founding chair Eugenia Apostol: “There would be no Inquirer without her.”
The team also drew inspiration from late publisher Isagani Yambot “for the journalistic ethos represented in this book.”
“There are things we still try to learn. Looking back, it was nice to also see the spirit of the Inquirer still so strong after so many years. I think we’ve stayed consistent in that way,” Romualdez said.
On Dec. 9, 1985, the first issue of the Philippine Daily INQUIRER rolled off the press with its banner story— “It’s Cory-Doy”. It didn’t even have a slogan, and so atop its masthead was a kicker: ‘A slogan? Help us write one and win a prize.’ The maiden issue, all 30,000 copies, sold out at P2 each.
The country’s paper of record, the Inquirer has chronicled the country’s history over the last quarter-century. From the 1986 Edsa Revolution, the Inquirer was at the forefront of covering major upheavals, momentous events, and powerful stories that changed the course of the nation’s history.
Filipinos gathered at the historic thoroughfare EDSA, where freedom was once won against a dictator in 1986.
The footsteps came at a break of light. Agapito “Butz” Aquino reckoned that just twenty people answered his call to gather and march to Camp Aguinaldo, where they would take a stand against the Marcos Dictatorship. But in a few minutes, more footsteps arrived. The crowd of twenty grew into a hundred and then teemed into thousands. And the march of a few Filipinos transformed into the journey of an entire nation.
From February 22 to 25, 1986, the 1986 EDSA People Power Revolution would continue to astound Butz Aquino. Thousands more flocked to Camp Aguinaldo, responding to Archbishop Jaime Cardinal Sin’s appeal for them to protect soldiers who defected against the Marcos Dictatorship. “I ask you to support Mr. Enrile and Gen. Ramos, give them food if you like, they are our friends," the Manila Archbishop earlier said over Radio Veritas.
Each time the Marcos Dictatorship would send its military forces to stifle People Power, it seemed that another miracle would transpire. Frustrated over decades of injustice, misrule, and widespread fraud during the snap elections, Filipinos defiantly stood their ground against tear gas and tanks. When General Artemio Tadiar led a contingent of Marines in tanks to attack the rebel soldiers, the people formed a human barricade and held them at bay. When the gunships of the 15th Strike Wing began to circle Camp Crame with orders to attack, the civilians still would not disperse. However, instead of firing their cannons and rockets, the gunships landed on Crame, the pilots disembarked, and Colonel Antonio Sotelo announced the defection of the entire 15th Strike Wing.
People Power also astounded observers throughout the world. Members of the international media documented poignant stories of nuns sharing food with the soldiers sent to hurt them, of strangers linking arms despite apparent differences, and of the music of “Bayan Ko” — banned by the Dictatorship after being labeled an opposition song — triumphantly being sung on the streets and broadcasted over Radyo Bandido.
At daybreak of February 25, the Dictatorship — started 14 years ago through lies and the imprisonment of those who spoke against it — finally fell. The courage and solidarity shown by the Filipino people had defeated the country’s most brutal regime. United States senator Paul Laxalt told former President Marcos: “I think you should cut, and cut cleanly.” At 10:15 am on that same day, Cory Aquino arrived at the Club Filipino and was inaugurated as the President of the Philippines. At 7:30 pm, United States helicopters landed on the Pangarap golf course to pick up the Marcos family. The news was later announced over DZRH: “The Marcoses have fled the country.”
In her inaugural speech, President Cory Aquino addressed a liberated nation, and in words that would resound through history, described the victory of People Power: “We became exiles, we Filipinos who are at home only in freedom when Marcos destroyed the Republic fourteen years ago. Now, by God’s grace and the power of the people, we are free again.”
From the installation of Aquino’s widow Corazon Aquino on February 25, 1986, to her death on August 1, 2009, that led to the election of her only son Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III as President on June 30, 2010, and Rodrigo “Rody” Duterte on June 30, 2016; from the unforgettable visits of Pope John Paul II in February 1981 and January 1995 for the 10th World Youth Day, and Pope Francis in January 2015, to the devastating earthquake in July 1990, the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo in June 1991 and the horrific Supertyphoon “Yolanda” on November 8, 2013; from the Senate vote to end the US military bases agreement on September 16, 1991, to the Centennial of Philippine Independence on June 12, 1998, when the Inquirer first published in full color and celebration of the new millennium on December 31, 1999, to January 1, 2000.
ABS-CBN would reopen on September 14, 1986, after a popular rebellion toppled Marcos and Corazon Aquino, the widow of slain opposition senator Benigno Aquino Jr. brought to power.
On June 10, 1991, the US government began evacuating some 14,500 personnel and their dependents from Clark Air Base, which was located 15 kilometers from the volcano. Military vehicles transported the personnel to Subic Bay Naval Base, where navy ships awaited to bring them stateside. Philippine authorities also began evacuating some 12,000 residents living within a 30-km radius danger zone, including Aeta residents from the slopes of Pinatubo.
Then, without warning, came the monstrous explosion followed by the gigantic columns of ash and smoke from the volcano’s crater that quickly billowed for miles in the sky.
Pinatubo was finally awake.
The eruption on June 12, during the country’s 93rd Independence Day, was Pinatubo’s first major eruption. But it wasn’t the last and the most explosive. In the days that followed, it unleashed nature’s wrath in the form of ash, sulfur gas, and pyroclastic material that roared down the slopes of Pinatubo. Eyewitnesses reported seeing boulders the size of cars falling from the mountain.
Three days later, on June 15, Pinatubo’s climactic and most powerful eruption happened. Volcanologists pegged the eruption at Level 6 in the Volcanic Explosivity Index — the second-highest level. The climactic eruption ejected five cubic km. of pyroclastic material and 20 million tons of sulfur dioxide. The explosion created a massive ash cloud that rose 35 kilometers. Reporters said the sky was so dark it was “like the night.”
Such was the force of the eruption that ash clouds were able to reach as far as the Indian Ocean and were enough to cool the Earth’s temperature by half a degree.
The cataclysm was a nightmare for Philippine authorities as they struggled to evacuate thousands of residents in the affected areas and provide basic needs. Some residents refused to leave their homes even at gunpoint, unaware of the imminent danger from the volcano.
To make matters worse, Typhoon Diding formed in the Pacific Ocean off Samar and moved northwest, bringing rain to Luzon and causing ash from Pinatubo to turn into massive mudflows called a lahar.
A total of 847 people died in the catastrophe, many of whom were buried in houses that collapsed under the heavyweight of the wet ash on the roofs. Others were killed by lahar that inundated homes along major rivers that flowed from the volcano.
Evacuees swelled to 329,000 families, who were resettled in Pampanga, Bulacan, Tarlac and Metro Manila. Respiratory ailments, diarrhea, and measles also became widespread among evacuees, particularly children.
A government post-assessment of the damage showed the startling cost of the cataclysm: Damage to agriculture, infrastructure, and personal property totaled at least P10.1 billion in 1991 and another P1.9 billion in 1992. Region III lost a total of P454 million in business in 1991, with manufacturing as the most affected sector.
Pinatubo’s monumental impact placed a heavy burden on the Cory Aquino administration, which was still recovering from the 1990 Luzon earthquake and a series of bloody coup d’états in 1989.
The Pinatubo eruption was its last major challenge.
To consolidate government and private sector response to the disaster, Aquino signed Memorandum Order 369 on June 26, creating Task Force Mount Pinatubo. The government response harnessed Bayanihan as its rehabilitation, reconstruction, and development strategy. It formed Kabisig programs, participated in by various local and foreign aid agencies both from the government and private sectors. The Kabisig programs created alternative livelihood, built new communities, distributed aid, and took care of affected families.
The success of the Kabisig programs proved that the Cory Aquino administration was up to the challenge. Indeed, with a nation working hand-in-hand in the face of disaster, a nation can endure and triumph over even a monstrous hail of ash and stone.
Second visit
The Pope visited the Philippines again in January 1995 in time for the 10th World Youth Day. Some 3 million people lined the streets to welcome John Paul II, who arrived on Jan. 12, 1995.
The five-day visit was the Pope’s first overseas trip after he underwent an artificial bone implant in the leg following a hip injury in April 1994.
On his arrival, the Pope addressed the youth and invited them “… to [s]ee the world around you with the eyes of Jesus himself! The Gospel says that when he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.”
The following day, the Pontiff met with then-President Fidel Ramos at Malacañang and later celebrated Mass for the 233 delegates of the International Youth Forum at Central Seminary Chapel of the UST. He also gave a 20-minute speech to some 200,000 cheering students and academicians gathered at UST Grandstand and Parade Grounds.
“I see that it is my great privilege to be here, to be here and discover anew this phenomenon I knew before, and today I know better,” the Pontiff said.
Fourth centenary
During this visit, Pope John Paul II celebrated Mass to mark the fourth centenary of the Archdiocese of Manila and the Dioceses of Cebu, Caceres, and Nueva Segovia at the Philippine International Convention Center grounds in Pasay City.
In a private meeting with members of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, the Pope made the “strongest comments” defending the Catholic ban on artificial contraceptives. He also condemned the injustice in the country and noted the “increasing” gap between rich and poor.
“When powerful interests promote policies which are against the moral law inscribed on the human heart, they offend the dignity of a man who is made in the image and likeness of God,” the Pontiff said. “In doing so, they undermine the foundations of society itself.”
Four million people, the biggest in his 16 years, 2 months, 29 days reign, thronged the Rizal Park yesterday to see and hear Pope John Paul II celebrate a Mass marking the end of the 1995 World Youth Day (WYD).
Even the Pope could not get through the surging mass in his Popemobile. He had to be transported to the Quirino Grandstand in the presidential helicopter.
He was visibly moved by the sight of the huge turnout.
“The Pope was reluctant to ride the helicopter because he was thinking of the multitude that would somehow be disappointed,” the aide said.
“He knew that since last night, they were already at the site.”
He boarded the helicopter only after being informed by security personnel that even President Ramos was forced to use it because the streets had become impassable.
“I do not remember an instance when the Holy Father rode a helicopter (to attend) a big gathering like this one,” the aide said.
“He wants to be seen by the people so he can bless them as he passes by.”
The Pope was disappointed over the last-minute change, he was overwhelmed by the Filipinos’ very warm welcome, the aide added.
It was a dramatic climax to his triumphant five-day visit and confirmed his view that the future of the Catholic Church lies in Asia.
“I personally have never seen a crowd this big in my life,” said Archbishop John Foley, President of the Pontifical Council for Special Communications.
“This is marvelous. This is a wonderful outpouring of faith, love, fervor, and the (Pope) is very pleased. The crowd surpassed the two million people who turned out in 1979 at the Pope’s hometown of Krakow for the first visit to his Polish homeland after his elevation to the papacy,” Foley said.
It also dwarfed the million or so who faced down tanks and guns in the February 1986 uprising that toppled the strongman Ferdinand Marcos from power.
And the two million who rallied behind Cory Aquino at the Luneta after the snap elections.
People started massing at the Rizal Park as early as midnight Saturday, swelling the one-million crowd that attended the WYD delegates’ sunset vigil at the 20-hectare Rizal Park.
The throng grew swiftly as more and more people arrived early yesterday morning.
Among those who came for the Mass were delegations from the provinces, some coming from as far north as Vigan.
`Heal, transform’
In his homily, the Pope roused the youth of the world to “heal and transform society” and to participate in God’s mission “in a unique and personal way.”
He urged them to respect the “beautiful gift of sexuality” and to resist the lure of alcohol and drugs as well as “peer pressure and . . . the pervasive influence of trends and fashions publicized by the media.”
As in the previous day, the Pope called on Filipinos “to play a fuller role in the Church’s elevating and liberating service to the human family.”
The themes of “mission” and “becoming apostles” prevailed in the Pope’s homilies and speeches in the past days.
His constant quote from the Bible was “As the Father has sent me, so do I send you.”
At the 1993 WYD celebration in Denver, the theme was “newness of life.”
According to an aide, the Pontiff had insisted on using the Popemobile to get to the Rizal Park.
`Excess of success’
“There is no security problem,” said Vatican spokesperson Joaquin Navarro-Valls as officials tried to decide on how to get the Pope to the park. “This is an excess of success.”
In a statement issued later in the day, Navarro-Valls said canceling the Mass due to security risks was never considered.
“The Pope truly has a big heart,” he said. Navarro-Valls added that the turnout was estimated at five million.
From the Apostolic Nunciature on Taft Avenue, the Pontiff arrived at Malacanang Park aboard the Popemobile at 9:20 a.m., where he was greeted by the families of members of the Presidential Security Group.
They waved copies of his photograph and raised rosaries and images of Jesus Christ and the Blessed Mother for his blessing.
He then boarded the helicopter along with Manila Archbishop Jaime Cardinal Sin and Papal Nuncio Gian Vincenzo Moreni.
The President arrived at the grandstand on board the same helicopter at exactly 9 a.m. He was accompanied by his daughter Angel, her husband Norman Jones, and Ambassador Lolita R. Haney.
The three-and-a-half-hour Mass, earlier set at 8:45 a.m., did not begin until past 10.
After mounting the podium, the Pope stared out at the pennant-waving throng which stretched as far as he could see.
His face was almost devoid of expression, and his lips quivered as if he were talking to himself.
But he seemed to respond to the warmth of the crowd as the Mass continued.
At the end of the Mass, the multilingual Pope delivered special farewell messages in 13 languages, including Filipino.
He was brought back by the same helicopter to Malacanang Park, where he boarded the Popemobile for the trip to the San Carlos Seminary in Makati.
`Hope’
The Pope called the world’s youth the “hope for the future” on which will depend the coming Third Millennium which he described as “a marvelous epoch for humanity but which also raises not a few fears and anxieties.”
“Build your lives on the one model that will not deceive you,” he urged the youth.
“I invite you to open the Gospel and discover that Jesus Christ wants to be your friend.”
He challenged the Christian laity to do its part.
He called on “people who till the soil, factory workers, engineers, technicians, doctors, nurses and health care personnel, teachers, men and women in the legal profession, those who serve in public life.”
He also challenged “writers, people who work in the theater and cinema and the media, artists, musicians, sculptors and painters” to take part in the mission.
Again addressing the youth, the Pope added “one specific challenge and appeal, which involves the healing of a source of immense frustration and suffering in many families all over the world.”
Gratitude toward parents He said: “Parents and older people sometimes feel that they have lost contact with you, and they are upset, just as Mary and Joseph felt anguish when they realized that Jesus had stayed behind in Jerusalem.
“Sometimes you are very critical of the world of adults, and sometimes they are very critical of you . . . But always remember that you owe your life and upbringing to your parents.”
He exhorted both parents and children “to build bridges of dialogue and communication.
Young people from all over the world, including a black youth clad in a g-string, presented offerings at the Mass.
A young man from the Netherlands read the manifesto of the International Youth Forum.
The main concelebrants of the Mass were Sin, Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal, Vatican Secretary of State Angelo Cardinal Sudano, and Eduardo Cardinal Pironio, head of the Pontifical Council for the Laity.
Hundreds of cardinals, bishops, and priests also served as concelebrants.
`To see him’
Scores of people who had been waiting for the Pope started leaving Rizal Park when they learned he had taken a helicopter.
“Why should I stay when I won’t see him, after all?” said an elderly woman. “I just came here to see the Pope.”
By the time the Mass started, the crowd in front of the Manila Hotel had shrunk to a third of its original size.
More than 100 children aged seven and below were reported missing while thousands suffering from intense heat and cold collapsed in the mass camp-out at the Nunciature and Rizal Park from Saturday night to Sunday morning.
As of 5:30 p.m. yesterday, the Department of Health counted 1,720 persons who were brought to emergency medical stations at the park.
The complaints involved dizziness, asthma, allergies, and headaches, said Dr. John Layugan, a member of the Stop Disasters, Epidemics, Accidents, and Traumas for Health (Stop Death) team.
Criselda Tungcol, 19, a WYD delegate from San Juan, Metro Manila, was rushed to the Polymedic General Hospital in Mandaluyong after suffering spasms at Rizal Park. She has since been discharged.
Although the Pope looked very tired and lost in thought as he arrived for a Sunday evening meeting with Asian bishops, aides said his Manila reception was just what he needed to help get through the loss of his former active lifestyle.
