On silly, outlandish shows

You’d think that both ABS-CBN and GMA-7 have silly outlandish premises for their new shows Halfmates and Forever Young.

The former, ABS-CBN’s Halfmates, is about a man and a woman who find out one fine day that they were both sold the same house-and-lot in the suburb, which they individually have in mind to be their dream house. Just how in heaven’s name can a real estate property, not located in the boondocks, be sold twice? An impossibility, you think?

We initially felt that way and dismissed Halfmates as a silly show not worth watching. But the journo in us pushed us to at least Google about the possibility of double-selling a single property. 

Oh, boy, we found one whole legal column in Daily Tribune itself devoted to crimes and cases of doubled properties. The column is that of Migmar Bernped S. Francisco, published in this paper on 29 January 2021.

As for the word Halfmates, it is not legitimate since it is not in any dictionary for the English language. However, the show has begun to exist. Halfmates premiered on 18 October on the ABS-CBN Entertainment YouTube channel. You can catch fresh episodes every Tuesday and Friday at 5:30 p.m.

In the romcom, Kaori plays the bubbly Dani, who worked as a nurse in New Zealand, and whose effervescent personality clashes with the serious, introverted nature of James, an accountant, portrayed by Jeremiah. They go to court not only to sue the property seller but also to find out who between them has the right to live that lot with a house in it. Meanwhile, they live together in their dream house but sleep in separate rooms and do a lot of ranting against each other as often as they can. 

But for how long will they hem and haw at each other? Didn’t we say the show is a romcom?

The Kapuso network’s Forever Young is about a 25 year-old man who looks 11 years old. Is there such a person in the Philippines? 

At the media conference for the show held at Studio 7 of the network recently, we asked the show director Gil Tejada pointblank if such a human being could exist anywhere, including in this archipelago of 7,100 islands? 

He calmly answered, yes, there are such persons in the country and they are documented in hospitals as suffering from a condition known as panhypopituitarism, which causes deficiency of the growth hormone. 

If you write on the Google search box “Cases of panhypopituarism in the Philippines,” you will be referred to hospital cases and extensive treatment reports but with no specific persons named as patients. 

Tejada is not sure though if any of those documented Pinoys have ever been voted to a public office. 

In the new series, child actor Euwenn Mikaell, 11, portrays Agapito Rambo, a 25-year-old who looks 11. And he has been voted mayor of a town called Ciudad Corazon. (Incidentally, Mikaell is not the actor’s surname but his second name. He used to be billed as Euwenn Mikaell Aleta. It was only when he appeared in the film Firefly that he began to use just Euwenn Mikaell as screen name). 

Tejada confided to a handful of journos and vloggers who were early birds in the media huddle that the new series lead character was not originally intended to be male but female. They had the script for the series ready as far back as two years ago. 

“It’s just that we felt that a female character would be more appealing to viewers than a male. But after auditioning dozens of young girls, there’s no one we liked for the role. 

“Some production executives told us to tweak the script and make the lead character a boy. So we rewrote script to have a girl lead character. Fortunately, by that time, Euwenn has begun to make a name as a child actor. He did well in Firefly, for which he won best actor at the Metro Manila Film Festival. He was also impressive in Lolo & the Kid at Netflix,” he said.  

He added, “We asked him to audition. He did well, so it was him as Rambo Agapito.” 

The harder part, further confided Tejada, was convincing his parents to allow the boy to portray a 25-year-old adult all the time in the series. The task might be strenuous for an 11-year-old. Actually both Euwenn and his parents were hesitant to accept the role. Convincing all three took some weeks of meeting. 

“We had to assure Euwenn himself and his parents that we would make it easy for Euwenn to act 25 years old without straining his mind and his body. Well, one way to do it is for me to act out the scene and ask him to just imitate me. I don’t have to do it all the time. There are many scenes he did with his own understanding of how a 25-year-old politician behaves.”

Two of the seasoned actors Euwenn has scenes with are Eula Valdez and Michael de Mesa. Both say Euwenn seems to be born to act. 

