is there a Pinoy Hana Yori Dango in the works?

There has been some buzz as of late that ABS-CBN has acquired the television rights to produce a Filipino adaptation of Hana Yori Dango [Boys Before Flowers or Boys Over Flowers -whatever fits your fancy]. Filipinos are more familiar with the Taiwanese adaptation entitled Meteor Garden which began a wave of Asian dramas making their way to prime-time television in this country.

If you remember that summer from a few years back when most Filipinos who had no knowledge of the Chinese language at all started singing "Zi pa wo zhu ji wei ai zhang niii...", when the guys started styling their hair like that of Jerry Yan, and when everyday at 5:30 pm all activity seems to stop and the nation was glued to their television sets... Well, if you didn't then you must have been living under the a rock because that was when all of them chinky-eyed boys started invading local television programming and they have been a viewing staple ever since.

It was not until 2005 when the Japanese finally adapted the once manga turned anime series into live action. The JDrama version of Hana Yori Dango was something else. It was grander by my standards, the clothes were really a stylist's dream, a little more violent when it came to Tsukasa and Makino, and I love the actress who plays Domyouji's mother. Truly, no one does it like the Japanese. This particular adaptation aired locally with a late afternoon schedule but was not received as well as the Taiwanese one. I know someone who got their mom addicted to the Japanese one...Hahahaha!!!

After that, a Korean adaptation which is garnering much praise was aired just recently, and I must say the guys they cast there were hotter than their Japanese counterparts! Hana Yori Dango is turning out top be quite the pop-culture phenomenon.

I hate to say this, but by the way of Filipino adaptations of certain Asian series, both major networks have yet to prove they have what it takes to make it a good one. The local version of "My Name is Kim Sam Soong" was just atrocious; add to that, casting an atrocious Regine Velasquez for the role [then again, they did well to have cast her as a fat and undesirable woman -she's got both those things in the bag without much effort]. And the local "My Girl" for me was a bit "blah" with Gerald Anderson and Kim Chu looking too young to play such roles.

When I heard that HYD/BBF/MG is slated to be produced, I tried to get as much information of the casting as best as I can. We shall be discussing that in the follow-up to this.

Until then...

Thus spake the Barefoot Baklesa

Happy Birthday to my Mom!!!

Here's an online birthday greeting for the obsessive compulsive clean queen, the can-do-anything impossible queen, and the lady who has enough shoes to rival imelda marcos [and is still shopping]... My Mom,

Maria Eva Fernando de los Reyes

it's her 5_th birthday... She looks quite young, doesn't she?

Many Happy Returns, and I Love You, Mom!!!

The Younger They Gay

[hongou kanata has nothing to do with this post, i just want his photo here]

I know of some people who will be picking on the title of this post for challenging the usual conventions of grammar and composition, well, they can suck it for all I care. I have been meaning to post this for quite some time now, unfortunately it got lost under the many drafts of other stuff I have been working on. There’s a companion to this post that’s a bit more ambitious and would require a bit more creative thought. This however, should be remotely amusing.

When I was younger, my homosexuality was overshadowed by my need for over-achievement. I made sure that people were far too distracted at keeping-up with what I wanted to achieve next to the point of everyone’s amusement. My relatives on my mother’s side did not really think much of it, being gay, I mean. My Abuela had this accepting and generous attitude that greatly influenced my extended family’s opinions that made growing up as the only gay teenager around quite enjoyable. However, I remember being confronted only once about my sexuality at age fifteen; it was my grandmother’s sister-in-law. But then again, Mama Eding comes from a family with a medical history insanity inherited every generation -some people have actually commented that this was their family‘s curse [If you ask me, my grandmother‘s brother‘s lack of judgment in picking that particular woman as wife is beyond me]. So I never really took her seriously. Funny how she took issue with it but the rest of my family just ignored her. Better gay than genetically insane, I said to myself back then.

Unlike some gay teens who have to struggle to be accepted, I felt protected and spoiled by my family on my mother’s side. Those who know the de los Reyeses of Antique know how we take care of our own. And it helped that my family raised me never to take my shame home. “Huwag ka lang mag-uuwi ng kahihiyan,” my Abuela said once. That’s her way of saying we must keep up appearances. I think they were glad that I was this particular type of gay -not that I’m saying there’s something wrong with the other types out there in gaydom- but I do think it helped with their acceptance of my being different.

As per my father’s side, it was another story. You see, my father’s side has what they call the “gay gene” which I inherited. The Dayrit-Torres side of my blood is fettered with gay uncles, gay cousins, gay second cousins… -well, you get my drift. I attended Don Isidro’s funeral back in 1997 and I felt like just another gay guy in the room. Hahahahaha!!!

Now in my 20s, it has come to my attention that we seem to be welcoming new gays into the family [cousins from my mother‘s side]. I have two nephews from some second cousins of mine who are now eleven or twelve. They were involved in this incident at the airport that nearly knocked me off my seat.