“That kind of change is difficult psychologically and this trip has helped him come to peace with himself about this new phase in his life,” the aide added.
“It has recharged his batteries.”
The following morning, the Pope left Manila for Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea.
In his farewell speech before some 10,000 people at the old Manila International Airport, the Pontiff said: “The Pope feels so well in the Philippines that he looks at another opportunity perhaps to return.”
Jan. 3, 1997 throwback: The headline quotes former President Fidel Ramos in his annual report to the nation or Ulat sa Bayan at Malacañang the day before, heralding to Filipinos the economic and social progress ushered in by his administration.
Among the achievements Ramos touted in his speech was the economic growth the country experienced in 1996, as proven by the 7.1 percent gross national product growth that year, record-low inflation rates since 1992, declining unemployment rates, and increase in exports.
Ramos noted that these achievements were the result of his administration’s efforts to establish peace and security through agreements with Moro rebels and intensified crime prevention and law enforcement.
“This past year, we could say we have crossed the threshold from the point of takeoff toward sustainable development,” Ramos said in his address, adding that the country had come to a point when it ceased to be the Sick Man of Asia, but rather loomed as Asia’s newest tiger economy.
This headline is crucial because that pronouncement would be turned upside down a few months later. By July of that year, the 1997 Asian financial crisis would affect the Philippines, raising interest rates, sending the peso plummeting from P26.00 to P46.50 versus the dollar, causing the Philippine Stock Exchange composite index to drop to 1,000 points from the previous 3,000, and contracting economic growth to a paltry three percent. It was a lesson on cautious optimism that we can use today, given our own economic achievements in recent years.
It was Friday, June 12, 1998, a public holiday. Thousands of spectators flocked to Rizal Park awaiting the start of festivities for the Philippine Centennial Year celebrations.
They came by the busloads – couples, families, friends, even whole villages – donning caps, holding umbrellas, and wearing Filipiniana attire amid the morning heat. Others wore the nation’s colors and carried various sizes of Philippine flags.
It was a field day for many, and the beginning of a long weekend. They laid mats and cardboard on the grass, brought out packed lunch in Tupperware, and exchanged small talk.
For some, the park became an instant classroom for parents to give impromptu lectures to their children on Philippine history, culture, and tradition.
One parent, Elizabeth Montecillo, brought her two sons and a nephew so she could tell them about the country’s heroes and the important events of the past. “Earlier, they inquired about the Rizal Monument,” she said. “It’s good for them to learn history at an early age.”
The children had a lot to look back to; it was, after all, 100 years of Philippine history. The festivities commemorated the day when Filipino revolutionaries, led by then-president Emilio Aguinaldo, declared the country’s independence from Spanish colonial rule in Kawit, Cavite on June 12, 1898.
A 42-float parade depicted the country’s history during the celebrations at Quirino Grandstand, which was witnessed by then-president Fidel Ramos, vice president Joseph Estrada, members of government, the diplomatic corps, and other guests.
One float featured a life-size caravel, which showed the arrival of the Spanish colonizers in 1521 led by explorer Ferdinand Magellan. A mock battle was performed reenacting the Battle in Mactan between Magellan and the island’s natives.
The 300-year Spanish colonial rule was portrayed in the succeeding floats. It showed the country’s conversion to Christianity, the people’s enslavement to serve the Spanish empire’s economic needs, the revolts against colonial rule, the period of nationalist enlightenment, and the bloody revolution that it brought forth.
At the apex of the parade, a two-story replica of the Aguinaldo Mansion slowly made its way along the parade grounds. On the balcony, actor Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr., an actor who starred in numerous action movies, played the part of President Aguinaldo.
With a solemn expression, Revilla held the flag from a long pole as he stood along with two other actors, Dante Rivero and Juan Rodrigo, who read the Declaration of Independence. When the declaration was read, he slowly waved the flag to the cheers of spectators wearing farmer costumes.
He then went downstairs, walked out of the mansion with the flag, and went up the stage to the awe of government dignitaries. As the drums rolled, Revilla handed the flag to Ramos, who then raised it with one hand before planting it on a stand at the stage.
Ramos had reenacted the same event from the balcony of the Aguinaldo Mansion in Kawit, Cavite, earlier that day.
In his speech during the celebrations, Ramos addressed the crowd. “Today, we have grown into the responsibility and the glory of nationhood. We are prepared to account for ourselves in the global community. We have begun to make our own history.”
“We, Filipinos, are rejoicing in our coming of age — in the final proof of our ability to understand, to use, and to protect the liberty our heroes won for us a century ago,” he said.
The celebrations culminated with a military parade that showcased our armed forces’ might, including a fly-by of Air Force jets. The evening was capped by a 30-minute fireworks display at Manila Bay — the largest and longest the country has seen — in the colors of the republic: red, white, yellow, and blue.
EDSA II: Estrada's downfall, Arroyo’s rise
On May 11, 1998, Estrada – a popular actor-turned-politician – won the presidential race with his slogan, “Erap para sa mahirap” (Erap for the poor).
His political troubles started shortly two years later, when then Ilocos Sur governor Chavit Singson, his longtime friend, went public with accusations that Estrada and his cronies received millions of pesos from illegal operations of jueteng.
To get back at the Inquirer for its exposes on his involvement in corruption, Estrada instigated an ad boycott against the paper on July 3, 1999, that lasted five months. The Inquirer survived on support from its loyal advertisers and readers who sent encouraging letters and even donations to keep the Inquirer going.
During Estrada's impeachment trial, senator-judges had to decide on whether or not to open an envelope supposed to contain strong evidence linking Estrada to over a billion pesos in deposits under the name "Jose Velarde".
Ten voted "yes" while 11 said "no" – a decision that prompted Aquilino "Nene" Pimentel Jr to resign as Senate President and walk out of the hall, joined by 9 other senators.
This dramatic scene was the final trigger that sent Filipinos to EDSA on January 16, 2001. Throughout the first night of the rally, people began to swarm around the historical EDSA Shrine to express their sentiments. More Filipinos, including students, activists, and personalities in the fashion, lifestyle, showbiz, and sports industry, joined in the next few days, while the Philippine National Police and Armed Forces of the Philippines withdrew their support from the president.
EDSA People Power II, as it came to be known, was a series of protests held from January 16 to 20, 2001, against former president Joseph Estrada who was then facing plunder charges. The protests eventually triggered Estrada's downfall – and paved the way for Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, his vice president, to enter the spotlight on the political scene.
But Arroyo would later face her own share of troubles during her administration. Both former presidents seemed to follow the same track in politics: they were both vice presidents before assuming the highest seat of the land, and both have been accused of criminal offenses.
On the last day of the protest, January 20, Arroyo took her oath in the presence of clamoring crowds on EDSA as the 14th president of the Republic of the Philippines. Estrada released a letter about Arroyo’s proclamation, saying he had strong doubts about the legality and constitutionality of her proclamation as president. However, he said he would step down to allow national reconciliation.
Estrada left Malacañang Palace together with his family.
He was convicted of plunder on September 12, 2007.
Corruption allegations
When he was president, Estrada allegedly received P10 million monthly from November 1998 to August 2000 from jueteng lords as protection money. He was also accused of bagging a P130-million kickback from the P200 million released by then budget secretary Benjamin Diokno for tobacco farmers. He also allegedly received P100 million as a “donation” from government funds allegedly given by a private organization run by Estrada’s wife.
Aside from kickbacks, he reportedly ordered 52 impounded luxury vehicles from the Bureau of Customs commissioner to give to his Cabinet members and other officials.
Impeachment complaints
Before EDSA II, then-Senate president Franklin Drilon referred arguments on Estrada’s corruption allegations to the Senate's Blue Ribbon Committee and the Committee on Justice for joint investigation. Another committee in the House of Representatives investigated the case, while other members of the House wanted the president’s impeachment.
More political figures suggested Estrada’s resignation, including then Manila Cardinal Archbishop Jaime Sin and former presidents Corazon Aquino and Fidel Ramos. Then vice president Macapagal-Arroyo, meanwhile, resigned from her Cabinet position as social welfare secretary to signify her protest.
On November 13, 2000, the House of Representatives led by Speaker Manuel Villar transferred the Articles of Impeachment to the Senate. The impeachment trial formally began in the same month, with then-Supreme Court chief justice Hillario Davide Jr presiding over 21 senators sitting as judges.
Estrada faced the impeachment trial with allegations of bribery, graft and corruption, betrayal of public trust, and culpable violation of the Constitution.
During her own term, Arroyo faced multiple impeachment attempts over the NBN-ZTE deal, human rights violations, the Northrail project, the Mt Diwalwal project, fertilizer fund scam, alleged bribery of members of Congress, and electoral fraud in the 2004 elections, better known as the "Hello Garci" controversy.
Arroyo’s grounds for impeachment were much the same as Estrada's, including betrayal of public trust, culpable violation of the Constitution, bribery, graft, corruption, and other high crimes.
Acquittals
Six weeks after Estrada was found guilty and sentenced to reclusion Perpetua, Arroyo granted him a presidential pardon on October 26, 2007.
On March 24, 2008, television presenter and actress Kris Aquino disclosed that former President Corazon Aquino was diagnosed with colorectal cancer. Senator Aquino appealed for privacy and prayers as their family copes with his mother’s illness. The family declined to disclose the stage of cancer. Chemotherapy sessions start today with a mild continuous dose.
On March 24, 2008, television presenter and actress Kris Aquino disclosed that former President Corazon Aquino was diagnosed with colorectal cancer. Senator Aquino appealed for privacy and prayers as their family copes with his mother’s illness. The family declined to disclose the stage of cancer. Chemotherapy sessions start today with a mild continuous dose.
Last Thursday, Inquirer Lifestyle staged the rousing, filled-to-the-bleachers (despite the heavy rains and flooding) curtain-raiser to its Lifestyle Series of events with “Fitness.Fashion,” a catwalk team-up between some of the country’s top designers and best-selling activewear brands, at the Rigodon Ballroom of the Peninsula Manila in Makati City.
Co-presented with LOOKbook and Samsung, it drew guests who cut across the fields of fashion, business, and commerce, arts, media, and entertainment. With the support of Caltex, Landers, HSBC, Mastercard, Peninsula, Philippine Airlines, PNB, Rustan’s, San Miguel Corporation, Shangri-La Plaza Mall, PLDT, Smart Communications, Viva Entertainment, Asterisk Digital Entertainment, Cornerstone Entertainment Inc., TEAM Tyronne, Eat Bulaga and Frontrow, the show had 12 sought-after designers melding their creations with the latest brand collections: Kipling with Vic Barba; Fila with Lulu Tan-Gan; Nike Golf with Anthony Nocom; Speedo with Louis Claparols; Adidas with Patrice Ramos-Diaz and Rhett Eala; Marks & Spencer with Arcy Gayatin; Aigle and Oxbow with Rajo Laurel; Bench with Joey Samson, Val Taguba, Furne One, Ezra Santos, Albert Andrada, and Michael Cinco; and Puma with Ivarluski Aseron and Randy Ortiz. Also present were JC Buendia, Ito Curata, Tipay Caintic, KC Pusing, Riza Bulawin, Cebu designers Jun Escario, Edwin Ao, OJ Hofer, Lord Maturan, and Philip Rodriguez.
The young guns and millennial designers also showcased their own renditions. Present were Daryl Maat, Paolo Miguel Jaofar, Patrick Lazol, Thian Rodriguez, Michael Leyva, Joseph Bagasao, KC Pusing, Vania Romoff, Wilbur Lang, Rei Escario, Andrea Lopa, Riza Bulawan, Joel Escober, Tipay Caintic, Caroline Alaba, and Bon Hansen.
It that adding features to the kids and teens apparel from Hobbes and Landes, Osh Kosh B’Gosh, Mothercare, Gingersnaps, Chicco, Cotton on Kids, and Big and Small. Followed by the casual pieces from XOXO, Topshop, Topman, Miss Selfridge, Warehouse, Tint, Carbon, Eterno, Paul Smith, American Eagle, Cotton On, 7 for All Mankind, Via Veneto, Onitsuka Tiger, Asics, Kikay, Dune, Kate Spade, Diesel, Zara, Replay, Steve Madden, Bratpack, Muji, AC+632, Firma and Penguin, as well as the latest collection from our very own local designers: Religioso, Albert Andrada, Azucar Clothing, Myth, Joanna Preysler, the latest pieces, and designs were unveiled from Escada Sport, Van Laack, Michael Kors, Furla, LeSportsac, Massimo Dutti and Jewelmer, the menswear collections of designers like Sassa Jimenez, Herbert Custodio Ulysses King, Avel Bacudio, Regine Dulay, Dennis Lustico, DO.SE, Anthony Ramirez, Jerome Ang and M Barretto and the latest collections of top foreign labels including Mango, Cotton On, Giordano and Zara. (Read the fashion report in this Friday’s Lifestyle Fashion and Beauty.)
ABS-CBN brings loyal Kapamilya viewers on a trip down memory lane through its 2019 Christmas station ID.
Dubbed "Family is Forever," the 2019 ABS-CBN Christmas station ID incorporates elements and lyrics from 65 years of its station IDs, plus Christmas features of ordinary people in 2009, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018.
The almost 13-minute video opens with this written message: "Balikan natin ang ilang alaala sa 65 na taon nating pagsasama."
The Kapamilya station's 2019 Christmas ID also features old news footage capturing how the Filipino spirit has remained intact despite the onslaught of super typhoons Ondoy in 2009 and Yolanda in 2013.
The Voice Kids season four coaches Sarah Geronimo, Bamboo, and Lea Salonga, as well as the grand finalists, are next heard singing the "Family is Love" song, which goes by the lyrics, "Pinag-isa tayo ng Diyos at pag-ibig, may iisang puso at iisang tinig. Forever, forever—family is forever."
PAST ABS-CBN CHRISTMAS STATION ID SONGS
The next part showed the opening clip of ABS-CBN’s Christmas station ID in 2009. Titled “Bro, Ikaw ang Star ng Pasko,” this station ID showed parols being carried by a little boy walking along a muddy path, depicting the aftermath of Typhoon Ondoy.
The video then switched to a now grown-up Zaijian Jaranilla holding a parol. Zaijian was one of the main stars featured in the 2009 ABS-CBN Christmas station ID. Back then, he was the lead star of the Kapamilya network’s top-rating series, May Bukas Pa, which popularized the use of “Bro” as a way of addressing God.
Three kids were then shown singing the “Star ng Pasko” theme for their caroling.
The 2019 Christmas station ID also featured ordinary people singing the “Star ng Pasko” song, such as fishermen from Baseco, farmers from Nueva Ecija, doctors and nurses from Taguig, call center agents from Pasig and some members of the Philippine navy.
Pinoys from Cebu and Davao, shoemakers from Marikina, priests, and seminarians from Pampanga were also shown singing the “Star ng Pasko” song, which was mixed with the “Forever, forever, family is forever” lyrics.
A woman from Tahanang Walang Hagdan and a family of three also sang lyrics from the 2015 ABS-CBN Christmas station ID “Thank You For The Love.”
Construction workers from Rizal, stewardesses, and passengers from an airplane ride, Filipinos from Hong Kong and Canada, and a teacher from Tiaong Elementary School in Guiguinto, Bulacan were seen singing the 2017 ABS-CBN Christmas station ID theme song, “Just Love.”
Passengers riding an ordinary bus led the singing of the 2018 ABS-CBN Christmas station ID theme, “Family is Love.”
The station ID also showed the repairs being done after the Baclayon Church in Bohol was destroyed during the 2013 earthquake. Viewers also got a glimpse of the M/V Eva Jocelyn ship that became the typhoon Yolanda tourism symbol.
Villagers from Bohol and Tacloban, soldiers from Zamboanga, Ondoy Survivors from Marikina also sang the “Family is Love” theme.
THEN AND NOW: ABS-CBN CHRISTMAS STATION IDS
The next part featured ABS-CBN stars reuniting with ordinary people who were formerly featured in past station IDs.
The Kapamilya network exhibited old photos from previous station IDs.
The following announcement was then flashed onscreen: “Inimbitahan namin ang ilan sa ating mga Kapamilya mula sa mga nakaraang station ID.”
One of them was a young girl who was a survivor of Typhoon Yolanda in 2013. She was featured in the Kapamilya station ID that same year.