Valdez and De Mesa may not be aware that Euwenn began his acting “career” when he was just three years old. 

In 2016, Euwenn took on a challenging role in Magpakailanman: Justice for John Earl, where he portrayed a battered child who was tragically killed by his supposed caretakers. He was only three years old at the time, showcasing his remarkable acting abilities from a young age.

On Thursday’s episode of Fast Talk With Boy Abunda, Mayor Rambo got quizzed about his thoughts on a few policies, such as jail time for those spreading gossip.

“Talagang kailangan, pero parang mga four hours lang (It is necessary to give gossips jail time. But, maybe for four hours only),” he said, drawing laughs from the audience. “Kasi nga parang hindi naman ganoon kabigat ‘yung crime (Because it is not such a heavy crime).”

That’s our brilliant boy!

Alfred Vargas, Rafael Rosell, Nadine Samonte and James Blanco are also in the cast.

***

Puregold CinePanalo has truly become a national competition whose participants in its short films-student category come from Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.

A total of 25 finalists has been selected for the upcoming 2025 Puregold CinePanalo. The young filmmakers will each receive a P150,000 production grant.

The finalists were chosen from hundreds of initial applicants to the contest. While the finalists are from all over the country, two schools dominated.  Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP) holds the record, with six students making it to the festival. The University of the Philippines Diliman (UPD) followed closely, with five representatives, and an additional two from UP Visayas.

The student finalists from PUP are Adelbert Abrigonda, Allan Balance Jr., Alexie Nicole Pardo, Naiah Nicole Mendoza, Mark Joseph Sanchez, and Aubrey Soriano.

Those from UPD are Carlos Dala, Clyde Cuizon Gamale, Mae Malaya, Jadriel Morales and John Lester Rimorin.

The finalists from UP Visayas are Maria Eleanor Javier and  Kieth Earl Rebaño.

The rest of the finalists are Angel Allizon Crux (University of Santo Tomas),  Roniño Dolim (University of Eastern Philippines), Kenneth Flores, (Far Eastern University), Austine Rae Fresnido (FAITH Colleges), Bjorn Herrera (Central Philippine University), Ira Corinne Malit, (University of Caloocan City), Vhan Marco Molacruz (Colegio de San Juan Letran), Regene Narciso, (Dalubhasaan ng Lunsod ng San Pablo), Jose Andy Rosales (University of San Carlos), Jasper Tan  (Far Eastern University), Johannes Tejero (University of San Carlos) and Sean Rafael Verdejo (National University Laguna).

“Puregold CinePanalo aims to champion the future visionaries of Philippine cinema,” said Puregold president Vincent Co. “We are here to provide a platform and support for these talented young artists, and we look forward to sharing their panalo stories with the public.”

Aside from the 25 finalists, Puregold also named five honorable mentions. If any of the 25 cannot continue to compete, their place will be granted to one of the honorable mentions.

Those five are Victoriano Arroyo (UP Visayas), Jamal Baulo (Mindanao State University), Donnie de los Reyes (University of the Philippines Visayas),  Vannece Llera (PUP), and Abdul Hakhem  Serad (Mindanao State University).

“The student short film category was highly competitive this year,” said Puregold senior marketing manager Ivy Hayagan-Piedad. “With so many exceptional entries from across the country, we’re proud to highlight our honorable mentions. We’re confident these student filmmakers will be ready to step up and shine at the festival should the opportunity arise.”

Hayagan-Piedad is also one of the festival directors for the Puregold CinePanalo. She also was part of the Selection Committee that put together the festival lineup. 

Joining her on the selection committee were fellow festival director Chris Cahilig, award-winning director Kurt Soberano, screenplay writer Jinkee Laurel, and representatives of Republic Creative Creations Inc. Sonny Bautista and Lyle Gonzales.

The 25 student shorts will be screened alongside eight feature films at the festival proper at Gateway Cinemas 14 to 25 March 2025.