Amazing Philippine Theatre

The country's premiere theatrical family show is now looking for additional members to their cast and the only way for them to get quality recruits is for them to see how they perform onstage. This has been the breeding ground of talents who will perform for the Amazing Show. If you want to experience World Class Pinoy entertainment then watch the Amazing Philippines show. The press conference for the 20 candidates vying for a slot to perform for the amazing show started today. The event will be held at the Manila Film Center on October 16, 2009 for the Pre-Pageant and October 23, 2009 for the Coronation night.

UAAP Finals: Two Ateneo teams look at back to back crowns

Will Nonoy Neutralize Elmer?

This was the same scenario last year, the Ateneo Blue Eagles were favored to annex their fourth crown against the second seeded De La Salle Green Archers, this time its the University of the East Warriors turn to frustrate the Eagles. The first time the Blue Eagles won the UAAP Seniors Basketball title was against the UE Red Warriors back in 1987. That year the Blue Eagles were also 13-1 in the eliminations and were the favorites to beat the Jerry Codinera led Warriors. That game turned out to be one of the most remarkable comebacks in Ateneo history as the Blue Eagles clawed back from 20 points down 63-83 in the last 10 minutes to win 94-92 and win their first UAAP title. The following year the Blue Eagles beat the De La Salle Green Archers for their 2nd title.

Hope Jai has recovered from Ondoy

History is on the side of the Blue Eagles, they have only beaten two teams in the finals and that is the Green Archers and the Red Warriors, look for them to frustrate the Recto based Warriors this year. The point guard of those two back to back teams is the uncle of point guard of this year's Blue Eagles. Jun Reyes was the one who orchestrated the balanced Ateneo attack that had Jayvee Gayoso and Nonoy Chuatico in the wings, Danny Francisco and Eric Reyes up front and a slew of bench players who could have played for another team - Sep Canlas, Alex Araneta, Mel Basa, Haj Jeongco, Olsen Racela and Jet Nieto.

Kirk is tasked to shut down Paul Lee

As one friend would say it, the championship is ours to lose since the only team that can beat the BLue Eagles is themselves. Overconfidence has proven to be the Achilles heel of the Blue Eagles as evidenced in their loss to UP. But since then they have racked up 11 consecutive wins including the nerve wracking come from behind win against the FEU Tamaraws. What are the keys to an Ateneo victory? I have some here - first is for the Blue Eagles to start strong, in their games against DLSU, NU, UP and UST, when they start strong everything else falls into place. They seem invincible and their defense is on a high. If they dont, then the men in Blue will patiently rely on their defense and get back on track. The second important ingredient is for Rabah Al-Husaini to be focused. Rabah is the unmovable force in the middle and not even Pari Llagas nor Elmer Espiritu combined can stop him. Rabah averaged 28 points against the Warriors and if that will be the case in the finals then its a foregone conclusion. Lastly, Norman Black. His carefully mapped game plan and defensive strategies frustrate opponents time and again. His players trust him that he has an answer to everything thrown at him. That in itself breeds confidence among his players.

Will Val Acuña's three pointers fall?

The Red Warriors need a lot of work to overcome the big blue machine. First, they need to limit their turnovers and pressure the Blue Eagles all the way. The big four should also come out with big games - Pari Llagas, Elmer Espiritu, Val Acuña and the heart and soul of the team Paul Lee. If they can all churn out big games then the Eagles are in trouble. Lastly, the Warriors need production from the bench. Rudy Lingganay, Paul Zamar, Raffy Reyes, Toto Bandaying and Lucas Tagarda should come out smoking so that they can match the second unit of the Blue Eagles.

Rabah should let his game do the talking

The pressure is definitely with the Blue Eagles, but they have been there and they have learned that they should never give their opponents the confidence to exploit their weakness. The Blue Eagles are not invincible and can be beaten, but they are also ready for what is about to happen. I just pray that the Blue Eagles come out on top of this series. Same with the Blue Eaglets who are now the underdogs against the hulking Dela Salle Zobel Junior Archers.