Wearing a “Tulong Na, Tabang Na” shirt, the girl is now all grown-up. “Tulong Na, Tabang Na” shirts were sold by ABS-CBN to raise funds for the victims of super typhoon Yolanda.
Nanay Baby Cerdena, who was teary-eyed after Kim Chiu and Xian Lim surprised her in the 2013 Christmas station ID, was again surprised by Kim in this year’s video.
They were then joined by Love Thy Woman actors Xian, Yam Concepcion, Sunshine Cruz, Eula Valdes, Zsa Zsa Padilla, and Christopher de Leon.
Koro Bangkal Magbikin, who was featured in the 2018 ABS-CBN Christmas station ID, was joined by Kadenang Ginto stars Dimples Romana, Beauty Gonzalez, Andrea Brillantes, Francine Diaz, Albert Martinez, Richard Yap, and Seth Fedelin.
Atty. Roy Lawagan from the Mountain Province was featured with Magpahanggang Wakas stars Jericho Rosales and Arci Munoz in the 2016 ABS-CBN Christmas station ID. This time, Atty. Lawagan was surprised by the Pamilya Mabunga of Pamilya Ko: Sylvia Sanchez, Joey Marquez, Kiko Estrada, Kid Yambao, Kira Balinger, Maris Racal, Mutya Orquia, Raikko Mateo, and JM de Guzman.
Arci is also part of Pamilya Ko, but she was not in the station ID.
The hosts of It’s Showtime–Vice Ganda, Vhong Navarro, Karylle, Jhong Hilario, Ryan Bang, and Amy Perez–surprised Teresita Cachero and Carlo Bautista. They were featured in the 65 Years ng Kwentong Kapamilya station ID.
Teresita was a contestant of “Tawag ng Tanghalan” where she got a hug from Vice.
Rated K host Korina Sanchez had a chat with Amy Mesias, who was featured in the 65 Years ng Kwentong Kapamilya station ID.
ASAP Natin ‘To hosts Regine Velasquez, Ogie Alcasid, Moira dela Torre, and Erik Santos gave a hug to Anthony Bendo, who was also featured in the 65 Years ng Kwentong Kapamilya station ID.
Julius Babao and Karen Davila mingled again with the Response and Action Force Team volunteers in Las Pinas City. They were together during the 2016 station ID.
Banana Sundae stars Pokwang, Ritz Azul, Ryan Bang, Jason Gainza, and JC de Vera mingled with Paul Abubakar, Dra. Khaye Abubakar, and Dra. Kristel Anne Echano, who shared their story in the 65 Years ng Kwentong Kapamilya station ID.
Members of the dance group El Gamma Penumbra, who were seen in the 65 Years ng Kwentong Kapamilya station ID, spent time with ASAP Natin ‘To hosts Sarah Geronimo, Gary Valenciano, Yeng Constantino, Maymay Entrata, Edward Barber, and Darren Espanto.
Liza Soberano and Enrique Gil, who will top-bill the upcoming series Make It With You, spent time with Jan Aure Gascon, who was featured in the 65 Years ng Kwentong Kapamilya station ID.
Arnel Aba, a handicapped swimmer featured in the 2016 Christmas Station ID, spent time with ASAP Natin ‘To hosts Piolo Pascual, Enchong Dee, Morissette Amon, Jona, and Martin Nievera.
Kathryn Bernardo and Daniel Padilla spent time with people from Noordhoff Craniofacial Foundation Philippines, Inc. The institution was featured in the 2016 ABS-CBN Christmas station ID.
The General’s Daughter cast members Arjo Atayde, Ryza Cenon, and Maricel Soriano met up with the representatives of the Educators from the Philippine Institute of the Deaf, who was part of the 2014 ABS-CBN Christmas station ID.
De Vega Family, who was with Toni Gonzaga during the 65 Years ng Kwentong Kapamilya station ID, was surprised again by Toni, together with Home Sweetie Home stars Alex Gonzaga, Bayani Agbayani, Rio Locsin, and Miles Ocampo.
SanDugo cast members Ejay Falcon, Aljur Abrenica, Jessy Mendiola, Elisse Joson, Cherry Pie Picache, and Vina Morales spent time with Fr. Jesus Garcia Manabat, Jr., who was seen in the 65 Years ng Kwentong Kapamilya station ID.
Rudy Gaspillo and Ariel Barrion, who was featured in the 2016 Christmas station ID, were joined by Kahit Minsan Lang stars Richard Gutierrez, Christian Bables, and Rafael Rosell.
Maalaala Mo Kaya host and ABS-CBN executive Charo Santos-Concio joined the women of Women’s Care Center, Inc. The institution was featured in the 2013 Christmas Station ID.
The other women from the same institution were surprised by Starla lead actress Judy Ann Santos and cast members Enzo Pelojero, Jana Agoncillo, Joel Torre, Joem Bascon, and Raymart Santiago.
The Killer Bride cast members Maja Salvador, Geoff Eigenmann, and Joshua Garcia spent time with Estero de Paco volunteers, who were part of the 2014 Christmas station ID.
Your Moment hosts Vhong Navarro and Luis Manzano, and judges Nadine Lustre and Billy Crawford also spent time with the other volunteers from the same institution.
Delilah Dalusag, Emma Nepomuceno, Marilyn Daiton, and Zenaida Jugo from the 65 Years ng Kwentong Kapamilya station ID mingled with Magandang Buhay hosts Jolina Magdangal, Melai Cantiveros, and Karla Estrada.
Dolores Frando from the 2017 Christmas station ID received a hug from TV Patrol anchors Noli de Castro and Gretchen Fullido.
The Garcia family, a family of soldiers from the 2018 Christmas station ID, mingled with A Soldier’s Heart actors Gerald Anderson, Carlo Aquino, Nash Aguas, Vin Abrenica, Jerome Ponce, Yves Flores, and Elmo Magalona.
The hosts of Umagang Kay Ganda, Amy Perez, Winnie Cordero, Gretchen Ho, Jeff Canoy, Ariel Ureta, and Jorge Carino, spent time with the Vista Family, who were featired in the 65 Years ng Kwentong Kapamilya station ID.
Marielle Hernali from the 2016 Christmas station ID was surprised by TV Patrol anchors Ted Failon and Zen Hernandez, while Jefferson and Jhison dela Pena from 2017 Christmas station ID spent time with Bernadette Sembrano.
Ted attended the graduation of Marielle, while Bernadette helped the dela Pena brothers in the first station IDs they were featured.
The Noblezada Family from the 2018 Christmas station ID mingled with FPJ’s Ang Probinsyano stars Coco Martin, Lorna Tolentino, Yassi Pressman, John Arcilla, Bianca Manalo, Rowell Santiago, Michael de Mesa, and Susan Roces.
The other Kapamilya stars shown in the station ID were: Kahit Minsan Lang lead actress Bea Alonzo; Darna lead actress Jane de Leon; iWant originals stars Jodi Sta. Maria, Zanjoe Marudo, Julia Barretto, and Herbert Bautista; Nang Ngumiti ang Langit stars RK Bagatsing, Sophia Reola, Nayomi Ramos, Miguel Vergara, Krystal Mejes; Ipaglaban Mo hosts Atty. Jose and Jopet Sison; Los Bastardos lead stars Albie Casino, Marco Gumabao, and Joseph Marco.
The 2019 ABS-CBN Christmas station ID closed with a series featuring the ABS-CBN executives, stars, and employees from previous station IDs: 1988, 2013, 2016, 2018, and 2019.
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| Notable personalities of the Fitness.Fashion in July 2008. |
From Cory to COVID: An alternative history
When The Philippine STAR was founded 35 years ago, we were still enveloped in the euphoric glow of having successfully deposed a dictator peacefully and installing an icon of democracy in his place.
I was one of that happy throng on EDSA celebrating what we believed was a new dawn of hope, a fresh opportunity for our people to grow in freedom and prosperity. Like many writers, I ran out of metaphors and superlatives to describe that moment, which seemed nothing short of miraculous.
Nowadays it has become commonplace—indeed even fashionable in some quarters—to revise and reject that narrative and to claim that it was a foolish mistake to have replaced a seasoned politician with a rank amateur. Martial law wasn’t so bad; no wanton thievery took place; only a few were hurt for the good of the many; we were never so disciplined, and our streets were never so clean.
How we came to this point—like the resurgence of Nazism in Europe and of racism in Trump’s America—is for me the great mystery of those 35 years, an arc of sorts marked by Cory on one end and by COVID on the other. There’s certainly no pot of gold at the end of this rainbow, as should happen in fairyland—which we rather quickly realized, right after EDSA, was not where we were.
For some such as Jose Rizal, Alexander the Great, Wolfgang Mozart, Manuel Arguilla, Bruce Lee, Eva Peron, and, yes, Jesus Christ, 35 years was a lifetime. You could have been born in a hospital while the tanks were massing at EDSA, and died this year of COVID, gasping for breath in that same place.
Had that happened to me, I would have protested and pleaded, albeit inaudibly through my tubes, that it wasn’t fair, that I deserved a peek over the horizon, at least through to the May election, to see if it was worth the wait—or not, and then slink into sullen slumber.
During that time, I grew from a young father and a writer on the verge of a teaching career to an aching retiree surrounded by old books and creaky machines, and I have to wonder if our nation fared better and learned as much. Or should I say “unlearned”?
At EDSA I learned to hope, to trust in the ideal and the good again, to have positive expectations of the new century looming ahead. FVR and his “Philippines 2000” thumbs-up may have seemed hokey at the time, but there was a genuine spring in that step, a sense of things going in the right direction. And then they began falling apart, the old mistrust and suspicions returned, and we took one president down and nearly succeeded with yet another.
But it wasn’t just us. The closing decades of the 20th century were a time of sweeping changes all over the world. Soon after Marcos fell, a tide of reform and revolution washed across Eastern Europe and eventually into the Soviet Union itself; that union collapsed, the Berlin Wall fell, and it seemed like the era of dictators and despots was over, but it was not. With Hong Kong in its navel, China morphed into a commercial colossus, proving that freedom and capitalism do not necessarily go together. The 1997 financial crisis shook the planet.
After 9/11, whatever remaining hopes we had of a better new century vaporized, and the new specter of terrorism now stalked the globe. Barely had ISIS retreated from the sands of Syria when a new and even more insidious plague, COVID-19, threatened to annihilate mankind.
Others will remember this period as the age of cocaine, corporate greed, mass shootings, and, generally speaking, a culture of excess, of over-the-top indulgence on whatever floated your boat: drugs, sex, money, power, toys. Very few people had actual access to them, but the media—that’s another whole story—kept glorifying vice as a virtue until many began to believe it well enough to dream. It was Dickens’ “best of times and worst of times” all over again.
That would be the sober—and sobering—summary of what tomorrow’s history books will be saying about those decades. But of course—and thankfully—it wasn’t all politics and the misery that often comes with power plays.
There’s a part of me that wants to tell the story of these past 35 years as the rise of consumer technology toward near-total domination of our daily lives. Humor me as I recall little vignettes to show what I mean.
When the EDSA uprising broke out, we heard the news over a big black Panasonic radio cassette player that I had picked up years earlier at the Zamboanga barter trade place (along with the obligatory sotanghon and White Rabbit candies). It was—besides our 12-inch, black-and-white, red plastic-bodied TV—our news and entertainment center in the boonies of San Mateo. It sat on our dinner table, accompanying our meals like a permanent guest, sometimes directing the conversation.
When it spewed out the news that something dramatic was taking place at EDSA, and when we heard Cardinal Sin calling on people to go, we knew we had to. Not long after, we piled into my VW Beetle, turned on its radio for updates, and headed for the trenches. For the next few days or so, radio was king, whether at home, in your car, or in your pocket (yes, boys and girls, there was pocket radio; TV was around but only the coolest people had portable versions).
I missed out on most of the Cory years because I went to America for my graduate studies, and there I became anchored to the payphone for my calls home, clutching a handful of quarters to feed the machine. I had hand-carried an Olympia typewriter to write my thesis on, but then I discovered computers, and in 1991 I lugged home a 20-pound behemoth with all of 10 megabytes to fill up. I felt like a gunslinger—I was going to write the next Noli, protect the weak, and get justice with one floppy disk after another.
Nothing would define the ’90s more than the personal computer, and I soon equated the machine with creation, the blinking cursor with a challenge to produce. I drooled (and lost the plot) when I watched Scully and Mulder hunched over a super-sexy PowerBook 540c in the X-Files, and when I got my own, it was like Moses receiving the tablets—with a trackpad and an active-matrix display.
Soon another gadget emerged with which we felt even more tethered to some central brain: the pager, whose insistent buzz enhanced our importance, even if all it asked was where you were and could you please come home. Fake news had yet to be invented as a cottage industry, but a lot of it, I’m sure, went through EasyCall and PocketBell.
By the time the next EDSA happened, we had something far snappier and more personal than radio with which to undertake regime change. Yes, I was now writing speeches on a Mac, but the messages flew thick and fast on a new gadget—the cellphone.
If EDSA 1 succeeded because of radio, this iteration flew on the wings of SMS, the millions of texts (the jokes, the rumors, the calls to action) whose accretion would spell the end for an inebriated presidency.
As it happened, 2001 would be memorable for another image seared into our consciousness: the collapse of the Twin Towers, brought to us slightly delayed and in full color by satellite TV. We’d had a TV before, of course, but had always seen it more as Comedy Central, a box to gather the family around. CNN changed that and brought the world’s torments to our living rooms. Cheaper TVs, one in every room, had long fragmented the family, especially when Betamax and VHS, the precursors of Netflix, became available.
A few years later, a cellular phone call and a recorder almost took another political giant down, causing millions to gasp and laugh as the tape was replayed on TV and radio over and over. “Ang importante hindi madamay yung sa itaas,” said a female voice, which was exactly what happened. That year, 2005, was also the year a platform called YouTube was born—and thanks to YouTube, the tape can still be heard, for all digital eternity.
Indeed, video, the Internet, and social media would soon change the political and cultural landscape, not just here but the world over, although the Pinoy—perhaps in response to that elusive quest for Olympic gold—has towered over much of humanity in terms of Facebook usage (and earlier, in SMS transmissions). One way of putting it would be that we are the world’s champion users and chismosos, resorting to Twitter or Instagram at the merest hint of an idea, no matter how malformed.
Today we have an abundance of information and information sources at our disposal—and yet we seem to be as ill-informed as ever, with opinions shaped and manipulated by Sith Lords in the Dark Web.
Dismissing newspapers and editors as gatekeepers of the truth—which not all of them have been—we create our own versions and peddle them instantly for a thousand “likes,” the supreme accolade of the early 21st century. Most others might prefer to be simply receivers and forwarders of whatever crosses their screens, the passive agents of mindlessness.
Thirty-five years ago, we drove to EDSA on the pure conviction that it was the right thing to do. Without Twitter or even SMS, no one could tell us “Right on!” or “Me, too!”
We listened for scraps of news and turned them over and over in our hushed minds; we could be killed; we could be free; would our friends be there; what else did we study for. It was a long drive from San Mateo to my in-laws’ place in Project 4, where we parked the car and walked to EDSA. It was a lot of time to think.
Thirty-five years is a lot of time, but looking around today, with Filipinos still dying by the gun or by drowning in one’s own fluids in some alien hospital, I have to wonder how this narrative arc from Cory to COVID will end—or how much longer it will go, at least in my lifetime, which naively still yearns for a happy ending.
Cults, cliques, screens
The excesses of the 1980s led to an astounding political transformation. One of its many consequences was the return of mass media to the private enterprise from government hands. Thus, The Philippine STAR was founded by Betty Go-Belmonte, Max Soliven, and Art Borjal.
This was important and impactful; but there were thousands of other minute changes that would have equally significant if unintended, consequences. Buried among the various executive orders issued by the new President Corazon Aquino was the granting of tax-free privileges to the “balikbayan box,” reflecting the growing importance of the overseas Filipino worker. Indeed, by 1988, the Philippines would be exporting more labor “than any other country except Mexico.”
At about the same time, the pre-paid phone card would be introduced in the United States. Nobody knew it at the time, but both seemingly unrelated events would change the Philippines’ future.
