1. Henry Sy – Founder of SM Corporations 2009 Rank: #1 (unchanged) Networth: $5.0 billion (est 220 billion pesos) Age: 85 Marital Status: Married, 6 children
2. Lucio Tan – Owner of Fortune Cigarette, Asia Brewery, and stake in Philippine Airlines 2009 Rank: #2 (unchanged) Networth: $2.1 billion (est 88 billion pesos) Age: 76 Marital Status: Married, 6 children
5. Andrew Tan – Alliance Global Group’s businesses include food and beverage, real estate, gaming 2009 Rank: #4 (-1) Networth: $1.2 billion ( around 52 billion pesos) Age: 58 Marital Status: Married, 4 children
6. Tony Tan Caktiong – Founded Jollibee Foods 2009 Rank: #6 (unchanged) Networth: $980 million( around 43 billion pesos) Age: 60 Marital Status: Married, 3 children
7. Enrique Razon Jr. – International Container Terminal Services 2009 Rank: #8 (+1) Networth: $975 million (around 43 billion pesos) Age: 50 Marital Status: Married, 2 children
8. Beatrice Campos – UNILAB 2009 Rank: #13 (+5) Networth: $840 million (around 36 billion pesos) Age: NA Marital Status: Widowed, 5 children
9. George Ty – Founded Metrobank 2009 Rank: #10 (+1) Networth: $805 million Age: 77 Marital Status: Married, 5 children
10. Eduardo Cojuangco Jr. – owner San Miguel Corporation 2009 Rank: #7 (-3) Networth: $760 million Age: 75 Marital Status: Married, 4 children
Magic 8: Metro Manila Film Festival 2010 Official Entries
1. Si Agimat sa Mundo ni Enteng Kabisote (GMA Films, M-Zet, APT, OctoArts and Imus)
Five film production outfits collaborate in what seems the biggest production of the year. Si Agimat sa Mundo ni Enteng Kabisote stars box-office kings Vic Sotto and Bong Revilla on their first team-up.
Vic Sotto had already won three consecutive titles for Philippine Box Office King on 2004, 2005 and 2006. Bong Revilla, on the other hand, won the best actor award on the MMFF 2009 in the movie Ang Panday 2010 which won the best picture award.
Si Agimat sa Mundo ni Enteng Kabisote is produced by GMA Films, M-Zet, APT, OctoArts and Imus Productions and is directed by Rico Gutierrez and Tony Y. Reyes.
2. Ang Tanging Ina Mo Rin (Last Na ‘To!) (Star Cinema)
The Ang Tanging Ina movie franchise started on 2003. Then it was followed by Ang Tanging Ina N'yong Lahat on 2008. This coming MMFF 2010, the franchise will make its possible last production in Ang Tanging Ina Mo Rin (Last Na 'To!) directed by Wenn Deramas.
Ang Tanging Ina Mo Rin is topbilled by Ai-Ai delas Alas and Eugene Domingo and is produced by Star Cinema. Ai-Ai delas Alas also starred in other related movies like Ang Tanging Pamilya: A Marry Go Round with former president Joseph Estrada and Ang Cute ng Ina Mo with Makisig Morales. Eugene Domingo is known for the surprise block buster Kimmy Dora Kambal sa Kyeme.
3. Dalaw (Cine Media)
This is Cine Media's first entry to the Metro Manila Film Festival. Directed by Jerry Lopez Sineneng, it is the only movie to take the suspense thriller genre.
Dalaw stars Coco Martin. Diether Ocampo and Kris Aquino. Coco Martin is known for his performance in the movie Masahista where he won the Young Critics Circle Best Actor Award in 2006 and in the TV series Tayong Dalawa where he won as best drama actor in the 2009 Star Awards for Television. On the other hand, Kris Aquino's most commercially-successful movies in her career are the horror films Feng Shui and Sukob.
4. Father Jejemon (RVQ)
First, it was Nobody, Nobody but Juan. And now, it is Father Jejemon. Looks like Dolphy movies are fond of using popular words in their titles.
As everybody in the internet knows, Jejemons are individual who likes to type with excessive use of punctuations, using numbers instead of letters, and using wrong grammar and syntax. How this will be used in the movie? We really don't know.
Under RVQ Productions, Father Jejemon stars comedy king Dolphy, Erich Gonzales, and Maja Salvador. It is directed by Frank Gray Jr.
5. Rosario (Cine Mabuhay)
Like Cine Media, this is also Cine Mabuhay's first entry to the Metro Manila Film Festival. Directed by Albert Martinez, Rosario is a drama based on a true story of an adultery case which happened on the 1920s. It stars Jennylyn Mercado, Sid Lucero, Dennis Trillo, Yul Servo, Isabel Oli with special participation of Dolphy.
Sid Lucero is best known for his performance in Selda where he won best actor awards from various award giving bodies. Dennis Trillo on the other hand is known for receiving three best actor awards for the movie Aishite Imasu where he portrayed a cross-dressing spy for the Hukbalahap during World War II.
6. RPG:Metanoia (Star Cinema and Ambient Media)
RPG:Metanoia is the first Filipino 3D animation movie ever. It features the voices of Aga Muhlach, Zaijan Jaranilla, Mika dela Cruz, Vhong Navarro and Eugene Domingo. The story revolves around a boy looking for heroes.
