SOMEONE must have read my column earlier this week.
I mean, how else do you explain the sudden appearance of many men working on the road-concreting project on V. Urgello St. in Barangay Sambag 1?
But if not, well, I am still very grateful and very appreciative that prompt action was taken. Maybe the workers were taking a break when I passed by that particular day. It was very hot, after all.
As for the traffic on Uytengsu St., it’s a game of cat and mouse. While barangay tanods are deployed in the area, motorists heading for Osmena Blvd. take the detour. That is, left on Ascencion St. and right on V. Urgello St.
But when the tanods are away... you know how it is here? Motorcycle and four-wheel vehicle drivers meet oncoming traffic. Some of them even have the temerity to glare at the motorists who have the right of way.
Anyway, I shouldn’t be ranting on a Sunday. Not at my age. Not when I’m still nursing a mean hangover from the post-Binisaya Film Festival party at the Politics bar the night before.
I know. I don’t usually write about myself—What? Me? Write about myself? Never!—but let me take this opportunity to thank the organizers of the Binisaya Film Festival, especially Atty. Grace Lopez, this year’s festival director, and director Keith Deligero, the festival’s founder, for letting me be part of this year’s festivities.
Not only did they ask me to be one of the jurors for the competition, I also acted in one of the three shorts of the omnibus film that was one of the highlights of the festival. And for that, I have director Kris Villarino to thank for. If I hadn’t accosted him during director Kerwin Go’s “Mina-anud” screening at the SM Seaside a few months back, I would have missed the opportunity to play Xander, the protagonist in his short, “Pa-burger sa Camotes.”
Actually, Kris really didn’t have a choice. He had to pick me since I had his back pressed against the wall. It had been months since my last acting gig and I was raring to be in front of the camera again.
Hey. I rarely write about myself so cut me some slack.
Plus, my sister, who is back for a quick visit from the States after a 22-year absence, along with her husband and the rest of my family and relatives, watched director Deligero’s Cinema One entry last year, “A Short History of a Few Bad Things,” which was shown on the last night of the festival on Friday, Oct. 18, 2019, at the Ayala Center cinema.
I played the character of the police chief against Manila actors Victor Neri and Jay Gonzaga, who is originally from Butuan and speaks fluent Bisaya so is actually Bisaya. I was nominated for best supporting actor for the role at the 67th the Filipino Movie Academy of Arts and Sciences or Famas, although I lost to Joem Bascon, who appeared in the film “Double Twisting Double Back.”
It may come as a shock, or not, but yes, I’m also an actor. Can’t you tell?
For someone who rarely writes about himself, I’m finding it very easy to toot my own horn, which is not good. I should be humble. But heck, how many Cebuanos out there can say they’ve been nominated at the Famas?
Twice.