At the time, computers had boring green screens and were intended for corporate cogs and report-writing accountants. That’s what “Microsoft Office” (with its Word and Excel programs, which first appeared in 1990) was for. MTV
On the other hand, the 1990s was an era of exuberantly overdressed women — and underdressed men. It was the era of Karl Lagerfeld for Chanel, Tom Ford for Gucci, while Alexander McQueen, as well as Comme des Garcons, who would all make their debuts.
Merging the world of the supermodel and MTV was Gianni Versace’s 1991 show. It was voted one of the “25 most unforgettable runway shows” of the period and featured Linda Evangelista, Cindy Crawford, Naomi Campbell, and Christy Turlington “arm in arm down the runway, lip-synching the lyrics to George Michael’s Freedom” in exactly the same way as they appeared in the music video. Where was Instagram when you needed it? cried Vogue magazine.
Dragging the Philippines away from the brink of becoming excruciatingly predictable with the likes of Mother Lily and the Shake, Rattle, and Roll franchise, was Ben Chan. It was Bench to the rescue with the atmospheric, exquisitely chic Richard Gomez, rowing away in the “Scully” ad of 1991, which was followed by “Saddle” a few years later. (Who cared about the crushing brownouts of 1990?)
PBA and Pacman
The other favorite category of “grown men thundering down a basketball court in their underwear” belonged under the heading PBA, for the Philippine Basketball Association.
In its heyday under Bobong Velez’s Vintage Enterprises, this “play for pay” league spawned the first of the multi-millionaire athletes in the form of Alvin Patrimonio, Jojo Lastimosa, and Jerry Codinera, who also introduced the sport to a whole generation of colegialas. Alvin, in particular, would be one of the most stellar, earning kilometric titles as a four-time Most Valuable Player and an astounding 10-time member of the Mythical First Team. The public hysteria was so rabid that his love letters would make it to the front page news...
But it would be Manny Pacquiao who would cast the longest shadow. Pacman would reign over four decades of sports, from the 1990s to the present. He would be described as, “pound for pound,” one of the top boxers of all time. He was certainly one of the planet’s highest-paid, reaping as much as a total of $1 billion from his pay-per-view fights — and would become a beacon (like Josie Natori) for that elusive thing called “Pinoy Pride.”
The internet cometh — and goeth
The internet officially, but quietly, arrived in the Philippines in March 1994, opening the doors for online “bulletin boards” and websites as media platforms. It was accessed, however, by a contraption called “dial-up modems” — yes, connected through the phone lines that decoded audio signals, thus the scratch and screech that heralded every successful internet connection.
There was a flurry of important movements in Silicon Valley — Yahoo had also been established in 1994. Also in the same year, Jeff Bezos would “found Amazon in his garage.” At the onset, it was merely a charming online market for books but quickly expanded to all kinds of stuff, from gee-gaws to pool tables, to caftans and children’s toys.
In 2015, Amazon rightly called itself a “disruptor,” another 21st- century term, for upending the norm.
Established shortly after was Google, which sprang into being as a tech company now best known as a verb for looking up facts and mapping out one’s life through its search engine and email.
There were losers and winners in this gung-ho age: MySpace, for one, which in 2005 was the largest social networking site in the world, once rivaling Yahoo and Google in several visits. (Let’s not even talk about EasyCall and PocketBell, which for the young, were paging services that sent alerts using people’s phone numbers.)
The country would become slowly glued to other screens for cable TV, with the coming of Sky in 1990, Home in 1992, and Destiny in 1995. The point was just to watch blockbuster reruns on a service called Home Box Office (HBO), which everyone in Hollywood said would never succeed.
But in the Philippines, all the action was taking place on mobile phones. Globe Telecoms and Smart Communications would go head to head — and there was a time when it seemed that their marketing departments were speaking to each other only through salvo upon salvo of lavish full-page newspaper ads and giant billboards advertising the next big thing in services, entertainment, and music.
You might say their sponsorships would change the Filipino entertainment scene: bringing in foreign acts — from Linkin Park to The Corrs — several times a year, and contributing to the 1990s’ beginnings of internationalism.
Multi-Tasking and ‘Marimar’
In 1995 — alongside the arrival of Windows 95 — a curious term called “multi-tasking” began to appear in the world’s vocabulary.
It was a special time in Manila, with both Barbara Cartland and her radio equivalent of agony, “Uncle Joe D’Mango,” flourishing. (Barbara Cartland’s daughter, the Countess of Spencer, would become the stepdaughter of a real-life life princess, Lady Diana, an HRH until she died in 1997.)
Manila would go “Latino” beginning with the hugely popular series Marimar in 1994, going from peak to peak with the “Macarena” in 1996 and Ricky Martin in between.
The Asian financial crisis may have dampened the economy in 1997, but PinoyExchange was founded in 1999 and in its heyday would spread its wings to some 1.5 million members. It was a rudimentary form of social media and would introduce such words as “flamed” for outspoken criticism.
Wikipedia and Texting
Wikipedia happened in 2001 — but because internet services remained uneven, its impact had not yet impacted the Philippines. It was texting that was king.
In May 2001, said Michelle Lichauco in this very same paper, “More than 30 million text messages are transmitted daily, twice as many as in all of Europe. There are only over a million personal computers vis-a-vis the current population of 79 million Filipinos, according to the International Telecommunications Union.”
By contrast, “the Philippine Internet Service Organization estimates that there are 400,000 internet service subscribers in the Philippines. This includes a mixture of multi-user accounts, use of pre-paid internet access (and an oddity called ‘Internet cafés’ — think Starbucks without the actual P200 coffees). A total number of users in the Philippines has been estimated at around 2 million or 2.5 percent of the population as of 2000.”
Lichauco further observed, “Cellular mobile phone services began in the country only in 1991 and since then, the rise in the number of subscribers has been remarkable. As against two million internet subscribers, there are 4.5 million mobile phone users in the Philippines, exceeding the three million fixed-line subscribers.
“The Philippines has become by far the global capital of text messaging, a feature of digital cell phones which has been ignored in many other countries. SMS has taken off dramatically in the Philippines because of the affordability of the service compared to expensive internet access on the computer. With the introduction of pre-paid accounts with no monthly fees or need for credit history, the service became even more affordable and accessible to people.” (At the time, texts were being charged at a peso per 150 characters. Can you imagine a time when you were also charged upon receiving a text — especially one from overseas? Those were the dark days before “unlitext” and “unlicall.”)
It was a matter of time until texting would not just be used to make appointments or send lovey-dovey notes. As early as 2001, Lichauco said, People Power Dos was staged with the help of email blasts, text spams, and 200 websites marshaled to spread everything from “lighthearted jokes to a signature campaign demanding the president’s resignation.”
Time magazine reported that the volume of SMS jumped from 30 million messages a day to record levels of 70 million during the last days of the impeachment trial and EDSA 2.
But just three years before, in 1998, Nokia was the “best-selling mobile phone in the world.” Its operating profit, already an outlandish $1 billion in 1995, would raise a billion a year to top $4 billion in 1999.
A bite of the Apple
In the new millennium, Apple would finally begin to be taken seriously — but for computers and music. In 2001, it would introduce the iMac and the iPod, two brands that need no introduction.
In the same year, a curious announcement was made in the BBC: the launch of the first camera phone, which was thought to be as improbable as Dick Tracy’s walkie-talkie watch. Readers would write in the comments section that it would “have some news for teens shopping for clothes” and perhaps “to take photos of car accidents for insurance purposes.”
Nokia’s “bestselling mobile phone of all time,” the Nokia 1100, was still waiting to be created in 2003. In 2007 — when Apple would introduce a curiosity known as the iPhone (along with iTunes) — Nokia would still control half of all smartphones in the world and Apple would have a mere five-percent share. (Incidentally, the Android OS was being worked on stealthily at about the same time.)
Apple introduced its app store in 2008 but it was “putting the internet into the nation’s pocket” with the iPhone that would truly make the difference. (By 2018, Apple would make history by exceeding $1 trillion in value as a company.)
By the 2000s, the Filipino diaspora had become a tidal wave. The Philippine economy experienced a whole decade of growth from 2004 to 2013, leading to the rise of a visible middle class.
OFWs were no longer distant planets, orbiting in space from the First World. Thanks to connections forged by text and the internet, remittances would become the lifeblood of the country.
International hybrids
Beginning with those balikbayan boxes — filled with the riches of another world — the families of the OFWs would next replenish the perfumes and designer purses, imported food and fashions that they had come to know and crave.
By the late ’90s, a growing internationalism dominated consumer tastes. Empires like Koalition Zoo, Sari-Sari, and Linea Italia department stores were collateral damage as the fortunes of behemoths SM Mall, Rustan’s, and Stores Specialists Inc. increased exponentially. SM advanced the concept of American-style malls that grouped hundreds of stores and fast-food outlets under one roof; while SSI scattered the world’s top brands across the city in free-standing boutiques. (Think not just United Colors of Benetton but also Zara of SSI, Gucci, Prada, Hermès.)
Top Filipino retailer Bench expanded and brought in brands such as Paul Smith, American Eagle, Aldo, Charles & Keith, and Korean brand Faceshop. Its Dimensione furniture shop brought in several brands like Fritz Hansen and Cappellinni.
In recent years Bench has pushed its "Love Local" campaign promoting a nationalistic mindset among shoppers.
Foreign retailers such as Mango arrived in 1999 had an astonishing 34 stores in 2015. Its success would attract other giants such as H&M in 2014 and, just in this year, furniture giant IKEA.
There was an explosion of reality TV in the 2000s — from Survivor and American Idol to our very own edition of Big Brother. But there was also the Korean Wave or hallyu that happened. There was Endless Love, followed by Sassy Girl and Winter Sonata, which had its very own tours, to Boys Over Flowers till the worldwide success of BTS. From American freaks to Asian hybrids, Filipinos embraced all things Korean.
Korea taught us the value of “soft culture” — the power to persuade not through armed might but through subtle invasion through TV and films, food, and fashion. One suspects it also made values such as love of country popular.
Books like Fashionable Filipina finally gave the terno its due and would become an important cultural milestone, culminating in the celebrity-swarmed annual “Ternocons” featuring Philippine designers who had also made good abroad, including the talented Lesley Mobo.
Budget airlines pushed not just international travel but a rediscovery of the country’s glories. Resorts throughout the islands blossomed such as in Siargao and Bohol, which both featured a more organic growth and a deeper awareness of nature and sustainable environments, both all-new concepts.
And yes, as the Department of Tourism slogan says, “It’s more fun in the Philippines.”
OFWs, BPOs, the rise of the middle class
By 2015, the UN said that the permanent Filipino emigrant population had reached 5.3 million — while our own government said that it had actually numbered double or 10.2 million representing a staggering tenth of our total population. It signaled that the diaspora had become a significant part of Filipino culture.
It was not just a new economy with a brand-spanking-new middle class, it was a new value system that was both vocal and demanding. Filipinos were no longer the same creatures that stoically withstood a 20-year dictatorship, yearly floods, and typhoons nor the crushing brownouts. (New Yorkers, for example, had been known to riot after just a few minutes of darkness.)
More than just duty-free goods, or “branded” items, we wanted international standards of living: better roads, safer streets, fuller lives. When the “Tanim Bala” scandal of 2015 broke out, victimizing the OFW passenger, all hell broke loose.
OFWs, after all, brought in as much as $34 billion in 2018. It made the Philippines the fourth-highest recipient of inward remittances after India, China, and Mexico, according to the World Bank.
But there was a second phenomenon waiting in the wings: the BPO (Business Process Outsourcing) company or call center began to take center stage in the 2000s (although the first one ever was established in 1997). A new generation, working in a different time zone, became the first customers of the 24-hour store. Marketing specialists called their obsessions the ‘Three C’s” — for coffee, cigarettes, and (ulp!) condoms, auguring a new era of “free love.”
The total disposable incomes of both — the OFW and the BPO gnome — would create a housing boom like no other, with construction unable to keep up with demand, in particular, for the high-rise condo. Colliers Philippines data showed that as of the end of 2019, there were an estimated 130,000 condominium units across key business hubs in Metro Manila not only in Makati but also in the burgeoning enclaves of Fort Bonifacio (now known as BGC) and the reclaimed Bay Area around Roxas Boulevard.
Facebook would be established in 2004, primarily for Harvard students; YouTube, in 2005, ironically put together by three very bored PayPal employees. Its video-sharing service would attract two billion viewers at least once a month — Gangnam Style sensation Psy’s single 2012 video alone would attract one billion views. YouTube would change hands to Google for a dollar for every one of those views, or a cool $1 billion.
Remember the first camera phone of 2001? Well, when it was merged with the internet — and photos could be sent not just over email but through texts and other media — a sea change occurred. (A brief flirtation with “blogging” — now replaced by “vlogging” — was a sort of granddaddy to the social media experience.)
Instagram made all the difference. Wikipedia reports that while it launched in 2010, it attracted one million registered users in two months, 10 million in a year, and one billion as of June 2018. As of October 2015, over 40 billion photos had been uploaded.
Web-based communications would become even more evolved with Facebook Messenger (revamped from Facebook Chat in 2008), WhatsApp in 2009, and Viber in 2010, which allowed the exchange of photos, videos, and word files apart from text messages. To make things even more interesting, Snapchat introduced disappearing pictures in 2011 and Viber brought in “secret conversations” in 2017.
Home-wrecking and women
These cloaking apps may have put a slight dent in home-wrecking (marriage-busting) texts, which popped up if you happened to accidentally read your spouse’s screen uninvited — but they did not put an end to the Philippines’ fender benders and traffic mishaps due to SMS-ing.
In 2018, a total of 117,000 car crashes were recorded just in Metro Manila alone. Of course, said the Philippine National Police, nobody ever actually admitted to texting while driving — in the same way, a married man never admits to texting anyone else but his wife. The politely termed “human error” excuse amounted to 90 percent of the reported cases.
Not surprisingly, romance novels — once the chief entertainment of females suffered a massive decline as women turned to Twitter and Instagram, and yes, Keeping up with the Kardashians, allowing the founding of the sisters’ huge cosmetic and lingerie empires.
Filipinas were becoming an economic force on their own, leading the country in college graduates by up to five percentage points for more than a decade according to the National Statistics Board. She was most interested in business administration while her male counterparts enrolled in criminology and information technology (IT).
Shockingly, one out of seven women reported having been subjected to physical violence, according to PNP statistics between 2012 and 2021. That situation may soon be righted: as of September 2020, a third of the almost 14,000 elected officials were women, including 39 percent of the congresspersons, 35 percent of the mayors, and 23 percent of the police force.
Social media zombies and COVID-19
By 2011, Nielsen Philippines said that the internet took over urban centers with over 43 percent of Filipinos gaining access. Of those, 67 percent admitted to visiting social networking sites.
Just five years later, fewer Filipinos are communicating via text messaging as most cellphone users in the country have switched to online chats and messenger apps, the Department of Information and Communications Technology said. There was a 40 percent drop in text messaging over the next three years, with the same percentage of mobile phone users shifting to online messaging by 2016.
By 2018, the Philippines topped the world in social media usage as 67 million people spent almost four hours a day on social media sites such as Facebook. The following year, it was named the biggest user of the internet in the world, becoming the longest-duration internet surfers, with each user spending an astounding 10 hours a day on various electronics, such as computers, smartphones, and smart TVs.
Political and social discourse not surprisingly underwent a massive upheaval with the monumental upsurge of Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. It created a nation divided as accusations were made of troll farms and echo chambers, as well as algorithms that seemingly magnified issues, news, and statements.
As of 2020, Facebook claimed 2.8 billion monthly active users and ranked seventh in global internet usage. “FB” was the most downloaded mobile app of the 2010s.
The internet would also become a hunting ground for criminals, mimicking the dark dystopian worlds of The Walking Dead zombies and Hunger Games. “Hacking” would become a word in 2005, the same with “black hat” and “phishing,” which stood for villains and the machinations to separate one from one’s bank account passwords.
In 2016, the Bank of Bangladesh caper began with a seemingly harmless email sent to the Fed that contained malware and would become the country’s first billion-peso caper, a precursor to 2021’s ransomware of America’s energy and hospital networks. The arrival of cryptocurrencies has made this only more possible.
The COVID pandemic simply accelerated the shift from the real to the virtual even faster: from work-from-home offices to virtual entertainment in online gaming and Netflix.
