Now it’s Inquirer’s time to goof:

While he was comfortable talking about politics, Aquino wants to keep his love life private.

He said he already asked his youngest sister and popular TV host Kris not discuss his love life in public.

“I talked to my sister and I did ask her that’s the part of my life that I want to be private as it can’t develop in the public like in a fishball . I think she understood it…She texted me and apologized,” said the senator. [Maila Ager, Inquirer]

PEP, an entertainment site, entertains us all by turning it into a “brewing controversy.” Erwin Santiago reads a blog entry (over at Chuvaness) and since he probably has nothing much to write about, composed the link/flame bait.

The Philippine Star writes it correctly:

Noynoy said he had talked with Kris and “I did ask her that that is the part of my life that I want to be private.”

“(It cannot develop) you know in a fish bowl and I think she understood it and she agreed. She texted me and she (Kris) apologized… I’m used to it (his sisters being focused on him) and I’ve talked to Shalani,” Noynoy said. [Aurea Calica, Philippine Star]

Someone commented that Chuvaness is connected to the Erap camp.

This is what happens when you have nothing bad to say about a candidate. He has vanishing hair, unpressed pants and unimpressive rhetoric. Nothing heavy. So when a goofy news writer hovering about him makes a mistake, he absorbs the error.

It’s Marky. He’s gone. So in between talks of burial dates of people who died in their sleep or jeepney or due to old age or some heart condition, I hear people saying Marky’s dead. I receive TXT messages confirming Marky’s death.

Some articles:

It seems like it’s too early for a goodbye. So maybe, when I look up at the December night sky, I should say, hello, Marky. How is it like to be home?

Filmography

Writer:

1. Asian Treasures (2007 TV series head writer)
2. White Lady (2006 screenwriter)
3. Kuya (2004 screenwriter)
4. Mulawin (2004 TV series head writer)
5. Click (1999 TV series writer)

Director:
1. Mahiwagang Baul (1 episode, 2005)

• Ang alamat ng alitaptap (2005) TV Episode

2. Mga Kuwento ni Lola Basyang

• Ang Mahiwagang Kuba February 4, 2007
• Ang Parusa ng Duwende February 18, 2007
• Ang Binibining Tumalo sa Hari February 25, 2007
• Ang Mahiwagang Biyulin March 4, 2007
• Ang Prinsipeng Mahaba ang Ilong March 11, 2007
• Ang Sumpa ni Higanteng Hamok March 18, 2007

first runner-up Miss Philippines Earth 2002

American Idol: Jose ‘Sway’ Penala
American Idol: Jasmine Trias

World Talent (Hawaii, USA): Alyssa Ashley Soriano Palacsa

Magdaleno Peña passed the bar in 1983.

Walt Disney’s newest animated feature “Chicken Little” is making waves at the American box office, as grosses hit nearly $120 million since it first opened three weeks ago.

A very loose adaptation of the venerable children’s story, Chicken Little is bound to be as popular as the other Disney characters. This quirky new character is the archetype 98-ounce weakling, yet children will soon be posing for pictures with his six-foot-tall mascot in Disney’s theme parks around the world.

Nobody could be prouder of this little hero than Philippine-born Ralph Fernan, who was responsible for animating both the title character and his father, Buck Cluck. It was up to Fernan to give life to these two lead chickens. He clearly had the most challenging task of giving the film its heart.

“As you have probably noticed, there are many scenes between Chicken Little and his father,” the 40-something Fernan told Life & Times via phone patch. “So as animator, I had to build a rapport between father and son and make it look realistic.”

Many of the scenes between the older chicken and his tiny son are tender and actually human, and they comprise the best moments of this otherwise rapidly paced CGI movie. Yet Fernan refused to take the entire credit. He attributes the success of the film to a lot of contributors, from the gifted voice talents, the art directors and the overall director Mark Dindal.

With all the talented animators and art directors working on the film, it seems that director Dindal would have little else to do, but Fernan said that on the contrary, he was the central guiding force of the whole production.

“True, we all had our duties but it was Mark who set the tone and direction of the film. He’d advise us in certain scenes and describe their purpose. How the characters should react to certain situations, how the action ought to be depicted and he more or less choreographed entire scenes,” he explained.

It was Dindal who also coached the voice talents, which included major stars like Steve Zahn, Patrick Stewart, Don Knotts and Joan Cusack.

From UE’s pride to Disney’s gem

Fernan was born in Manila and is a Fine Arts graduate of the University of the East. Although he majored in painting, he found himself working on animation. “My first stint with animation was when I was hired by the local studio of Hanna-Barbera,” he said.

“That was in the eighties, not long after I finished college. You can say that it was at Hanna-Barbera where I got my formal training, where I learned the ropes.”

