Maine goes serious in this year’s MMFF entry
Quezon City Representative Alfred Vargas has been chosen as this year’s The Ten Outstanding Young Men (TOYM) honoree for Public Service.
Alfred was inspired by her late mom, a government employee, to enter politics. And he has a good track record. He first ran for councilor and won. He then ran as representative for the fifth District of Quezon City and also emerged victorious.
He is in cloud nine because of the TOYM Award which he dedicated to his wife and his mother.
“I never expected that one day, I would stand here today as an honoree and counted alongside my idols and the movers and shakers of our nation,” said Alfred as he accepted his award Friday night. He said he received a call from TOYM, informing him that he made it to the shortlist of prospective awardees. What followed was an interview with a panel of judges that included Manila Mayor Isko Moreno, among others.
“It was a tough interview,” said Alfred as he recalled the screening process. He was recognized by TOYM for his efforts in providing affordable houses and lots to several communities in Quezon City.
“The issue of providing affordable house and lot in Metro Manila, most especially in Quezon City and Novaliches is a serious matter since 60 percent of residents are informal settler families (ISF),” the lawmaker said.
“After so many trials like lack of funds, three death threats from syndicates, disagreements between stakeholders, formulating sustainable solutions and finding common ground regarding these solutions, this is what I have learned: One, everyone’s voice should be heard, especially the voices of the urban poor. Second, all big things start from small beginnings. And third, always stand by your principles.”
The Palupa program of Alfred was successful in providing several ISFs with their own house and lot in Quezon City.
He was also recognized for being the principal advocate of the National Integrated Cancer Control Act (NICCA). He dedicated his award to his mother, who died from cancer in 2014.
“No Filipino family deserves to lose their loved ones, give up their savings, their house, their livelihood, and end up buried in debt all at the same time because cancer came knocking at their doors. The government is now your partner in the fight against cancer. You are not alone. Every Filipino can now work hand in hand with the government and the private sector,” he stressed.
Last Monday, Alfred attended the premiere of his new movie titled “Kaputol” where he co-stars with Cherie Gil. This is an art film written by Ricky Lee. He said he has long dreamed of doing an art film and he liked the script written by Ricky Lee and directed by Mac Alejandre. The movie will be released next year.
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For a change, Maine Mendoza is portraying a serious role in the filmfest entry “Mission Unstoppable: The Don Identity” where she co-stars with Vic Sotto.
Maine said she does not dabble in comedy in the film and is also not playing the daughter of Vic, unlike her past two MMFF entries.
She even said that her role as Donna Cruz, who is a computer hacker, is somewhat a kontrabida to Vic’s character.
“This is a welcome change for me. I want to portray other roles to prove my versatility. I don’t want to be identified with just one type of role,” said Maine.
She even does several action scenes which she liked so much. “It’s a big challenge to do action scenes but I did them all myself. I didn’t want to use a double for my scenes.”
In fact, director Mike Tuviera praised Maine’s derring-do in her action scenes.
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South Pacific Inc. has announced the renewal of its LPG supply deal with Wanhua Chemical Group to ensure reliability of supplies in the country’s biggest LPG facility.
The new contract reveals China’s top petrochemical maker, Wanhua Chemical Group increasing its annual LPG supply to SPI to 450,000 MT up by 10 percent from last year’s contract.
Present during the contract signing was SPI Founder Arnel Ty and President Jun Golingay. Wanhua was represented by its Assistant General Manager, Tony Liang and Vincent Yang as witness.
Wanhua, based in Yantai in China’s northeast Shandong province, is considered as the most competitive MDI producer in the world and the biggest TDI supplier in Europe.
SPI currently ranks third with 16.4 percent nationwide LPG market share. It also has the largest LPG storage facility in the Philippines. SPI is constructing more plants in southern Philippines following the opening of its Mandaue terminal.
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