Social distancing turned Philippine education into distance learning. However, the lack of internet infrastructure and online access forced public schools to turn to a method called modular learning, which required the massive publication (in the hundreds of millions) of learning modules. Private schools were able to shift to virtual classrooms through Google Classroom and Vibal’s Vsmart learning management system.
E-commerce finally took off with the wild success of Lazada, Shopee, and a whole slew of Viber-powered merchants for ube pandesal and sushi bake. (In response, Automated Teller Machines or ATMs are expected to give way to payment channels such as G-Cash.) Cryptocurrencies have become the easily imaginable future.
The 2020s have become an era — post-Avenger hunks, of course — of scantily dressed women with followers as plentiful as a small city and men with net worths even bigger than the European Union. (Nowadays, someone who’s down to their last $100 million is considered simply middle-class.) Big numbers continue to dominate in every pastime and auctions continue to help you keep count. (Incidentally, León Gallery’s stats show that while 40 percent of its bids are still done live, another 40 percent is by phone — mostly via mobile — and 20 percent through the internet.)
But there are glimmers of light up ahead.
One of the most arresting exhibitions of the last decade was one titled “The Inverted Telescope,” conceptualized by the artist Angel Shaw Velasco. It played with the concept of examining things and first seeing them upside down for a split-second before the brain righted them. In truth, in a sea of fake news, memes, and self-produced content, there will always be room for the curated experience created by professionals.
And once again, The Philippine STAR continues to make a successful transition, this time to the online world by providing exactly that. (At the moment, it has more followers, interestingly enough, than even the Department of Education, Meralco, and the University of the Philippines.) It’s no wonder, since its painstakingly written output, carefully photographed, edited, and vetted, makes all the difference in making us kinder, smarter, and more human in the decades ahead. Here’s to the next 35.
WATCH: Kapamilya stars sing ‘Andito Tayo Para Sa Isa’t Isa’
ABS-CBN released on Monday the lyrics video of “Andito Tayo Para Sa Isa’t Isa,” the theme song of its 2021 Christmas ID, featuring the voices of several Kapamilya superstars and artists.
The all-star recording includes Sharon Cuneta, Regine Velasquez, Vice Ganda, Sarah Geronimo, Ogie Alcasid, Piolo Pascual, Zsa Zsa Padilla, Martin Nievera, Gary Valenciano, KZ Tandingan, and Erik Santos.
The superstar pairing of Kathryn Bernardo and Daniel Padilla, as well as new-generation love teams Belle Mariano and Donny Pangilinan, and Andrea Brillantes and Seth Fedelin also lent their voices to the inspirational tune.
Pop performers Darren Espanto and Iñigo Pascual, plus the breakout P-pop boy group BGYO complete the lineup of singers of “Andito Tayo Para Sa Isa’t Isa.”
The song was written by Love Rose de Leon, Robert Labayen, and Thyro Alfaro, with music composed by Alfro and Xeric Tan. Its lyrics were translated to English by Ma. Lourdes Parawan.
The lyrics video of “Andito Tayo Para Sa Isa’t Isa” was created by ABS-CBN Creative Communication Management Division headed by Labayen, Johnny delos Santos, and ABS-CBN COO Cory Vidanes.
The tune is “a loving tribute to our everyday heroes, the people who continually give us hope, strength and inspiration to keep moving forward despite the challenges,” ABS-CBN said.
“The song tells the story of how the Filipinos are able to overcome life’s hardships by having faith in God and by working together in love.”
The premiere date of the official Christmas ID music video has yet to be announced.
“Andito Tayo Para Sa Isa’t Isa” (We are here for each other) is also the latest version of ABS-CBN’s campaign to continue being of service to Filipinos despite its franchise denial that forced shut its free-TV and radio broadcast.
“Andito Kami Para Sa ‘Yo” was launched in May, the anniversary month of Channel 2 signing off, to inform Kapamilya viewers of the alternative platforms where they can access ABS-CBN programs.
“Andito Kami Dahil Sa Inyo,” meanwhile, was the ABS-CBN station ID that marked the first anniversary of its franchise being denied by a congressional panel.
The annual Christmas IDs of ABS-CBN have become a pop culture phenomenon, with its tunes and themes becoming Christmas fixtures for Filipinos here and overseas.
ABS-CBN’s ‘Andito Tayo Para Sa Isa’t Isa’ Christmas ID
Ushering in the holiday season, ABS-CBN premiered on Friday its 2021 Christmas ID, “Andito Tayo Para Sa Isa’t Isa,” featuring stories of family, community, and faith.
As in past iterations of the seasonal music video, Kapamilya stars and personalities took part in communicating ABS-CBN’s “loving tribute to our everyday heroes, the people who continually give us hope, strength and inspiration to keep moving forward despite the challenges.”
“The song tells the story of how the Filipinos are able to overcome life’s hardships by having faith in God and by working together in love,” ABS-CBN said.
“Andito Tayo Para Sa Isa’t Isa” was written by Love Rose de Leon, Robert Labayen, and Thyro Alfaro, with music composed by Alfaro and Xeric Tan. Its lyrics were translated to English by Ma. Lourdes Parawan.
The annual Christmas IDs of ABS-CBN have become a pop culture phenomenon, with its tunes and themes becoming holiday staples for Filipinos here and overseas.
Notably, the 2009 offering “Bro, Ikaw Ang Star ng Pasko” has become an iconic tune for Yuletide season, while the 2013 song “Magkasama Tayo sa Kwento ng Pasko” became an anthem for recovery from the Yolanda devastation, with an updated version specifically recorded for fundraising efforts at the time.
“Fitness.Fashion” also scored a coup with the runway debut of fitness enthusiast and sports advocate Sen. Pia Cayetano. 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Chazz, Halimatu Yushawu, Hipon Budol, Elaine Timbol, Almira Teng, Boobsie Wonderland, Krissy, Yuan Francisco, Angelica Ulip, Leanne Bautista, Will Ashley, Bruce Roeland, Sofia Pablo, Kelvin Miranda, Alonzo Muhlach, Johnvic de Guzman, Joric Tan, Kianna Dy, JC Santos, Tommy Esguerra, Donny Pangilinan, Hannah Pangilinan, Alwyn Uytingco, Vin Abrenica, RK Bagatsing, Victor Silayan, John James Uy, Shaira Mae Dela Cruz, Xian Lim, Jeric Teng, Dimples Romana, Callie Romana, Anton del Rosario, Armand del Rosario, Paulo Pingol, Kenneth Cruz, Vince Ferraren, Jessie Lacuna, Charlie Walker, Ken Uy, Ariana Herranz, Hannah Dato, Celina Gonzalez, Ingrid Ilustre, Kim Uy, Chloe Daos, Donnalyn Bartolome, Jeric Medina, Issa Pressman, LA Aguinaldo, Slick Rick, Tony Toni, Marj Sia, Harry Cheng, Glenn Carandang, Obee Ham, Michael Coson, Coleen Garcia, Tom Taus, Andi Eigenmann, Gino Quillamor, Erwan Heussaff, Georgina Wilson, Liz Uy, BJ Pascual, Charina Sarte, Dong Ronquillo, Nix Alanon, Batara Sianturi, Tony Boy Escalante, Juan Carlos Dominguez, Luigi Nuñez, Miguel Luis Villafuerte, Martine Cajucom, Sam Lee, Johan Aguilar, Joseph Pascual, Hannah Espia, Mike Concepcion, Anna Oposa, Soleil Ignacio, Tracianne Estrada, Trasienne Estrada, Nix Damn P!, Pepe Diokno, Luis and Carina Santos, Hannah Reyes, Bong Rojales, Rossy Yabut, Paul Jatayana, AJ Omandac, Micaela Benedicto, Mike Benedicto, Bobby Benedicto, Rik Rasos, Pat Bondoc, JBoy Gob, Chester Saldua, Eva Psychee Patalinjug, Glennifer Perido, Maria Jackielyn Dulay, Alexandra Faith Garcia, Mike Dela Cruz, Robert Bolick, Ian Batherson, Mark Thompson, Chris Schneider, Aryanna Epperson, Kito Romualdez, Curt Dizon, Camille Ramos, KZ Tandingan, Arron Villaflor, Lilet Esteban, Monica Cuenco, Will Devaughn, Mariel de Leon, Kristel Moreno, Alyana Marie Chapman, Sarah Lahbati, Eunice Lagunsad, Pam Prinster, Trixie Maristela, Dindi Gallardo, Ali Khatibi, Addlib Crew, Angelica Yap, Nina Jose, Nadine Samonte, Miguel Luna, Mayton Eugenio, Julian Trono, Aaron DeTommaso, Dentrix Ponce, Danes Lee, David Licauco, Victoria Gonzalo, Marco Hillerstam, Davon Potts, Brandon Vera, Marco Sario, Kiana Valenciano, Cholo dela Cruz, Jan Louie Ngo, Sherwin Yao, Wryan Chua, Raffy Reyes, Julian Sean, Yogo Singh, Jema Galanza, Jomaru Amangan, Chelsea Santillan, Ranya Musa, Josh Villanueva, Jasmine Rivera, Nikki Pamintuan, Miguel Barlisan, Mia Tamayo, Carl Tamayo, Forthsky Padrigao, Wilson Baltazar, Anjo Pertierra, Radge Tongco, Gerry Abadiano, Evan Nelle, Rox Montealegre, Igee King, Brandy Kramer, Arvin Tolentino, Anthony Semerad, David Semerad, Anjo Pertierra, Apple David, Benzi Yang, Geraldine Roman, Katrina Tantoco-Lobregat, Trisha Bunye-Rojas, Tita Trillo, Christine Dayrit, Kaye Zorrilla-Gamboa, Sheree Chua, Ann Ong, Nikki Tang, Maureen Disini, Guilmer dela Torre, Lars Sunga, Edward Dixon, Brent Paraiso, Tanner Mata, Tyler Mata, Emilio Francisco Perez, Loisa Andalio, Sofia Andres, Maria Fabiana, Ronnie Alonte, Khalil Ramos, Maris Racal, Ivan Dorschner, Julian Flores, Lauren Reid, Kenzo Gutierrez, Alex Diaz, Ryle Santiago, Jameson Blake, Karen Reyes, Klea Pineda, Lharby Policarpio, Jak Roberto, Kelley Day, Zeus Collins, Sue Ramirez, Joaquin Manansala, Jovani Manansala, James Reid, Nadine Lustre, JM de Guzman, Joshua Colet, Ben Isaac, Jess Wilson, G3 San Diego, Vivoree Esclito, Gretchen Fullido, Jerico Estregan, Eric Ejercito, Denice Dinsay, Kylie Verzosa, Alice Dixon, Tippy Dos Santos, Nico Bolzico, Richard Juan, Chi Gibbs, Anton Cruz, Cristalle Belo-Henares, Justin Pitt, Vicki Belo, Hayden Kho, Luis Manzano, Jaime Ponce de Leon, Lucien Dy Tioco, Ben Wintle, Jerry Acuzar, June Mar Fajardo, Julius Babao, Chester Luy, Joseph Calata, Francis Libiran, Alfonso Chusuey, Kris Janson, Luke Jickain, Jay Gonzaga, Paolo Balanag, Mark Oblea, Lance Raymundo, Janina Raval, Stacey Gabriel, Sexbomb New Generation, Yohan Hwang, Tricia Canilao, Lawrence Mossman, Guji Lorenzana, Xyruz Cruz, Alyana Asistio, Keann Johnson, Catherine Rem, Michele Gumabao, Marco Gumabao, Kat Gumabao, Miggy Jimenez, Jayla Villaruel, Joshua Eugenio, Jenzel Go, Danita Paner, Sophie Albert, Hailey Mendes, Janina Vela, Jayda Avanzado, Rayt Carreon, Chloe Cortez, Andre Drilon, Pat Sugui, Jacob Munez, LA Revilla, Denden Lazaro, Kaye Tinga, Rosenthal Tee, Champ Lui Pio, Mike Carandang, JP Anglo, Paolo Maranan, Noel Cabangon, Chie Filomeno, Fabio Ide, Aubrey Miles, Troy Montero, Jasmine Curtis-Smith, Miko Raval, Dominic Roque, Ellen Adarna, Chris Banchero, Ex-Battalion, Momoland, Sinon Loresca, Jr., Dyan Castillejo, Matthew Garcia, Rhys Miguel Eugenio, Seth Fedelin, Jimuel Pacquiao, Nio Tria, Raven Rigor, Lance Carr, Ashton Salvador, Analain Salvador, Kyron Aguilera, Andrea Abaya, Kobie Brown, BakClash Divas, Kisses Delavin, Broadway Boys, Music Hero Band, Kayla Rivera, Macho Men, Ian Veneracion, Jed Madela, K Brosas, Klarisse De Guzman, Kuh Ledesma, Moira dela Torre, Piolo Pascual, Zephanie Dimaranan, Verniece Enciso, Vern Enciso, TJ Monterde, Xander Angeles, Cocoy Ponce, Chris Nick Delos Reyes, Joanna Eden, Cassandra Laforteza, Kat de Jesus, CJ Cansino, James Maliwat, Billy Crawford, Mark Anthony Fernandez, Maria Lourdes Clemente, Jack Kalingking, Rey Taneo, Jr., Noel Kampton, John Roa, Marion Aunor, Caelan Tiongson, Yuki, Devon Seron, Kathleen Paton, AC Bonifacio, Matt Padilla, AC Lalata, Ken San Jose, Nicole Joslin Macapagal, Joshua Feliciano, John Galinato, Kristof Garcia, John Cauilan, John Vidal, Kimson Tan, Sabu, Angel Guardian, Ana de Leon, Kyle Almeda, Kleif Almeda, Jaime Ararao, Mavy Legazpi, Cassy Legazpi, Manolo Pedrosa, BJ Sy, Julian Rodriguez, Jaime Borromeo, Sarah Abad, Nina Dolino, Christian Morones, Ashley Diaz, Via Ortega, Luana Ide, Rein Adriano, Race Matias, Keagan de Jesus, Margo Midwinter, Lianne Valentine, Adela Mae Marshall, Mafe Galanza, Joshua Ramirez, Migs Gomez, Ysabel Ortega, Mikee Misalucha, Fili Nepomuceno, Joaquin Domagoso, Rico Blanco, Jon Lucas, Rafa Siguion-Reyna, Anjo Damiles, Angela Alarcon, Erin Ocampo, Faye Lorenzo, Sarah Picardal, Aeshana Dabu, Rouge, Mark Streigl, Vien