Shalani engagement makes Pnoy smile

I wonder what was going on in President Aquino’s mind when he learned that his former girlfriend Shalani Soledad will soon be marrying Pasig congressman Roman Romulo.

Was there a tinge of regret or jealousy?

The President “just smiled,” according to his spokesman, Edwin Lacierda.

“He had no reaction. All he said was ‘I was not aware that they were engaged,’” Lacierda said.

Perhaps the President was surprised. Just two weeks ago he bumped into Shalani at the Dumaguete airport. That was about the time when she had been claiming that she and the congressman had not gone beyond the dating stage.

Now Shalani is wearing the ring of Mr. Romulo’s mom. And last week he revealed that they could walk the aisle as early as next year.

In a television interview, Roman said he had been accepted by the Soledad family and his family has accepted Shalani.

He said Shalani is a “very private person” and that could explain why she tried to keep their relationship away from the public limelight.

So is the President happy that the two are tying the knot? “Of course he is happy. Why won’t he be happy?” Lacierda said.

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Ooops!

Miss Universe 3rd runner-up Shamcey Supsup disclosed in an interview after the Miss Universe pageant that she had a boyfriend, a fact that she had not told her father, Timoteo.

Things got a little complicated when the boyfriend, Lloyd Lee, revealed that Shamcey’s mother knows about their relationship.

Hmm. So mom and daughter were keeping a secret from dad!

Now that the cat is out of the bag, Lloyd said he’s “excited” to meet Mr. Supsup. Well, he’s got a lot of explaining to do!

“I hope he would accept me for I love his daughter so much,” he texted ABS-CBN News.

Lloyd is said to be 30 years old and a legal management graduate from De La Salle University. His family “owns one of the biggest knitting and textile companies in the Philippines,” ABS-CBN quoted a friend of his as saying.

They met during Shamcey’s birthday bash last May and they’ve been on since June 16. That was fast.

Anyway, the debate whether Shamcey’s reply in the question-and-answer portion of the pageant cost her the crown. Asked if she would change her religion to marry the one she loves, the Philippines’ bet replied: "If I had to change my religious beliefs, I would not marry the person that I love because the first person that I love is God who created me and I have my faith and my principles and this is what makes me who I am. And if that person loves me, he should love my God too.”

But Lea Salonga herself, one of the judges at the pageant, said they were smitten by Miss Angola all along.

A supposed statement from celebrity TV host Oprah Winfrey added fuel to the fire. Oprah is said to have tweeted NBC, which aired the pageant live, saying Shamcey “deserved to win.” The statement in question went viral on the internet.

Oprah’s official website later denied that she ever made the statement.

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Ang Babae sa Septic Tank will be the Philippines’ official entry for Best Foreign Film in the Academy Awards, the Film Academy of the Philippines announced last week.

Ang Babae won four awards at the last Cinemalaya Film Festival and earned more than P20 million during its run in commercial theaters. It also earned a grade of A from the Cinema Evaluation Board.

Sad to say, Filipino films have not done well at the Oscars. Among the more recent entries were Ploning and Ded Na Si Lolo.