Mr. Razzle - Dazzle Kiefer Ravena

For one, the Blue Eaglets have the razzle dazzle Keifer Ravena who is the one man wrecking crew of the Eaglets. The Junior Archers are led by Gwynne Capacio, Arnold Van Opstal, Aiki Herrera, Nico Elorde and Luigi dela Paz. The Blue Eagles can also churn up big games from Ael Banal, Chuckie Dumrique, Paolo Romero, Paolo Pe, Al Bugarin and Von Pessumal. The Blue Eaglets will definitely need a team game to frustrate the Junior Archers and avenge their 2007 loss to them. I hope that at the end of the UAAP Wars the Ateneo will be back to back Grandslam champions - Grade School (SBP) , High School (UAAP Jrs.) and College (UAAP Srs.)! GO ATENEO ONE BIG FIGHT!

Look for the underdogs to exact revenge

Ondoy - Please don't ever come back

I cannot take it anymore. My heart is aching for all the bad news I have heard. I must admit when I got to see the news I was so shocked I didn't know what to do, how to react or who to call. Until now I am still shocked, brain drained and blacked out. (pardon the pun) Anyway here are some pictures I got from friends who took pix of Typhoon Ondoy.

Buendia Ave.

Even the Airport wasn't spared

SM Centerpoint in Sta. Mesa

View of Marikina Riverbanks

The Overpass at Ortigas

The Lagusnilad Underpass in front of FEU

The Starex is all messed up

The aftermath

Cars all piled up

...And after all this grief, misery and time of sorrow for our country, along comes an insensitive Filipina abroad whose Facebook comment/status seemed very untimely and most of all rude and uncalled for..she said...

"Buti n lng am hir in dubai! maybe so many sinners bak der! so yeah deserving wat hapend!-Jacque Bermejo" According to a blog that she did not say this. Is she the victim here? It remains to be seen, lets wait and see. She has been flooded by hate mails and comments on her multiply account that the account was cancelled.

Anyway, you be the judge. According to one of the readers she has come out with a statement. here is the link. http://thegossiper.typepad.com/celebrity-news/2009/09/fuck-you-jacque-bermejo.html Thanks Fatima.

STRANDED!!!

That's why its Fisheries St.

As I write this blog I am still in shock with what has happened to me and most specially the rest of Metro Manila. I was on my way to Heritage Park for the cremation of Tito Bert Veloso then i got stuck in traffic. Since I live at Visayas Avenue in Quezon City I told myself that I will drive by Katipunan avenue towards C5 to get to Heritage park. It was a good thing I brought along my jackets, extra shirts and cameras since I wanted to be ready for anything since it was raining hard when I left the house.

Even Jolibee was not spared

I left the house a little before 9 am and by the time I got to CP Garcia I was at the tail end of the traffic. It was around that time when the rains started to get harder at that time. Seeing the long line of vehicles I turned back and tried another route via the Old Balara way. When I got to the Balara filters entrance I became a part of the vehicles that started a counter flow going to the CP Garcia - Katipunan intersection. Upon arriving near the intersection I saw that both lanes were clogged and decided not to pursue my case and simply turned back. As I turned back I tried the route leading to Sikatuna Village but was unfortunate to pass because of the rising waters going to Kamias road. That prompted me to text my friend Mon Veloso that I wont make it and just went back home.

Truck Troubles

Going back I passed by Kalayaan avenue and on to the Quezon Memorial Circle and to Visayas avenue. There was a slight build up of vehicles at the QMC since the light vehicles were undecided to make a pass at the flooded street. After a few minutes the bigger ones found their way around the flood and I followed and made it to Visayas avenue and on to Fisheries st which is just 900 meters from my house. Unfortunately, the waters beneath the bridge along Morning Star drive rose to almost 5 feet and was impassable. I then decided to park along visayas avenue and have lunch in at Lola Idang's restaurant - it was around 12:40 pm.