King, Charles Raymond Law, Nathaniel Tulabut, Karl Aquino, Chanel Morales, Andrew Figueroa, Benj Pangilinan, Von Pessumal, Joshua Torralba, Kib Montalbo, Timo Pangilinan, RJ dela Fuente, True Faith, Vianna Mae, Coleen Jasmin Tan, Sleep Alley, Blind Side, AP Manlapaz, Marco Gallo, Sofia Novielle Santos, Color The Era, FourPlay, Lila Blanca, Gabe Pineda, Jerald Napoles, Carlo Mendoza, Marjorry Lingat, Aljon Salonga, Jane de Leon, Miguel Tan, Bianca Rufino, Gene Padilla, Kamille Filoteo, Migz Diokno, Xia Bernardo, Sophia Bianca, Michaela Torres, Sean Cedro, Isid, Captured The Midnight, Esseca, Miguel Ray Valid, Schumi, Young Vito, Benj Manalo, PAR, Kara Madrid, Sophia Parojinog, Mark Atienza, Eina Ancheta, Hannah Balahadia, Cariza Asuncion, Claudine Villanueva, Nina Flores, Hillary Tan, Ivan Morriel, Ayumi Takezawa, Darwin Yu, Karissa Toliongco, Z Mejia, Enzo Santiago, Axel Torres, Tysh Basa, Ronan Bearis, Basty Herrera, Carl Saliente, Sam Cafranca, Michelle Bèliso, John Cortez, Mike Cabrera, Bryan Olano, Anthony Jennings, Arielle Roces, Belle Mariano, Charlie Dizon, CJ Salonga, Daniela Stranner, Gillian Vicencio, Jeremiah Lisbo, Kaori Oinuma, Patrick Quiroz, Markus Paterson, Myrtle Sarrosa, Eric Tai, Baileys Acot, Ayeesha Cervantes, Sunshine Guimary, X Factor, Victor Pring, Marc Marasigan, Nik Makino, Raf Davis, Ace Yabut, Alexa Miro, Rochelle Lim, Janica Reloxe, MC Muah, Lassy Marquez, Jake Ejercito, Christian Estrada, Kayden Soriano, Tobie Blas, Philip Dulla, Ana Jalandoni, Kelsey Meritt, Clifford Pusing, John Henry Villanueva, Jose Sarasola, Jamir Zabarte, Ashley Sarmiento, Heath Jornales, Glen Vargas, Julia Esguerra, Carmel Arzaga, Juztine Buenaflor, MJ Meredores, Eina Amante, Kristine Hammond, Luis Hontiveros, Michael Leyva, Lito Tayag, Eric Po, Angelo Emilio Aguinaldo, James Buskowitz, Brian Poe Llamanzares, Alvin Elchico, Yanyan De Jesus, Angela Robson, Macoy Dubs, Wilbert Ross, Derleen Cadua, Charmaine Aranton, Gilian Oasin, Drei Roxas, Jen Bonifacio, Krissha Viaje, Marcus Virgilius, Thal Angeles, Jenn Quinto, Ziarah Gutierrez, Sab Aggabao, Katarina Rodriguez, Santino Rosales, Gino Roque, Juliana Parizcova Segovia, Erika Rae Poturnak, Joao Constancia, Abed Green, Nikki de Moura, Marc David, Rowi Du, Damien Kyros Mutia, Julia Barretto, Gardo Verzosa, Rob Deniel, Gab Yabut, Dave Duque, Gabrielle Hann Lopez, Coleen Paz, Sophia King, Vanessa Pena, Stanley Salvadora, Lyme Arana, Shanelle Agustin, Valerie Marshall, Kaehla, Anna Luna, Kyo Quijano, Cj Villavicencio, Andrew Gan, Ian Pangilinan, Swerab Smith, Paolo Pangilinan, Diego Gutierrez, KD Estrada, Royce Cabrera, Lyca Gairanod, Justin Uy, Kris Bernal, Mary Grace De Leon, Clarence Delgado, Patricia Coma, Jasmine Henry, Maxine Medina, Bini, BGYO, DJ Eva Ronda, Nerissa Llobrera, Brigiding Aricheta, JM Salvado, Lexx Eway, Baron Geisler, Daryl Ong, Rey Abellana, Gab Moreno, Shaira Lagman, Lara Fortuna, Bril Juan, Migs Villasis, Christine Samson, Leo Consul, Paul Cervantes, Kennedy Nakar, Claudia Barretto, Sean De Guzman, Irma Adlawan, Justin Besana, Rosh Barman, Gio Ramos, Ezekiel Fondevilla, JR Royol, Andre Yllana, Nicole Chan, Yesh Burce, Matthew Ong, Quinn Carillo, Rain Matienzo, Ashley Alcayde, Alyanna Angeles, Sam Cruz, Anji Salvacion, Danica Ontengco, Margaux Montana, Angelica Lao, Renshi de Guzman, Jeremy Glinoga, Sheena Belarmino, Sean Tristan, Raphael Robes, Kim Baranda, Liz Alindogan, Angel Peña, Ashley Amadure, Liofer Pinatacan, Jie-Ann Armero, Amanda Zamora, Ralph Malibunas, Chico Alicaya, Ella Cayabyab, Quincy Villanueva, Alyssa Exala, Gail Banawis, Aizyl Tandugon, Crismar Menchavez, Mika Pajares, Russu Laurente, Justin Dizon, Bianca de Vera, Karina Bautista, Joe Vargas, Kaloy Tingcungco, Jason Galvez, Louie Caminade, Camille Rose Tarrosa, Kaleb Ong, Ann Colis, Jeffrey Hidalgo, Jessma Ramos, Joshua Retamar, Philmar Alipayo, Bang Pineda, Jehramae Trangia, Hans Paronda, Jannah Bocatiya, Mico Chua, Khrystine Reign Flor, Jeica Dimatatac, Sandro Muhlach, Elias Point, Levince Sotto, EJ Panganiban, Lorin Gutierrez, Marco Gomez, Christine Bernas, Yuki Melendres, Efren Reyes, Vince Dizon, Delfin Lorenzana, Ronnie Ong, Al Panlilio, Benedict Sison, Jonathan So, Carlito Macadangdang, Dennis Anthony Uy, Lorenzo Rellosa, Roby Alampay, Miguel Guico, Paolo Guico, Luke Conde, Manila Luzon, Aliyah Sevilla, Aurora Sevilla, Pam Ortiz, Jairus Aquino, Sela, Zabel Lamberth, Rans Rifol, Mary Joy Apostol, Vitto Neri, Paolo Gumabao, Luis Vera-Perez, Arabella Davao, Maureen Wroblewitz, Migo Manikan, Vance Larena, Kaila Estrada, Zach Castaneda, JC Alcantara, Karina Bautista, Aljon Mendoza, Shanaia Gomez, Gigi De Lana, Franki Russell, Faith Nisperos, Graham Caygill, Brianna, Larissa Capili, Gwen Gandola, Carlo Tarobal, Kean Antonio, Vladimir Grand, Kim Perez, Bryan Gutierrez, Leila Ibanez, Bryan Giron, Lienel Navidad, Jimsen Jison, Kate Yalung, Mercy Bacarisas, Bea Borres, Eldren Carl Ong, Briant Lomboy, Queenee Mercado, Elaine Ochoa, Gel Cayuna, Mary Daena Resurreccion, Katrina Legado, Roberta Tamondong, Casie Banks, Shannon Kerver, Julian Roxas, JB Saliva, RJ Agustin, Flever Dignadice, Ralph de Leon, China Roces, Martin Javier, Lei Angela, Sebastian Pajarillo, Julia Pascual, Alexandra Yap, Lala Vinzon, Saviour Ramos, Carlo San Juan, Sheemee Buenaobra, Alec Kevin, Robin Valdez, Meghan Sanglay, Reiven Umali, Zedrick Calaunan, Mac-rajham Evia, Stephanie Raz, Millen Gal, Micaella Raz, Frost Sandoval, Angela Morena, Kenneth Co, John Adajar, Francis Magundayao, Blue Cailles, Christian Allen, Mauro Salas, Clark Samartino, Krista Miller, Tyrone Tan, Dindi Pajares, Matt Sumbrado, Gabriel Riccieri, Cheovy Castillo, Francis Grey, Ali Harris, Liam Tavita, Priscilla Almeda, Dustin Yu, Elmo Elarmo, Jr., AJ Oteyza, Kier Legaspi, MJ Coloma, Rob Guinto, Young Jv, Lara Morena, Carlene Aguilar, Aivy Rodriguez, Nathan Cajucom, Denmark Yape, James Ramada, Sean Clinton, Dannah Cardoza, Emilio Daez, Raphael Durmiendo, Phil Durmiendo, Jervin Mendoza, Nhiko Viktor, Anthony Charles Dabao, John Marcky Dela Rosa, Alec Kevin, Mig Pineda, Flever Dignadice, Vincent Caringal, Felix Dalupang, Ren Orong, Manel Manlapat, Derrick Pua, Sophia Teng, Sef Llanes, Sky de Leon, Jorilyn Montecalvo, Kyle Vergara, Alyssa Silva, Ruffa Nava, Nelson Nazal, Shan Vesagas, Vinz Gudelosao, Ram de Leon, Ely Cellan, Charles Briñas, Silver Alarcon, Aliah Canillas, Annie Co Ting, Kim Velasco, Angel Nuñez Israel Jr., Yen Gloriane, Karen Bordador, Tuti, Yaofa Dela Cruz, Justine Llarena, Paolo Amores, Honey Cartasano, Ron Angeles, Erla Raene Garcia, Jay Bardelas, Tina Alvaro, France Mabait, Aeron Brillo, Dharlene Racelis, Francis Grey, Patrick Ramirez, Ejay Fontanilla, Shaun Salvador, Monique Vazquez, Jeff Moses Halaghay, Vilmark Viray, Raheel Young, Vince Maristela, Larkin Castor, Sean Lucas, Anjay Anson, Quito Trenas, Ilya Nikenshin, Patrick Patawaran, Hash Taha, Chesca Lagua, Ciacia Mendoza, Andre Lagdameo, Laura Lehmann, Marcel Stulir, Gerry Go, Donna Erno, Kat Gumabao, Ian Porlayagan, Jorel Dytuco, Chumason Njigha, Bianca Guidotti, Jeric Garcia, Chloe Jenna Tandez, Kurt Rivera, Lao Rodriguez, Jerichson Tolentino, Iven Lim, Kokoy De Santos, Mikyle Quizon, Felicia Cui, Kurt Yanga, Franky Ocampo, Benz Sangalang, Sahil Khan, Arziel Acosta, Miko Gallardo, Brandon Rosser, Rita Martinez, Tyke Sanchez, Gita Gumabao, Maffy Soler-da Roza, Nico Locco, Rache May Parco, Jan Silverio, Nikki Comia, Benedict Dabao, Daniel Ong, Nic Galvez, Allison Asistio, Jomari Angeles, Joey Reyes, Thor Gomez, Gina Lima, Choi Yatco, Katrina Chavez, Kirst Viray, Kazel Kinouchi, Mariel Pamintuan, Andrei King, Thamara Alexandria, Aleck Iñigo, Rica Kriemhild, Basti Macaraan, Jaye Macaraan, Roque Coting, Gin Regidor, Kathleen Agir-Zarandin, Raf Juane, Laziz Rustamov, Zach Guerrero, Nathan Juane, Michael Ver Comaling, Seham Daghlas, Don Hilario, Kai Espenido, Stef Draper, Eslam El Gohari, Luke Alford, Tiff Ronato, Dustine Mayores, Stephanie Jordan, Maxine Trinidad, Paolo Alcantara, Gab Salvador, Denmar Yape, Lars Dioso, Earl Alvarado, Leonne Adriano, Khai Flores, RJ Ariar, Josh Antonn, Matt Zata, JR Baring, Alona Navarro, Shecko Apostol, Junjun Quintana, Aaron Concepcion, Yves Santiago, Tyler Lopez, Rhoys Cerillo, Johnmarco Mora, Nicael Cabañero, Apple Dy, Shiela Snow, Miggy Campbell, PJ Rosario, Mon Mendoza, Rogie Visperas, Sylvannah Garcia, Calvin Reyes, Zian Amande, Juan Miguel Gaufo, Renz Tantoco, Rayah Minioza, JL Macatangay, Joshua Bautista, Francesca Flores, Cathy Ashley, Alyssa Alday, Mygz Molino, Carren Eistrup, JC Tan, Sofia David, Emmanuel Tagle, Nicole Abuda, Jayrish Danaya, Daniella Allard, Elicia Barretto, Chelle Mariveles, Alex Agustin, Divine, Luke Selby, Joana Hipolito, Orly Mejia, Silas, Grey Garcia, Matthew Francisco, Austin Cabatana, Yen Renée, Kristine Garces, Alec Mendez, Dennah Bautista, Carl Singson, Elyk, Zein Marudo, Vino Gonzales, Ralph Christian Engle, Thalia Cruz, Princess Zzian, Roi Alonte, Mariah Bautista, Ardy Raymundo, Farrah Pineda, Wendy Manansala, Hanz Christian Anderson, Arrah Garcia, Kristine Victorino, Llovelyn Yauco, Marc Acueza, Queen Bongat, Yda Manzano, Nikko Natividad, Raf Pineda, Hazel de Leon, Erico Ricabar, Rabin Angeles, Kate Aaliyah, Zadoor Lozano, Cholo Allen, Geri Evite, Bill Calvin, Marlon Germedia, Arwen Cruz, Vladia Disuanco, Noel Agra, VJ Vera, Robbie Wachtel, Timothy Tuppil, Benedict Legaspi, Joana David, Huxley Peralta, Aidan Veneracion, Akihiro Blanco, Angelica De Los Santos, Dyessa Garcia, Aya Tubillo, Elmo Flores, Chester Alfaro, Jherald Castaneda, Ronniel Absalud, Evan Arellano, Luke Aidan Valte, Rinka Crisostomo, Dane Sy, Lovely Lim, Vince Aseron, Lorraine Wong, Adrian See, Bernjayneth Chee, Kevin Lao, Joanna Lara, Ada Hermosa, Diether Dolinog, Jezza Marie Bagaforo, Erika Balagtas, CM Barbs, Mark Julius Mercado, Queency, Daena Duran, Derek Duran, Louis Chiong, Aiko Gracia, Rome Guinto, Audrey Avila, Racy Oliva, Daid Sophia, Vin Diamante, Mary Joy Santiago, Maiko Ortaliz, Hector Armani, Inigo Arce, Drew Sunga, Jennifer del Rosario, Calvin Moncler, Terrell Montemayor, Armina Alegre, Merab Soriano, Hanya Tan, Joharah Alonzo, Mark Dionisio, Trixie Escosis, Erish Esguerra, Dwight Josue, Andy Celestial, Shey Cariño, Rhyza Gayle Litaoen, Ghion Layug, Mat Realizan, Merriella Ferreras, Hanna Leander, Michelle Salao, Rakim Santos, Jomar Yee, Elijah Canlas, Kyle Velino, Althea Ruedas, JB Mendoza, Sofie Jewel, Caira Lee, MJ Ordillano, Bey, Timmy Albert, Xandra Bonifacio, Gabriel Obispo, Jhana Villarin, Anne Alvienne, Sebastian Bautista, Tess Dumpit, Rob Solo, Jim Amen, Lyza Jane Pascual, Heaven Peralejo, Patrick Roxas, Derick Lauchengco, Adrian Dionisio, Salome Salvi, Nicco Manalo, KL Socobos, Miguel Gonzalez, John Regana, Kean Parale, Laurence Matias, Wayne Gutierrez, Tatin Castillon, Alas Ruanto, Angelo Calucin, Gerald Monton, Charlie Tumaliuan, Grey Ramos, Aerone Mendoza, Rex Baculfo, Ashantie Bogay, Hurry Up Tingson, Gboy Pablo, JD Aguas, Kobe Valte, Chester Grecia, Marc Reinyil, Eisel Serrano, James Vasquez, Jhon Mark Marcia, Mhack Morales, Conan King, Ara Doria, Vern Kaye, JD Axie, Jabo Allstar, Kyosuke Guinto, Annika Bartolome, Remie Escote, Jody Modo, Chloey Largado, MJ Abellera, Rain Luna, Lester Llansang, Annikaa Co, Anna de Leon, John Matthew Uy, Chloe Mendoza, Zsara Tiblani, Jkie Plantilla, Jenn Rosa, AJ Natucatac, Albie Casiño, Sahara Bernales, Justin Alfonso, Jeff Dominic, Dani Zee, Cathy Macalalad, Rosel Ros, Kert Montante and featuring The Company, VIP Dancers, X-People, SOP Dancers, The Manoeuvres, Streetboys, Abztract Dancers, Kids at Work, UMD, Male AttraXion, E-Male Dancers, WEA Dancers, Addlib, Philippine Island Assassin, SexBomb Girls and Junior New System
Because the show is dynamic and pulsating, it has also served as a “home” in the past to about 100 co-hosts of Tito, Vic, and Joey. In my book, my favorite past co-hosts of TVJ include Chiqui Hollman (she and Richie D’ Horsie were the original co-hosts in 1979), Coney Reyes, and the late Rio Diaz for their effortless wit and spunk. The Eat Bulaga family now has more than 16 witty and funny co-hosts, proof, indeed, as the jingle of the show says, that in Eat Bulaga “barkada’y dumarami.”
