Coco & Vic team up for MMFF…against Vice?
(and how Coco made a centenarian’s day!)
Neither Coco Martin nor Vic Sotto has commented on the good news that they are going to team up in a movie for the Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) in December…against Vice Ganda?
Wow, haba ng buhok ni Vice! Imagine two “forces” joining to topple him at the tills which he has been ruling for a few years now. In a TV ambush interview, Vice simply shrugged it off, “We are all here to entertain the public.”
If you recall, in last year’s MMFF Vice’s starrer Gandarrapido: The Revengers Squad beat those of Vic’s and Coco’s by several miles. Coco’s Panday movie, said to have a budget of P300M(?), grossed barely one-third of Vice’s movie which topped the MMFF with a gross of way past the P.5B mark.
If and when the Coco-Vic (with Maine Mendoza and Maricel Soriano among the other big stars allegedly eyed as co-stars) movie did materialize, the 2018 MMFF bears a close watch.
This early, who do you think will beat whom? Ang challenger o ang dating kampeon?
The other good news is about how Coco made a centenarian’s birthday a memorable one.
Rosita “Lola Rosing” Gamboa, a big fan of Coco Martin glued to Coco’s FPJ’s
Ang Probinsyano series every day, was turning 100 (on June 2) and her clan (nine children, 25 grandchildren and 26 great grandchildren) wanted to surprise her in an advance celebration last May 26 at The Palms Country Club in Alabang, Muntinlupa City --- that is, invite Coco to greet her and give her a hug. A mission impossible, considering how airtight Coco’s
Probinsyano shoot is. Election lawyer Romy Macalintal to the rescue. With the help of Sen. Grace Poe, Romy
(Lola Rosing’s son-in-law) got a video message from Coco who expressed regrets for not being able to attend the party, blew a kiss to Lola Rosing and ended his message with a heart-felt “I love you!”…much to the delight of the Birthday Lady. On June 2, her actual 100th birthday,
Lola Rosing’s children prepared another birthday party for her in Sta. Barbara, Pangasinan attended by her friends and relatives in her hometown. She was born in Barrio Banaoang, Sta. Barbara, Pangasinan, and married her late husband, Guillermo Gamboa Sr. on Nov. 26, 1946.
According to Romy, Lola Rosing’s genes could be considered as one for the books because at her present age, she doesn’t take any maintenance medicine. She walks with a cane and can still move around without need of any assistance although she has to take a wheel- chair when going around the mall.
“Every time she is asked what her ‘secret’ for long life is,” said Romy, “she would always answer, ‘Prayer!’ True enough, she prays before going to sleep and every morning upon waking up and after praying she would drink her favorite milk.
“Her testimony on the power of prayer would make her recall how she suffered for about three years from enlarged thyroid gland or goiter in her late 60s. But due to poverty, she could not afford the cost of surgical services to remove her goiter. Thus, Lola Rosing prayed daily to a cross of Jesus inside the Baguio City Cathedral where she would touch the feet of Jesus and rub her hand to her neck deeply praying for the healing of her goiter.”
And with God’s help and loving mercy, her goiter was gone forever.
“Up to now,” Romy added, “she could still sing her favorite songs,
Amazing Grace and Release Me, in the karaoke. Lola Rosing even sang her favorite Pangasinan lullaby, Malinak
Laylabi or Malalim na ang Gabi during her 100th birthday event. She is not fond of soft drinks or junk food, and would always prefer to eat vegetable and fruits, small amount of rice, fish, meat, and semi-ripe mango with small amount of bagoong. Actually, she can eat any food she likes, kasi wala namang
bawal sa kanya. But she prefers to remain healthy ‘para humaba pa ang buhay ko.’” Aling Rosing’s birthday wish? “My wish is for the health and wealth of all my children, my grandchildren and great grandchildren. I pray to God that all of them, especially my grandchildren be always guided and have all their dreams fulfilled.” Romy noted that due to poverty,
Lola Rosing wasn't able to finish high school. Asked what she would have taken up in school had she been given the chance, she said, “I wanted to be a lawyer because I want to defend those who need legal services.” (E-mail reactions at entphilstar@ yahoo.com. For more updates, photos and videos, visit www.philstar.com/ funfare or follow me on Instagram @ therealrickylo.)