Bus or Amphibian

After lunch, the others who were in the restaurant suddenly stopped and thought twice on going out since the rains have poured on its might once again. After a few minutes of discussions, we suddenly realized that we were all from the same place (SANVILLE) and were all waiting for the waters to subside so that we can all go home. Hours passed and we were laughing when we suddenly realized that a new member of our “waiting crew” was added, he was no other than singing star Luke Mejares. The hours passed and we were there just talking about life and people we know and those stuff. After a few hours we were laughing at the ordeal we had gone through. I told them, we were like the cast of a tragedy movie that got to meet up and eventually survived after helping each other overcome the ordeal they are in.

Residents ride a makeshift boat

After talking to my new friends we realized that we are all from Sanville.Luke is from Metro Heights while Raymond Diyco and his lovely wife Shella are from K-Ville. Segi who owns a nearby restaurant is from Interville and Tito Pepe and Tita Lulu Alcaraz are from Cenacle Drive. There were also three other couples who had to stop there to wait for the floods subside. When the lights and water went out at around 2pm we all were forced to wait at the restaurant and wait for a chance to go home. To make a long story short, we eventually got home at around 7:30 pm when Tita Lulu and Tito Pepe tried the other way around going to our house. Success!!!

Lola Idang's refugees

I was quite lucky since I was just in a safe place the whole time and was in good company considering we were all ranting with what he had to go through. When we finally got home and had electricity, I watched the news and was in shock with the ordeal other people had to go through because of Ondoy. In a nutshell I was quite humbled that I was ranting that I got stranded for almost 8 hours when other people from Marikina don’t even know where they will sleep and lost most of what they own. I hope the Lord will help us all in moving on and getting back on our tracks.

Boto Mo Patrol Mo Video Shoot

When ABS-CBN Launched boto mo patrol mo I was quite moved by the song that carried the campaign plus the video that they used to launch Boto Mo Patrol Mo. It was nice to see all those ABS-CBN celebrities plus other big named artists coming together for a cause. To sustain the campaign, ABS-CBN is coming out with another video that is similar in nature but will obviously look at other things in making sure that their now 36k boto patrollers will continue to grow and eventually wake up our slumbering nation.

To be able to make the video unique, ABS-CBN invited students to partake in this one of a kind video. As we very well know, every national undertaking that will suggest change usually starts from the youth sector most notably the students. That is why ABS-CBN invited select group of students from popular schools in Metro Manila to form the cast of thousands who will comprise a part of the video.

Students from Ateneo, FEU, UP and STI were there to help out the cause. Wait a minute, this is not the UAAP,Yes you read it right, STI is in the mold of these top universities that is why a strong 130 students were there to help out make this video shoot very memorable. I for one witnessed the hardships that these students had to endure since the shoot started at 10 pm and ended at almost 8am the next morning.

Patricia Evangelista, Executive Producer for this shoot of Boto Mo Patrol Mo explained that all of the people involved are there for a worthy cause. I was particularly moved by the energy she exhibited all day as she was in a zone in making sure that the students are up on their feet and are 100% excited until the wee hours of the morning. Good thing several bands performed namely Sugarfee, Barbie Almabis, Sinosikat, Peryodiko and Rocksteddy. The crowd were up on their feet.

This is a great project that I believe we in STI are happy to be a part of. As ABS-CBN says "AKO ANG SIMULA..." STIers would shout ..."SIMULAN NATIN!"

ATENEO enters UAAP Season 72 Finals

TEAM – together everyone achieves more. This is the basic tenet that the Ateneo Blue Eagles have lived by the past five years that Coach Norman Black has guided this team. As a team, the Ateneo Blue Eagles looked formidable and each and everyone contributed their share in ousting the University of Santo Tomas Growling Tigers 81 – 64. Season 72 League MVP Dylan Ababou bid farewell to the UAAP as he and Khasim Mirza, who is also in his last year, gave it their best shot but their efforts were not enough to overcome the Blue Eagles juggernaut.