The show was supported by L’Oreal Philippines, Swatch and Technomarine, mall partners are SM Supermalls, Robinsons Malls, Ayala Malls, Araneta Center, Star Malls and Trinoma Mall, donor sponsors Burger King, Chowking, Greenwich, Mang Inasal, Red Ribbon, Sportshouse, The Body Shop, Intellismart Technology, Inc., Oryspa, DBP, Duty Free, Kambal Pandesal and Landbank, event partners Blims Fine Furniture, Go Negosyo, Mindgate Systems Inc., Commerce Asia, Inc., Jimac Inc., Third Eye Visual, Ad-Man Resources, Inc., AM Cleofe Prints, Chase Technologies Corporation and PowerSpeak, Inc. and media partners are ABS-CBN, People’s Television Network (PTV-4), ABC-5, GMA-7, RPN-9, Q Channel 11, IBC-13, Studio 23, NET 25, ANC: ABS-CBN News Channel, ETC: Entertainment Central, GNN: Global News Network, Lifestyle Network, Living Asia Channel, Asian Journal, Panay News, DZXL RMN Manila 558, DZBB Radyo Bisig-Bayan 594, DZMM Radyo Patrol 630, DZRH, 702 DZAS, DZRB Radyo ng Bayan 738, DWWW 774 AM Stereo, ZNN Radyo Veritas 846, DWIZ 882, DZSR Sports Radio 918, Campus Radio 97.1 WLS-FM, RJ 100.3 FM, 90.7 Love Radio, XFM 92.3, 939 KCFM, 96.3 WRocK, 97dot9 Home Radio, 101.1 YES! FM, MOR 101.9 For Life, 102.7 STAR FM, and Focus Media Audiovisuals.
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| Guest Models and Newest Faces of the said event in July 2013 |
Her Excellency, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, the guest of honor and speaker on the occasion, gave her greetings and message to the crowd. In attendance, also were watching the show are some members of the cabinet; several senators led by Senate President Manny Villar; several congressmen led by House Speaker Prospero Nograles; and friends of El Shaddai leader Bro. Mike Velarde from the business, entertainment, media, legal, and religious sector, DZRH radio anchors Joe Taruc, Andy Verde, Deo Macalma, and Ruth Abao-Espinosa, Paolo Araneta; Jose Cuervo’s AA Arquiza; twinkle-eyed beauty Abby Binay; golfer Charlie Carmona; Bench’s Ben Chan; Louie Chuidian; WhereElse’s suave Marcel Crespo; Monique Banzon Daez; Illac Diaz; Joji Dingcong; Patxi Elizalde and Sofia Zobel-E.; Malou Francisco of Store Specialists Inc.; Amanda Griffin; Lisa Gokongwei; Haresh Hiranand; and super eligible Mike Huang, Bea Jacinto; Lucia Jacinto; Angel Jacob; Patricia Javier; pretty, pretty Angelu de Leon; gourmet and wine connoisseur Alex Lichaytoo; lady of different faces Margarita Locsin; brilliant columnist and that miss with the four B’s, Celine Lopez; vivacious Bing Loyzaga; Cutie del Mar; DJ Mumph; The Body who makes ladies sigh, Marc Nelson; PR genius Keren Pascual; Miguel Pastor; Dave and Berna Puyat; Jaya Ramsey; New York City boy Patrick Reyno; Miguel Rosales; Cherrie del Rosario; Robin da Roza; Carmina Sanchez; Hans and Carol Sy; Bea Zobel Jr. (she recently had café society’s jaws dropping with her witty answers in a candid interview with Karen Santos and Gina Tambunting Roxas featured in PEOPLE Asia’s fantastic March 2002 issue), Charlie Carmona; vibrant “Breakfast” Show host, Angel Jacob; the pretty faces behind Luna, Annie Cacho and Manet Dayrit; Zed’s pride, Fenee Amparo; dapper Jojo Manlongat; interior designer Miguel Rosales; well-loved designer, Pepito Albert; Richard Gomez and Lucy Torres, exclusively dating partners Anne Curtis and Erwan Heussaff, Borgy Manotoc, Maricar Reyes, Isabelle Daza with boyfriend Adrien Semblat, The Philippine STAR SUPREME’s Tim Yap; ABS-CBN executives Biboy Arboleda, Charo Santos-Concio, Cory Vidanes and Deo Endrinal; Star Magic’s Mariole Alberto; TV5 executive Perci Intalan, GMA-7 executives Wilma Galvante, Marivin Arayata, Lilybeth Rasonable, Ida Henares, Bang Arespacochaga and Joey Abacan; VIVA Films’ Vicente del Rosario III and Veronique del Rosario-Corpus, Regal Films matriarch Mother Lily Monteverde and daughter Roselle Monteverde-Teo; Solar Entertainment’s William Y. Tieng and Wilson Tieng, talent managers Girlie Rodis, Anna Ylagan, Manny Valera and Perry Lansigan; and director Joel Lamangan, TAPE Inc.'s Tony Tuviera and Malou Choa-Fagar, exuberant Tina Tinio; exotic Thelina Nuval; and Maurice Arcache, bench/ endorsers Amanda Griffin; John Prats; AJ Eigenmann; Mickey Randall, Aubrey Miles and Francis Ricafort, studly lover boy Jon Hall and E’s gorgeous playgirl Lana Asanin, former sexy star Assunta de Rossi, bench/ long-time endorsers Wendell Ramos and Jomari Yllana, Marc Nelson, Aya Medel, Diether Ocampo, Amanda Griffin plus the Antonio Aquitana open the curtain call for the 100-plus models in the BENCH during its “One Night Only underwear and denim show in July 2002, Ces Oreña-Drilon and her hubby, renowned artist Rock Drilon; Agot Isidro and Manu Sandejas; searing beauties Dina Bonnevie and Ara Mina; Hans Montenegro; directors/actors Rowell Santiago and Gina Alajar with son Ryan Eigenmann; former “Studio 23” VJ’s, Southern gent JM Rodriguez and charmante Cutie del Mar; and Fil-Am superstar Paolo Montalban.
Guest of Honor and Speaker
- President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo
Guests
- Vice President Noli de Castro
- Chief Justice Reynato S. Puno
- Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile
- House Speaker Prospero C. Nograles
- Manila Mayor Alfredo S. Lim
- Quezon City Mayor Feliciano R. Belmonte, Jr.
- Caloocan City Mayor Recom R. Echiverri
- Las Piñas City Mayor Vergel A. Aguilar
- Makati City Mayor Jejomar C. Binay
- Malabon City Mayor Canuto Senen A. Oreta
- Mandaluyong City Mayor Benjamin C. Abalos, Jr.
- Marikina City Mayor Maria Lourdes Carlos-Fernando
- Muntinlupa City Mayor Aldrin L. San Pedro
- Navotas City Mayor Tobias Reynald M. Tiangco
- Parañaque City Mayor Florencio M. Bernabe, Jr.
- Pasay City Mayor Wenceslao B. Trinidad
- Pasig City Mayor Robert C. Eusebio
- San Juan City Mayor Joseph Victor G. Ejercito
- Taguig City Mayor Sigfrido R. Tinga
- Valenzuela City Mayor Sherwin T. Gatchalian
- Pateros Mayor Jaime C. Medina
- Former President Corazon C. Aquino
- Former President Fidel V. Ramos
- Former President Joseph E. Estrada
- Agrarian Reform Secretary Nasser Pangandaman
- Agriculture Secretary Bernie Fondevilla
- Budget and Management Secretary Florencio B. Abad
- Commission on Higher Education Chairman Carlito S. Puno, DPA
- Education Secretary Dr. Mona A. Valisno
- Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes
- Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Jose L. Atienza, Jr.
- Finance Secretary Cesar V. Purisima
- Foreign Affairs Secretary and Committee on Privatization Chairman Alberto G. Romulo
- Health Secretary Dr. Esperanza G. Cabral
- Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse M. Robredo
- Justice Secretary Raul M. Gonzalez
- Labor and Employment Secretary Marianito D. Roque
- National Defense Secretary Gilbert C. Teodoro, Jr.
- Public Works and Highways Secretary-General Hermogenes E. Ebdane, Jr.
- Science and Technology Secretary Estrella F. Alabastro
- Social Welfare and Development Secretary Celia Capadocia Yangco
- Tourism Secretary Alberto A. Lim
- Trade and Industry Secretary Jesli A. Lapus
- Transportation and Communications Secretary Anneli R. Lontoc
- Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process General Hermogenes Esperon
- Presidential Adviser for Constituency Affairs and Adviser for Subic-Clark Alliance for Development Edgardo D. Pamintuan
- Presidential Adviser for Provincial Affairs Hon. Conrado A. Limcaoco
- Presidential Adviser for Jobs Generation Hon. Luis P. Lorenzo, Jr.
- Special Assistant to the President, Presidential Adviser for Special Concerns Hon. Erlinda M B. de Leon
- Presidential Adviser on Strategic Projects Hon. Gloria L. Tan Climaco
- Presidential Adviser for New Government Centers Hon. Rodolfo Del Rosario
- Undersecretary Danilo L. Encinas
- Assistant Secretary, Presidential Adviser on Cooperatives Sarah Buena S. Mirasol
- Presidential Adviser for Muslim Communities, Presidential Adviser on Culture Hon. Nur. G. Jaafar
- Presidential Adviser on Military Affairs Hon. Arturo Carrillo
- Presidential Adviser for Police Affairs Hon. Orlando A. Macaspac
- Presidential Adviser for Eastern Visayas Hon. Victor A. Domingo
- Presidential Adviser for North Luzon Hon. Renato V. Diaz
- Presidential Adviser for Southern Tagalog Hon. Cesar N. Sarino
- Presidential Adviser on Regional Development Hon. Paul G. Dominguez
- Presidential Adviser on Agricultural Modernization Hon. Angelito M. Sarmiento
- Presidential Adviser Jose A. Rufino
- Presidential Adviser on Appointment Tomasito B. Monzon
- Presidential Adviser for Muslim Royalty Concerns Hon. Sultan Jamalul D. Kiram III
- Presidential Adviser for Cagayan Valley Hon. Silvestre Bello II
- Presidential Adviser Carolina G. Hernandez
- Presidential Adviser on Military Affairs Maj. Gen. Arturo B. Carillo (Ret.)
- Presidential Adviser for Police Affairs P/Dir. Orlando A. Macaspac (Ret.)
- Presidential Adviser on Infrastructure Teodoro T. Encarnacion
- Presidential Adviser on Foreign Affairs Alfonso T. Yuchengco
- Presidential Adviser on Rural Electrification Francisco G. Silva
- Presidential Adviser for New Government Centers Rodolfo P. Del Rosario
- Presidential Adviser on Food Security & Job Creation Arthur Yap
- Presidential Adviser for Revenue Enhancement Narciso Y. Santiago, Jr.
- Presidential Adviser for Trade & Development Amb. Rodolfo C. Severino
- Office of The Presidential Adviser Benjamin G. Dy
- Special Adviser for Energy Affairs and Presidential Adviser for External Affairs Edgardo M. Del Fonso
- Presidential Adviser for Region VI Rafael L. Conscolluela
- National Economic and Development Authority Director-General and Political Adviser Ralph G. Recto
- Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Sergio Antonio F. Apostol
- National Security Adviser and Director-General Norberto B. Gonzales
- Deputy National Security Adviser Pedro R. Cabuay, Jr.
- Deputy National Security Adviser Virtus Gil
- Cabinet Secretary Atty. Silvestre Bello III
- National Anti-Poverty Commission Lead Convenor Domingo F. Panganiban
- Commission on Higher Education Chairman Carlito S. Puno, DPA
- Committee on Privatization Executive Director Crisanta S. Legaspi
- Cooperatives Development Authority Chairman Atty. Efren C. Moncupa
- Coordinating Council for Private Participation Chairman Paul G. Dominguez
- Coordinating Council for Private Participation Executive Director Noel Eli B. Kintanar
- Energy Regulatory Commission Chairman Rodolfo B. Albano
- Energy Regulatory Commission Members TF Raul Tan and Alejando Barin
- Film Development Council of The Philippines (FDCP) Chairman Rolando Atienza
- Cinema Evaluation Board (CEB) of the FDCP Chairperson Christine M. Dayrit
- Games and Amusements Board Chairman Dominador R. Cepeda, Jr.
- Government Corporate Monitoring and Coordinating Committee Chairman Renato S. De Villa
- Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board Commissioner & Chief Executive Officer Romulo Q. Fabul
- Metropolitan Manila Development Authority Chairman Atty. Francis C. Tolentino
- Manila Broadcasting Company Chairman Fred J. Elizalde
- Philippine Long-Distance Telephone Company, Smart Communications, Inc. and TV5 Network Chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan
- Ayala Corporation Chairman and CEO Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala
- JG Summit Holdings, Inc. Chairman Emeritus John Robinson L. Gokongwei, Jr.
- Makati Business Club President Ramon Del Rosario Jr.
- Makati Business Club Executive Director Bill Luz
- Al-Amanah Islamic Investment Bank of The Philippines Chairman/CEO Ali B. Sangki
- Baguio Economic Zone Administrator Digna D. Torres
- Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor / Chairman of the Monetary Board Armando M. Tetangco Jr.
- Bataan Economic Zone Administrator Emilio C. Reyes
- BCDA Management and Holdings, Inc. Chairman Filadelfo S. Rojas, Jr.
- Cagayan Economic Zone Authority Administrator Rodolfo O. Reyes
- Cavite Economic Zone Zone Administrator Raymundo T. Nagrampa
- Cebu Ports Authority General Manager Jose Joaquin M. Marquez
- Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions Executive Director Assistant Secretary Felicitas R. Agoncillo-Reyes
- Clark Development Corporation President / CEO Levi Laus
- Clark International Airport Corporation Chairman Nestor Mangio
- Clark International Airport Corporation Executive Vice-President Alexander S. Cauguiran
- Clark International Airport Corporation President Franco V. Puzon
- Cottage Industry Technology Center Executive Director Franklin P. Bunoan
- Cultural Center of the Philippines Chairman Emily Altomonte Abrera
- Cultural Center of the Philippines President Nestor O. Jardin
- Dangerous Drugs Board of The Philippines Secretary/Chairman Vicente C. Sotto III
- Deputy Administrator for Electric Distribution Utilities Services Edita S. Bueno
- Development Academy of The Philippines President Eduardo T. Gonzalez
- Development Bank of The Philippines Chairman Vitaliano N. Nañagas II
- Development Bank of The Philippines President & CEO Reynaldo G. David
- Duty-Free Philippines General Manager Michael Christian U. Kho
- Government Service Insurance System President and General Manager Atty. Winston F. Garcia
- Guarantee Fund for Small and Medium Enterprises Managing Director Benel P. Lagua
- Home Development Mutual Fund (Pag-IBIG Fund) President / CEO Atty. Romero Federico S. Quimbo
- Home Insurance and Guaranty Corporation President Wilfredo F. Hernandez
- John Hay-Poro Point Development Corporation President Damaso E. Bangaoet, Jr.
- Laguna Lake Development Authority General Manager Casimiro A. Ynares III, MD
- Light Rail Transit Authority Administrator Melquiades A. Robles
- Local Water Utilities Administration Administrator Lorenzo H. Zamora
- Lung Center of the Philippines Executive Director Dr. Juanito A. Rubio
- Mactan Economic Zone Administrator Dante M. Quindoza
- Mactan-Cebu International Airport Authority General Manager-Chief Executive Officer Danilo August Francia
- Manila International Airport Authority General Manager Alfonso G. Cusi
- Metro Transit Organization, Inc. General Manager Moises S. Tolentino, Jr.
- Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System Administrator Orlando C. Hondrade
- National Broadcasting Network Chairman and Presidential Management Staff Head Cerge M. Remonde
- National Commission for the Culture and Arts Chairperson Dr. Vilma Labrador
- National Dairy Authority Administrator Salvacion M. Bulatao
- National Food Authority Administrator Gregorio Y. Tan, Jr.
- National Historical Institute Chairman Dr. Ambeth R. Ocampo
- National Home Mortgage Finance Corporation President Angelico T. Salud
- National Irrigation Administration Administrator Marcelino Tugaoen Jr.
- National Kidney and Transplant Institute Executive Director Dr. Enrique T. Ona, M.D., FPCS, FACS
- National Power Corporation President Cyril C. del Callar
- National Tobacco Administration Administrator Carlitos S. Encarnacion
- Natural Resources Mining Development Corporation President Oliver Butalid
- North Luzon Railways Corporation Chairman and Acting President Rogelio L. Singson
- Northern Foods Corporation Chairman / Administrator LIVECOR Bernardo J. B. Mitra
- Northern Foods Corporation President Gerardo I. Ledesma, Jr.
