Love, lawsuits and the silent killer

Actress Sunshine Cruz and embattled gambling lord Atong Ang are still very much in love -- though the former staunchly refuses to talk about it.

Cruz was at the sidelines of the recent preview and media conference for Prime Video’s latest series, The Alibi, held at Cinema 6 of Trinoma Mall. Although it is bannered by the now much talked about tandem of Kim Chiu and Paulo Avelino, Cruz’s youngest daughter, Angelina Cruz, has a major role in the series that pairs her up with another newbie actor, Robbie Jaworski. 

Angelina’s dad is the hibernating actor Cesar Montano while that of Robbie is Dodot Jaworski, son of Pinoy basketball superstar Robert Jaworski. Dodot is vice mayor to Vico Sotto in Pasig for a second term now. 

Though Sunshine claims to be sickly these days, she remains a beauty whose presence easily steals attention. Some showbiz journos and vloggers swooped down on her after the media-con. Of course, they are interested not only in her but also her latest partner, Atong Ang, allegedly the prime suspect in the disappearance of at least 30 sabungeros 

(cock fighting aficionados) in 2022 and 2023-- which Ang persistently denies. 

Sunshine sweetly suggested to the journos and vloggers to ask her instead about her daughter Angelina. But no one took the bait about the daughter, so the mother dangled another bait about her being sick these days — and the little crowd had no choice — but to take it. 

“I have an autoimmune disease, myasthenia gravis, [which is] weakening of nerves and muscles,” began 48-year-old mother. 

Her litany went on, thus: “Walang gamot, bawal ma-stress, bawal mapuyat kaya nag-decline ako ng many shows because kahit gustuhin ko, di kaya ng katawan ko for now (There is no medication, and I cannot be stressed or sleep late, which is why I declined many shows even if I wanted to do them. My body cannot cope with it for now).” 

Actually, Sunshine has been reeling from bashers who once even spread that she must be pregnant with possibly her first child with Ang. 

She went on to confide that she has asked her lawyer to study how sue for cyber libel against those who bash her and her daughters. 

Go ahead, Sunshine, sue the bashers. Rain court cases on the tribes of them! 

Less gunfire on pinoy cop films?

Are Pinoy script writers who feature policemen and policewomen as main characters in their narratives aware that giving CPR (cardio-pulmonary resuscitation) to persons who have just collapsed due to a heart ailment is among the skills cops these days are encouraged to possess? 

The latest Pinoy cop movie is the upcoming Salvageland, which topbills Richard Gomez and Elijah Canlas as father-and-son cops, and directed by Lino Cayetano. Canlas is a rookie cop in the story, and if there are scenes in the film about his character’s training to be a policeman, we hope there’s a shot of him and other would-be cops learning how to administer CPR--and helping saving lives the most peaceful way. No guns, no bullets, no firing. 

Giving a CPR isn’t hard and complicated. Actually, even firefighters have begun to be trained on CPR, as well as the barangay tanod. Junior high-school seniors and all those in senior high school are now also encouraged to know how to administer CPR on people who have suddenly lost consciousness due to heart failure. 

The possibility of a person’s survival when their heart stops functioning increases when they are given a CPR on the first five minutes after they have collapsed. Moreover, the earlier the patient gets medical attention, the more likely that they will survive the heart attack without their faculties severely affected. 

Some may survive paralyzed, unable to talk and recall their memories. The late basketball superstar Samboy Lim was among them. In 2014, Lim collapsed while resting on the bench from playing. It seemed no one knew how to do CPR but a co-player managed to rush him to the nearest hospital about 20 after he collapsed. 

We learned about the risks of an in-CPR-ed cardiac collapse at the media conference held by the Philippine Heart Association (PHA) recently at Victoriano restaurant in Quezon City to celebrate World Restart a Heart Day. Globally, that “restart” day is observed annually on October 16 but whether conditions in the country around that time was not conducive for a PHA event to be held. 

But it is unquestionably important to call out everyone’s attention to matters about the literal heart because cardiovascular ailments remain to be the top killer disease worldwide, including (in) the Philippines. A staggering 17.9 million people die from cardiovascular ailments every year. The PHA reveals that 20 Filipinos die from cardiovascular ailment every hour every day. Yes, every hour every day! 

There are developments in the country that somehow help ease up the handling of cardiac emergencies. People are now encouraged to call 911 whose operations has been unified nationwide. That means 911 can be called from anywhere in the country. In the past, the number varies depending on the caller’s location. Someone should call for help even before a patient is administered a CPR by someone who has been adequately trained to do it. 

At the media conference, no less than Unified 911 executive director Francis Fajardo the operations of Unified 911.

The “Restart a Heart” media event focused on creating a CPR-Ready and 911-Ready Philippines, empowering Filipinos to handle cardiac emergencies. Key agencies like the Department of Health, Emergency 911 National Office, Philippine College of Emergency Medicine, and the Philippine Red Cross united to enhance the emergency response system through education and collaboration. The Philippine College of Cardiology, comprising 2,500 specialists, aims to improve cardiology training and community service across the nation.

PHA President Dr. Walid Amil highlighted the organization’s dedication to heart health advocacy through its initiative. Since 2020, the PHA has trained over 111,000 Filipinos in Basic and Advanced Life Support across 28 accredited training centers, impacting various communities including schools, hospitals, workplaces and barangays nationwide.