Most children are familiar with many of Hanna-Barbera’s beloved characters — from Scooby-Doo and Yogi Bear to The Flintstones and Josie and the Pussycats.

Fernan was assistant editor of the Hanna-Barbera’s feature-length cartoon Once Upon A Forest (1993), which featured the voice talents of Michael Crawford and Ben Vereen.

Sadly, however, the company was compelled to shut down its Manila studio due to financial difficulties.

As with most of the talented Filipino animators, Fernan decided to seek his fortunes in other countries. There were fewer opportunities for animators in the Philippines, he explained. While others found employment in Australia, Fernan and a few others tried their luck in the United States. Fernan has so far been the most fortunate Filipino animator. He found work at Burbank Studios and was animator for the features of Turner Pictures and Warner Brothers. Among his credits are the highly acclaimed Iron Giant (1999) and Stuart Little 2 (2003).

Not long after, he was hired by Walt Disney and was immediately assigned to Chicken Little. “We started to work on Chicken Little two years ago. It all began with storyboarding and scripts which were continuously revised,” Fernan recalled.

Fernan noted there are several Filipinos working in Disney, both in the production and administration’s departments. “We’re all so proud to be part of this great company. I’ve met Roy Disney, the son of Walt Disney. He looks a lot like his father!” he said.

For Disney, Chicken Little was a major gamble that paid off. It was the first CGI film, the studio produced on its own. (Pixar produced most of its CGI productions.) The studio first adapted Chicken Little for the screen in 1943 using traditional animation.

“Of course, traditional animation will always have its advantages, but with CGI, the work is faster and easier. I would like to work on conventional animation again,” he said.

Fernan resides with his wife and son in Altadena, California. While he’s enjoying his work in Disney, he said he hopes the animation industry in the Philippines would eventually get off the ground. “Then perhaps the talent wouldn’t have to migrate to other countries,” he said.

Article written by Dennis Ladaw
Ralph Fernan: The big Pinoy behind ‘Chicken Little’
The Manila Times November 30, 2005

Plinky Recto was once a Close-Up model and since her name ends with a Recto (big name, with a street named after it) she got some airtime in Philippine showbiz buzz but now enjoying her time as a Pilates instructor. Ralph, the senator and husband of Vilma Santos, is her brother. She has a civil case against her influential ex-boyfriend and now she’s back in the news.

Plinky found her courage to speak up partly with the help of Gabriela. After filing a civil case against Magdaleno Peña, she went to The Buzz to talk about some of the details. She never mentioned Pena’s name, but she did say something about Jarque’s case. The rest you have to check online, she says. It’s all over the net, so I had to compile them here.

The number of battered women in the Philippines is rising. They just found a new spokesperson with Plinky’s face.

Related notes:

Plinky and Pilates

Plinky spent another million to import equipment such as the Cadillac, Barrel and Ladder, Wunda chairs, and Reformer machines from California. “But the courier lost my machines weeks before I was to open, and I had to hire someone for three weeks to track where the machines ended up. The people from Sacramento thought the Philippines had only one port,” Recto says laughing. When the machines finally arrived, she had trouble getting them released because the government people had no idea how to classify them for tax purposes. [source]

Who is General Jarque?

Jarque headed the Army’s 3rd Infantry Division in Negros island in 1991-1992, and was credited with turning the tide against the communist New People’s Army guerrillas who had broad support among the rural poor.

In 1995, he surprised the public when he announced he decided “to go underground to wage revolution,” adding he had “come to understand and acknowledge the justness of the struggle … by my erstwhile foes.”

In 1996, Jarque served as a consultant for the NDF panel in the peace talks but became less active after the government and rebels signed an agreement on human rights in 1998. In 2001, he became a security consultant for the Philippine National Oil Co.-Energy Development Corp. [source ]

General Jarque sought the protection of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) after he was unjustly accused of crimes he did not commit. He became a consultant for the NDFP during peace negotiations with the Manila government in 1997. [source]

Jarque was acquitted after 12 years. The article below was published in June this year.

“I feel vindicated,” Raymundo Jarque, a retired brigadier general who defected to the New People’s Army, declared after learning that the Supreme Court and the Sandiganbayan acquitted him of the six cases filed against him more than 12 years ago.

Jarque, military affairs consultant of the National Democratic Front, was the military commander in Negros when sugar planter Magdaleno Peña filed the cases against him.

Doubting that he would get a fair trial, Jarque, who had served the military for 33 years, fled to the hills and joined the NPA. [source]

Children: Capt. Rene Jarque, Raymundo Jr., Melissa (resident of Texas, USA)
Wife: Xenia (also written as ‘Zenia’ on the papers)