- Occupational Safety and Health Center Executive Director Dr. Dulce P. Estrella-Gust
- Overseas Workers Welfare Administration Administrator Marianito D. Roque
- People’s Credit and Finance Corporation (PCFC) President and Chief Executive Officer Edgar V. Generoso
- Philippine Aerospace Development Corporation President B/Gen. Reynato R. Jose (Ret.)
- Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation President Ephraim C. Genuino
- Philippine Center for Economic Development Executive Director Raul V. Fabella
- Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office Chairman Margarita Pengson-Juico
- Philippine Children's Medical Center Officer in Charge, Executive Director Dr. Zenaida L. Antonio, M.D., Mhped
- Philippine Coconut Authority Administrator Jesus Emmanuel M. Paras
- Philippine Convention and Visitors Corporation Executive Director Daniel G. Corpuz
- Philippine Crop Insurance Corporation President Benito F. Estacio, Jr.
- Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation President and Chief Executive Officer Ricardo M. Tan
- Philippine Economic Zone Authority Director General Atty. Lilia B. De Lima
- Philippine Export-Import Credit Agency (PhilExIm) President / CEO Virgilio R. Angelo
- Philippine Fisheries Development Authority (PFDA) General Manager Petronilo B. Buendia
- Philippine Health Insurance Corporation President Lorna O. Fajardo
- Philippine Heart Center Director Ludgerio D. Torres, M.D.
- Philippine Institute for Development Studies President Dr. Josef T. Yap
- Philippine International Convention Center General Manager Atty. Araceli E. Villanueva
- Philippine National Oil Company-Petrochemical Development Corporation (PNOC-EDC) President Peter Anthony S. Abaya
- Philippine National Railways General Manager Mr. Jose Ma. I. Sarasola, II
- Philippine Ports Authority General Manager Oscar M. Sevilla
- Philippine Postal Corporation Postmaster General Hector Villanueva
- Philippine Reclamation Authority Acting General Manager and Chief Executive Officer Andrea Domingo
- Philippine Retirement Authority Chief Executive Officer / General Manager Vernette Umali-Paco
- Philippine Rice Research Institute Executive Director Hon. Leocadio S. Sebastian
- Philippine Tourism Authority Chairman Senator Richard J. Gordon
- PHIVIDEC Industrial Authority Chairman Col. Emmanuel V. De Ocampo
- Public Estates Authority General Manager / CEO Teodorico C. Taguinod
- Quedan & Rural Credit Guarantee Corporation President & CEO Dr. Nelson C. Buenaflor
- Small Business Guarantee and Finance Corporation Undersecretary Zorayda Amelia C. Alonzo
- Social Security System President / CEO Corazon S. De La Paz
- Southern Philippines Development Authority Chairman of the Board of Director and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Datu Zamzamin Ampatuan
- Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority Chairman Commo. Feliciano S. Salonga PCGA
- Sugar Regulatory Administration Administrator James C. Ledesma
- Technology and Livelihood Resource Center Director-General Antonio Y. Ortiz
- Trade and Investment Development Corporation President Victor C. Macalincag
- Zamboanga City Special Economic Zone Authority Chairman and Administrator Manuel A. Dalipe
- Philippine Olympic Committee Chairman Jose S. Cojuangco, Jr.
- Philippine Daily Inquirer Chairman Maria Auxilio R. Prieto
- Philippine Daily Inquirer Founding Editor Eugenia Duran-Apostol
- Philippine Daily Inquirer President Alexandra R. Prieto-Romualdez
- Philippine Daily Inquirer Editor-in-Chief Letty Jimenez-Magsanoc
- Philippine Daily Inquirer Publisher Isagani M. Yambot, Sr.
- Philippine Daily Inquirer Lifestyle Editor Thelma Sioson-San Juan
The Fitness.Fashion Concert held on Friday, August 1, 2008, at 8:00 p.m. at the Ayala and Makati Avenues after the fashion show on Thursday, July 31, 2008, at 7:30 p.m. at the Rigodon Ballroom of the Peninsula Manila in Makati City. Guest performers during the said concert are Karylle, Tootsie Guevarra, Gino Padilla, Lana Asanin, Nancy Castiglione, Radha, Aliya Parcs, Jed Madela, and the Dye Vest Band.
On her 76th birthday, former President Corazon Aquino, who was battling late-stage colon cancer, was the picture of serenity.
“I have lived a full life, I cannot complain,” she calmly told her children Ballsy Cruz, Pinky Abellada, then Sen. Noynoy Aquino, Viel Dee, and Kris Aquino. They heard mass in the chapel of a convent along Estrella Street in Makati and then had lunch of pan-fried goose liver salad and spinach mushroom souffle at Chef Jessie’s in Rockwell. For dessert, Cory had a special birthday treat: her favorite dessert White Chocolate Grand Marnier Mousse (which even her Secret Service detail during her US official visit in 1986 knew of).
Her daughter Viel believes the spiritual backbone of their mother, who passed away seven months after her 76th birthday, was the source of her serenity. “Of all of us, I’d say that I’m the calmest. I believe I got this from Mom, maybe because I saw in her that with faith, we can overcome our trials,” says Viel.
This is echoed by her son, now President, who says that when faced with tough times, he just thinks of what his mother Cory and his father Ninoy underwent.
On its first anniversary — held at Quirino Grandstand, Rizal Park, Manila on July 31, 2009 — their major guest stars were Bianca Araneta; Julia Clarete; Cheryl Cosim; Daphne Osena; Pia Guanio; Kenji Marquez; Derek Ramsey; JM Rodriguez; and Audrey Tan-Zubiri. But they managed to give away prizes to the live audience — mostly refrigerators. The high point of the event was when the cast members released doves — plenty of them.
The country’s first woman president died on August 1 at 3:18 a.m. at the Makati Medical Center after an 18-month battle with colon cancer. She was 76.
Plus our newest additions are Anne Curtis, Judy Ann Santos, Marian Rivera, Jodi Sta. Maria, Charlie Green, Sam Pinto, Zyrene Parsad, Jeff Gaitan, Meg Imperial, Jill Yulo, JK Labajo, Darren Espanto, Darlene Vibares, Lyca Gairanod, Martin Nievera, Pops Fernandez, Jolo Revilla, Edu Manzano, Bianca Manalo, Ryzza Mae Dizon, Mike Enriquez, Christopher Roxas, Andre and Kobe Paras, Cloie Concepcion, Richard Gomez, Lucy Torres, Ogie Alcasid, MJ Lastimosa, Sam Concepcion, Michael Pangilinan, Jona Viray, Dulce, Rachel Alejandro, Manilyn Reynes, Jessa Zaragoza, Dingdong Avanzado, Iya Villania, Cesar Montano, Robin Padilla, Lea Salonga, Gary Valenciano, Sharon Cuneta, John Estrada, Vice Ganda, Jessica Sanchez, Randy Santiago, Regine Velasquez-Alcasid, Richard Yap, Rissa Mananquil-Trillo, Dingdong Dantes, Venus Raj, Shamcey Supsup, Rayver Cruz, Daniel Matsunaga, Gretchen Ho, Robi Domingo, Diego Loyzaga, Ella Cruz, Luigi D’ Avola, Bubbles Paraiso, Robin Nievera, Amber Davis, Cheyser Pedregosa, CJ Jaravata, Tim Yap, Kean Cipriano, Boom Gonzales, Luke Landrigan, Marc Nelson, Divine Maitland-Smith, Jessica Connelly, Stefan Aliño, Sandra Seifert, Dani Barretto, Bianca Gonzalez, Kiefer Ravena, Alvin Alfonso, Phil Younghusband, Heart Evangelista, Boy Abunda, Carla Abellana, Allison Harvard, Solenn Heussaff, Lovi Poe, Rocco Nacino, Atom Araullo, Alden Richards, Maine Mendoza, Drew Arellano, Jason Abalos, JC Intal, Mike Tan, Matteo Guidicelli, Gabbi Garcia and Ruru Madrid, Maymay Entrata and Edward Barber, Chynna Ortaleza, Gabby Concepcion, Tony Labrusca, Derrick Monasterio, Jeric Gonzales, Gil Cuerva, Paul Salas, Francine Diaz, Elise Joson, McCoy de Leon, Enrique Gil, Alex Gonzaga, Janine Gutierrez, Bianca Umali, Miguel Tanfelix, Jake Vargas, Eian Rances, Vince Gamad, Mara Alberto, Marlo Mortel, Hiro Peralta, Ken Chan, Rhen Escaño, Prince Villanueva, Sanya Lopez, Dale Rossly, Lloyd Abella, Vince Camua, Jacob Danan, Sharmaine Santos, Lance Gutierrez, Renato Ramos, Jr., Emil Paden, Per Paden, KD Rossly, Angelo Carreon, Jolo Romualdez, Kassie De Guzman, Marika Sasaki, Trisha Bernales, Mart Catacutan, Franz Nichols, Claire Borja, Earl Santos, Delmar Cruz, John Patrick Picar, Yna Uy, Kim Last, Lovely Abella, Hiro Peralta, Juancho Trivino, John Philip Balang Bughaw, Boobay, Phytos Ramirez, Taki Saito, Kyline Alcantara, Joyce Pring, Clint Bondad, Donita Nose, Sugar Mercado, Yvette Corral, Jennifer Lee, Janelle Tee, Super Tekla, Amal Rosaroso, Ashley Ortega, Ariella Arida, Camille Angelica Canlas, Jannie Alipo-on, Patricia Tumulak, Nelda Ibe, Kim Idol, Petite, Le Chazz, Halimatu Yushawu, Valerie Concepcion, Herlene Nicole "Hipon" Budol, Elaine Timbol, Almira Teng, Boobsie Wonderland, Krissy, Yuan Francisco, Angelica Ulip, Leanne Bautista, Will Ashley, Bruce Roeland, Sofia Pablo, Kelvin Miranda, Alonzo Muhlach, Ricci Rivero, Johnvic de Guzman, Joric Tan, Kianna Dy, JC Santos, Tommy Esguerra, Donny Pangilinan, Hannah Pangilinan, Alwyn Uytingco, Vin Abrenica, RK Bagatsing, Victor Silayan, John James Uy, Shaira Mae Dela Cruz, Xian Lim, Jessy Mendiola, Jeron Teng, Jeric Teng, Chesca Garcia-Kramer and kids Kendra and Scarlett, Dimples Romana and daughter Callie, Anton and Armand del Rosario, Paulo “Kuya Pao” Pingol, Kenneth Cruz and Vince Ferraren, Jessie Lacuna, Charlie Walker, Ken Uy, Ariana Herranz, Hannah Dato, Kim Uy, Donnalyn Bartolome, Jeric Medina, LA Aguinaldo, Slick Rick, Tony Toni, Marj Sia and Harry Cheng, Coleen Garcia, Tony Taus, Andi Eigenmann, Nicole Anderson, Michael Christian Martinez, Tyrone Tan, Gino Quillamor, Erwan Heussaff, Kris Aquino, Georgina Wilson, Liz Uy, BJ Pascual, Charina Sarte, Dong Ronquillo, Nix Alanon, Chris Schneider, Aryanna Epperson, Kito Romauldez, Curt Dizon, Bangs Garcia, Monico Cuenco, Will Devaughn, Sarah Lahbati, Trixie Maristela, Ali Khatibi, Addlib Crew, Angelica Yap, Nina Jose, Nadine Samonte, Miguel Luna, Meyton Eugenio, Julian Trono and Rainier Castillo; Aaron DeTommaso and Victoria Gonzalo, Marco Hillerstam, Kiana Valenciano, Cholo dela Cruz, Jan Louie Ngo, Sherwin Yao, Wryan Chua, Tanner Mata, Tyler Mata, Emilio Francisco Perez, Loisa Andalio, Sofia Andres, Maria Fabiana, Ronnie Alonte, Khalil Ramos, Maris Racal, Ivan Dorschner, Lauren Reid, Kenzo Gutierrez, Alex Diaz, Ryle Santiago, Jameson Blake, Karen Reyes, Klea Pineda, Lharby Policarpio, Jak Roberto, Kelley Day, Zeus Collins, Sue Ramirez, James Reid and Nadine Lustre, JM de Guzman, Joshua Colet, Ben Isaac, Jess Wilson, G3 San Diego, Vivoree Esclito, Gretchen Fullido, Louise delos Reyes, Jerico Estregan, Eric Ejercito, Kylie Verzosa, Alice Dixon, Bianca King, Tippy Dos Santos, Christian Bautista, Nico Bolzico, Carla Humphries, Richard Juan, Chi Gibbs, Anton Cruz, Cristalle Belo-Henares with husband Justin Pitt, Karylle, Vicki Belo, Hayden Kho, Ryza Cenon, Lance Raymundo, Stacey Gabriel, Paolo Bediones, Josef Elizalde, Sexbomb New Generation, Tricia Canilao and Lawrence Mossman, Miggy Jimenez, Danita Paner, Andre Drilon, Kyle Echarri, Pat Sugui, Jacob Munez, Denden Lazaro, Kaye Tinga, Rosenthal Tee, Champ Lui Pio, Mike Carandang, JP Anglo, Paolo Maranan, Sam Milby, Noel Cabangon, Chie Filomeno, Fabio Ide, Aubrey Miles, Troy Montero, Gerald Anderson, Jasmine Curtis-Smith, Dominic Roque, Ellen Adarna, Raymond Gutierrez, Marco Gumabao, Chris Banchero, Fabio Ide, Roxanne Barcelo, Ex-Battalion, Momoland, Sinon Loresca, Jr., Rhys Miguel Eugenio, Seth Fedelin, BakClash Divas, Kisses Delavin, Broadway Boys, Music Hero Band, Kayla Rivera, Macho Men, Erik Santos, Ian Veneracion, Jay R Siliona, Jed Madela, K Brosas, Klarisse De Guzman, Kyla, Kuh Ledesma, Moira dela Torre, Piolo Pascual, Zsa-Zsa Padilla, Zephanie Dimaranan, Verniece Enciso, Vern Enciso, TJ Monterde, Xander Angeles, Cocoy Ponce, Chris Nick Delos Reyes, Joanna Eden, Cassandra Laforteza, Kat de Jesus, Kathleen Paton, Sabu, BJ Sy, Julian Rodriguez, Jaime Borromeo, Via Ortega, Keagan de Jesus, Fili Nepomuceno, Marissa Sanchez Giorla, Benj Pangilinan, Joshua Torralba, Timo Pangilinan, RJ dela Fuente, Marco Gallo, Jerald Napoles, Bianca Rufino, Gene Padilla, Kamille Filoteo, Migz Diokno, Xia Bernardo, Benj Manalo, Eric Tai, Sunshine Guimary, X Factor, Victor Pring, Marc Marasigan, Nik Makino, Raf Davis, Ace Yabut, Alexa Miro, Roche Lim, Janica Reloxe, MC Muah, Lassy Marquez, Jake Ejercito, Kelsey Meritt, Jose Sarasola, Jamir Zabarte, Ashley Sarmento, Heath Jornales, Luis Hontiveros, Ana Jalandoni, Michael Leyva, Lito Tayag, Eric Po, Kawit, Cavite Mayor Angelo Emilio Aguinaldo, James Buskowitz, Brian Poe Llamanzares, Alvin Elchico, Angela Robson, Wilbert Ross, Santino Rosales, Japoy Lizardo, Gino Roque.
The country expected to make 10 million pesos ($ 357,000) profit out of the fashion show, as well as the accompanying media exposure. The 150 million pesos ($ 5.3 million) spent on the fashion show was funded from the private sectors, with sponsors such as HSBC, The Peninsula Manila, Kipling, Speedo, Puma, Fila, Bench, Nike Golf, Marks & Spencer, Adidas, Aigle, Oxbow, Swatch and L’Oreal.
Some of the expected sponsorship money did not eventuate, leading the shortfall to be covered by the city government.
By July 31st, when the fashion models and guest models were already in the hotel, organizers confirmed that they were short of money and were unsure whether a profit would be made from the event.
The fashion show came under attack from the Nationalist Movement of New Women, a branch of the National Democratic Front, which claimed that it was being used to promote sex tourism. The cost of the event was also criticized by the Philippine Congress, despite it being endorsed by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. A social function attended by models and guest models held before the fashion show was picketed by the women's group, who opposed the nature of the event and the lavish spending.
More than 3, 000 policemen were involved in protecting the models and guest models, as well as dozens of policewomen assigned as bodyguards.
