Paco quits showbiz, migrates to the US

By the time you read this, Paco Arespacochaga should be in L.A. trying to shake off jet lag and looking forward to starting life on a new slate, perhaps to later pursue his own American Dream (if others can dream, why can’t he?).

Paco left the other day on PAL flight 108, promising not to look back nor to come home – many, many years from now? – only if he shall have achieved something he never really did during his dozen or so years in local showbiz.

"I feel that there’s nothing more for me here," Paco told Funfare a few hours before he boarded his plane, "wala namang nangyayari sa akin dito, so I decided to go to the States. Who knows, baka may mangyaring maganda sa akin doon."

Saying he had no regrets about leaving his past behind (goodbye and good riddance to all that!), Paco added that he didn’t mind starting from scratch out there where big dreams are born, most of them barely seeing that distant light at the end of the tunnel.

Come to think of it, there’s nothing here for Paco, if you consider the fact that his marriage to Geneva Cruz had been annulled and his effort to reinvent himself and embark on a new career as a solo singer hardly got off the launching pad. Meanwhile, Geneva is having the time of her life, happy with a resurgent career and having a new love (yes, KC Montero who, like Geneva, has become a master of denial, refusing to admit that he’s having a passionate romance with Geneva even if they’ve been caught several times in "revealing" situations).

Well, let’s wish Paco good luck and may that giant H-O-L-L-Y-W-O-O-D sign across the mountain overlooking L.A. do wonders for him.

Rosales on Mila

Funfare received the following review of Mila by Rep. Etta Rosales, founding chair of the Alliance of Concerned Teachers – Philippines:

Because of my hectic schedule, I seldom go to the movies. Thus, when I was invited by Star Cinema to the special screening of Mila, it was a rare privilege so I accepted the invitation with much enthusiasm especially since this was a story patterned after the life of a teacher who was involved in the teachers’ hunger strike not too long ago. And especially since the film was directed by Joel Lamangan and the story was written by Ricky Lee, friends from way back, whose creative integrity and imagination have earned for them profound public respect.

Mila is a must for every Filipino with a soul. It is a must because it unmasks society and bares it naked, devoid of hypocrisy and false pretense. The institutions of power and tradition are laid bare, irrelevant to the solutions demanded by the marginal and hungry. The entire film grips your soul and gnaws its very core, rendering you helpless and pained as you experience the cruel life through Mila, who leaves the hunger strike of teachers and seeks solace in the lonely dark world of prostitutes, pimps, street children and uniformed goons.

But there is hope in Mila. It is in the teacher’s humanity and the humanity of all those whom she touches and reaches out to the teachers on strike, the street children, the pretty, lonely prostitutes, the gay instructor, and the taong grasa. Maricel Soriano is beautiful, as she is poignant in her performance.

The film is a must for all those who have faith and are willing to work for a more gentle and humane world.

– Etta P. Rosales
AKBAYAN

A mom role for Melissa

She has played mother roles, all right, but not a mother to an actress who could pass for her twin or her slightly younger sister like she’s doing in her new movie, Paninda, in which she’s the stepmother of boldie Pyar Mirasol.

"Moviegoers will surely hate me in this movie," said Melissa Mendez who, in her desire to sustain her whims and to support her lover (Allan Paule), sells Pyar to men (that’s why the movie is so titled). "I’m expecting that kind of reaction because I saw to it that I played the role in such a way that people would really hate me. That’s how bad a mother my character is."

In one scene, Melissa agreed to do torrid kissing/lovemaking with Allan (but no private parts were shown, though) only because it was needed to illustrate her character’s dependence on Allan.

"The role is meaty and it showcases my acting capability," added Melissa who got good feedback after the movie’s premiere last June 25, with many people (her friends, I’m sure) telling her that she should get an acting nomination for her performance. "I’m thankful – and feel vindicated – if only for that."

Melissa has been in showbiz for 19 years and is currently in the cast of the new ABS-CBN hit soap Sa Puso Ko, Iingatan Ka, topbilling Judy Ann Santos and Piolo Pascual.

Melissa can do very daring scenes now because she is, again, fancy-free, having already broken up with her rich Chinese boyfriend with whom she used to have trysts in Hong Kong.

"Otherwise," smiled Melissa, "hindi ako papayagan n’un na magpa-sexy. Mahigpit ’yon – at possessive."

PAMI-GMA issue: Happy ending?

The "protest" letter from PAMI (Professional Artists Managers, Inc.) to GMA which Funfare published a few issues ago drew all sorts of reactions (with one reader going overboard in his "defense" of GMA – as if GMA couldn’t defend itself – by maligning not only this columnist but also, and I wonder why, Boy Abunda and Paolo Bediones).

Anyway, an unimpeachable DPA told Funfare that the GMA people were offended that the PAMI had the letter (signed by all members, except Alfie Lorenzo and Lolit Solis which is understandable because Lolit is a GMA talent, being a co-host of Startalk) published in a broadsheet (or in any paper for that matter) a day before GMA received its copy.

Now, could it be true that GMA is mulling the idea of doing its own "silent boycott" of talents handled by PAMI members (in which case the ultimate losers would be not the managers but the talents, especially the "smaller" ones, who might be losing their jobs, if GMA would push through with its planned boycott)?

The PAMI letter, obviously in sympathy with its member Ethel Ramos (who felt that she was "hit below the belt"), was in protest over interviews conducted by Startalk with Cheng Muhlach (by Butch Francisco) and on D! Day with Amalia Fuentes (by host Dina Bonnevie), followed a week later by a scathing interview on Startalk with Chit Ramos (by host Paolo Bediones) who described Amalia as "mukhang –––––" (censored!), prompting Amalia to file a P22-million libel suit against Chit and GMA the other day.

The ugly public fighting was spawned by a seemingly minor incident (showbiz-watchers know what it was, don’t they?) prior to the wedding of Aga Muhlach and Charlene Gonzalez last May 28 in Baguio City. The irony of it all is that even now that Aga and Charlene are starting to live happily ever after, expecting their twins in November, the ugly "war" rages on. Thank heavens Aga and Charlene haven’t let themselves be affected by it all.