In 2008, the animated movie Dayo also entered the Metro Manila Film Festival. But compared to RPG Metanoia, Dayo only used the mix of traditional animation and 3D animation.
RPG Metanoia is the joint production of Star Cinema and AmbientMedia with Thaumatrope Animation.
7. Shake, Rattle & Roll XII (Regal Films)
The Shake, Rattle and Roll horror film series is known to be the only film series in the Philippines with the most movie installments. On December 2010, it will premier its twelfth installment as an entry to the Metro Manila Film Festival.
Most of the installments in the series are entries to the MMFF, except for the six installment on 1997. The first Shake, Rattle and Roll movie dated back to 1984. However, it hasn't earned any best picture awards in MMFF history.
Shake, Rattle and Roll 12 stars Carla Abellana, Andi Eigenmann, Rayver Cruz and Shaina Magdayao and is directed by Don Michael Perez and Topel Lee.
8. Super Inday and The Golden Bibe (Regal Films)
Super Inday and the Golden Bibe is remake of a 1988 Regal Films classic fantasy movie starring Maricel Soriano and Aiza Seguerra entitled Super Inday and the Golden Bibe.
The new version of Super Inday will be portrayed by Marian Rivera. And Aiza Seguerra's role will be portrayed by Jillian Ward.
This is also Regal Films' 50th anniversary offering to the moviegoers. Super Inday and the Golden Bibe also stars Jake Cuenca and is directed by Mike Tuviera.
The Ninth Entry
A ninth entry was also announced entitled Ana Salamanca starring Zsazsa Padilla. It will be the substitute movie in case there will be problems with the first eight finalists.
MANILA, Philippines - Gerry’s Grill, the premier family oriented restaurant in the country, recently unveiled plans to expand its borders overseas further, even as it beefs up its operations and branches locally.
The restaurant chain, which sports 42 branches spread over Luzon, Visayas and certain parts of Mindanao, will soon open its third international branch in the much talked about Marina Bay Sands in Singapore.
“We initially tested how the brand will be accepted in the US and because of the overwhelming positive response that we got from both our Filipino and foreign guests, we felt that it is the right time to bring Gerry’s Grill to other countries,” stated Meggie Jose Gerry’s Grill marketing director.
Jose explained that the company started taking a serious look at the market overseas since receiving numerous inquiries through the Gerry’s Grill website about the company’s plans to open abroad.
Jose revealed that the Singapore branch will be an exciting addition to end 2010, strengthening its international presence as recently seen in its hugely successful Union City and Artesia, Los Angeles branches in the United States.
“The expansion of Gerry’s Grill is more than just a business move, it is our way of reaching out to Filipinos overseas and it is our humble contribution to promote Filipino food in the international scene,” Jose stated.
Among the exciting dishes that Filipinos in Singapore will soon get to enjoy are the classic favorites Crispy Pata, Inihaw na Pusit, and Pork Sisig, as well as the well-loved selection of Filipino dishes, both new and old, in the Gerry’s Grill menu.
“We want to see first how Filipinos and Singaporeans will respond to our restaurant and cooking before we expand even further in the country,” Jose stated.
Homegrown restaurant Gerry’s Grill will set up its first branch in Singapore next month.
In a briefing, Gerry Apolinario, owner of the popular Filipino restaurant chain, said Gerry’s Grill will open a branch at the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore on December 1. Apolinario said his restaurant was selected by a big Singaporean restaurant group as the “best representation of Philippine cuisine,” so Gerry’s Grill was provided space at the food court of the 55-storey, three-tower hotel.
Marina Bay Sands is reputedly the world’s most expensive integrated resort and casino.
Best-sellers like sisig, crispy pata and grilled pusit will be offered in the new offshore branch and a Filipino cook will man the kitchen to ensure that its offerings will stay true to the flavors that restaurant is known for, Apolinario said.
He said the first Singapore branch hopefully would open doors for expansion in the island-state, which has a sizeable Filipino population.
“We are confident that Filipino cuisine is very much accepted internationally,” Apolinario said.
Gerry’s Grill currently has two branches in the US, both in the state of California. The restaurant owner hopes to bag joint venture agreements with investors as he eyes three additional branches in the same state by next year.
“Because of the crisis, we slowed down a little bit. Hopefully, the opening of the Singapore branch will be the start of better things to come,” Apolinario said.
Up to four-fifths of the restaurant chain’s regular customers in the US are Filipino-Americans.
Apolinario also wants to introduce Gerry’s Grill to other markets with Filipino communities like Australia and Canada, as well as other neighboring Asian countries such as China and Thailand.
Gerry’s Grill currently has 42 branches—both company-owned and joint ventures—all over the Philippines.
Its 43rd branch, which would soon be opened in Boracay, is the lone local branch to start operating this year, the owner said.
However, Filipinos’ belt-tightening has eased and they have started dining out again.
“There was a little bit of a slump for a while, but things are getting better,” Apolinario said.
Next year, eight branches would open, including one each in Baguio City, Sta. Rosa City in Laguna, Iloilo and Davao. BEN ARNOLD O. DE VERA