The first quarter saw the Blue Eagles and Tigers size up each other as both point guards Jai Reyes and Jeric Fortuna of the Tigers each scored seven points to lead their respective teams. The Tigers fell in love with the three pointer with Ababou, Mirza , Tata Bautista and Jeric Teng all firing blanks and were not doing much damage. On the other hand, the Eagles were running the fastbreak every time the Tigers misfired. The result was a respectable 22 – 16 first quarter lead.

The Eagles were without a key bench player in this game as Nico Salva was suspended because of his hit on Jens Knuttel of FEU. This was the cue Ryan Buenafe needed as he and fellow SSC alum Eric Salamat anchored the 2^nd quarter defense of the Eagles. Salamat singlehandedly disrupted the Tigers offense as he stole the ball four times and fed off team mates as he and Buenafe scored and dished as the unselfish play of the Blue Eagles gave them enough cushion for a lift off.

The third quarter was all about defense again as the Blue Eagles sharpened their claws once more for the kill. The Tigers scored 16 first quarter points, 15 second quarter points and by the third quarter they were limited to only 13 points. This was made possible because of the defense of Nonoy Baclao on Ababou and the pressure of the Blue Eagle guards on their Tiger counterparts. The Tigers were more aggressive in going to the basket by were time and again thwarted by the rotating defense of the men in Blue. This was the momentum they sustained in the fourth quarter as the Tigers never got things going while the Blue Eagles got their biggest lead of 22 points and just coasted along to get the morale boosting win.

The Blue Eagles barged into their second consecutive finals and are the big favorites to win back to back. Winning the title will be a fitting finale to the collegiate careers of Rabah Al-Husaini, Nonoy Baclao and Jai Reyes as back to back 16 -1 seasons are in the offing. Go Ateneo One Big Fight.

ATENEO (81)

Reyes 17, Buenafe 15, AL-Husaini 14, Baclao 13, Salamat 6, Chua 6, Long 6, Sumalinog 2, Austria 2, Monfort 0, Gonzaga 0, Golla 0

UST (64)

Ababou 19, Mirza 14, Teng 10, Bautista 9, Fortuna 7, Afuang 4, Camus 1, Maliksi 0, Aytona 0

Quarterscores: 22 – 16, 40 – 31, 63 – 44, 81 – 64

9th NAASCU Awardees

9TH NAASCU JUNIORS BASKETBALL 2ND PLACE

OUR LADY OF FATIMA JR. PHOENIX

9TH NAASCU JUNIORS BASKETBALL CHAMPION

UNIVERSITY OF MANILA HAWKLETS

9TH NAASCU WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPION

UNIVERSITY OF MANILA HAWKETTES

JERALD BAUTISTA OF STI COLLEGE

MYTHICAL 10 and MYTHICAL 5

9TH NAASCU SENIORS BASKETBALL

MYTHICAL 10 TEAM

(From left to right)

John Matubang (UM) Jerald Bautista (STI)

Martin Antonio (STI) JayAr Manuel (UM)

Jeff Viernes (UM) Jun Gracilla (SSC)

RJ Escobal (SSC) Kris Lucernas (SSC)

JC Collado (LSB) Vergel Baydo (LSB)

NAASCU COACH OF THE YEAR

EGAY MACARAYA

SAN SEBASTIAN COLLEGE

9TH NAASCU MYTHICAL 5

Jerald Bautista (STI) John Matubang (UM)

JC Collado (LSB) Kris Lucernas (SSC) Jun Gracillas (SSC)

9TH NAASCU MOST VALUABLE PLAYER

JUN GRACILLA

9TH NAASCU SENIORS BASKETBALL CHAMPION

SAN SEBASTIAN COLLEGE RECOLETOS CAVITE

Highlights from the UAAP Cheerdance Competition

THE CROWD AND PARTICIPANTS AWAITING THE WINNER

ADAMSON PEP SQUAD

ATENEO BLUE BABBLE BATTALION

DLSU PEP SQUAD

FEU CHEERING SQUAD

NATIONAL UNIVERSITY CHEERING SQUAD

UNIVERSITY OF THE EAST PEP SQUAD

UP PEP SQUAD

SALINGAWI DANCE TROUPE