It was during a summer vacation when the Nebit nieces and nephews -all eleven of them- embarked on a summer trip. It was then that Boyboy and Bornok confirmed my suspicions. Trust me, it’s a little more complicated and ironic to begin with: Boyboy is the only boy to his three sisters and Bornok is a nickname one gives a rather boisterous and troublesome boy. These nicknames could not be more playfully masculine but I dare you to read on…

So, there they were, Bornok and Boyboy, in front of the airline check-in officer when the old guy goes, “Wow, you are all Nebits [ refers to the 11 tickets with Nebit names he had in his hands ] are you boys brothers?”

To which Boyboy and Bornok collectively answer, “No, we’re sisters!!!” which was followed by their girlish cackle.

Ooooh Myyyyy Gohhhhhd, right? The younger they gay, I tell you. Hahahahaha!!! These days, it really doesn’t take much for a dad to fear how his son’s sexuality will turn out. Congratulating a young dad after having a son has more than once been responded with, “Sana lalaki pa rin paglaki.” [I hope he stays that way when he grows up] -and I really can’t take offense at that. I can hardly fathom how a father’s hope lies for continuance lies so much in having a boy. I mean, Henry VIII went as far as six wives and a few severed heads just to have a son, did he not? You can’t blame a father for hoping. But when that dad resorts to violence to emasculate an effete child, that’s just unacceptable.

On the other hand, I think gay teenagers these days are quite lucky -well, every older generation says the younger one has it better off anyway- the internet alone with its social networking sites, online communities, and resources are a haven for them. They have a place to learn how to cope with all things that trouble them where they can make connections and have friends that know what they’re going through and how hard it is -even if the connections we make online are often superficial, there are genuine ones that pop-up every now and then.

Now, I’m the “cool gay uncle” to these guys. Unfortunately, I’m not in speaking terms with one of the boy’s parents ergo I don’t see them as much when I stay at the ancestral house. Here’s hoping they don’t have it that tough.

Thus spake the Barefoot Baklesa

Hope in a Soap: ABS-CBN’s “May Bukas Pa”

During my brief stint at ABS-CBN’s Creative Development Group some years ago, I came upon the conclusion that when we have saturated the market with certain types of shows, the opportunity arises for a particular type of program to succeed in terms of viewers and following.

To illustrate this point, allow me to give you a clear idea of primetime network programming during those times. During the first quarter of that year, “Marina” -the first Fantaserye [a term coined by the network which combined the words Fantasy and Series in its Tagalog alliteration] ABS-CBN produced about a mermaid was about to wrap up, then there was Chito Roño’s “Spirits” which delved into the supernatural, and there was Krystala -the plot of which I vaguely remember except for that scene where the super heroine was fighting off a swarm of giant flies and beating them with some huge stick.

As per the rival network, their programming included “Mulawin”, [the plot of which was basically copied off Princess Mononoke] and “Encantadia” -with a production design that was copied off from the template of The Lord of the Rings movies. At the time, the usual melodramatic soaps were replaced by the Korean or Taiwanese imports that were dubbed in Filipino. And during that time, if a local show did not have magic, it did not merit much in terms of ratings.

So, there I was, thinking that there could be an opportunity amidst all these Fantaseryes and Telefantasyas. I thought that in the six months that have seen primetime programming looking like the Sci-Fi Network roster, the time was ripe for good old-fashioned melodrama. I did not really care if it was a “rags to riches” drama or whatnot, I just wanted to brainstorm a good drama but unfortunately I got assigned to develop something by the way of Desperate Housewives and was told to “make it Pinoy.” It did not go so well, I guess since a few weeks later I found myself developing production design for the rival network’s new Telefantasya entitled SUGO.



A few weeks ago, I saw the promo trailer for ABS-CBN’s new primetime soap “May Bukas Pa” [roughly translated as “There’s Still Tomorrow”]; they took the title from an old Filipino song which is also the soap’s namesake and theme. After reading through some forums, I learned that they had adapted it from a 1955 Spanish film called “Marcelino, Pan y Vino” [in some territories entitled The Miracle of Marcelino or Marcelino, Bread and Wine] directed by Ladislao Vajda, taken from the novel of the same title by Jose Maria Sanchez Silva. I wasn’t that surprised since the trend these days is to make local versions of certain foreign series that have been popular when they aired locally: the first few being “My Girl” from Korea and Betty La Fea [Ugly Betty]. Thankfully, the Filipino version seems a little lighter than the Spanish original…

“May Bukas Pa” is the story of an orphan named Santino who was raised by Roman Catholic priests after they found him upon the doorsteps of their church/monastery when he was a baby with only half of a pair of diamond earrings as a clue to his identity. Raised with as much love and care the priests can provide, Santino grows into a playful and rowdy little boy who gets into a lot of trouble and gets away with it.

Santino chances upon a statue of Jesus Christ inside a graveyard and begins conversing with it. The little child calls him “Bro” [this really takes me back; I used to know someone nicknamed Bro who calls Jesus Christ “Kuya” -a Filipino titular for older brother], and one day “Bro” answers back and performs a series of miracles through the child. It began when a terminally ill child is cured of cancer, and later when one of the priests falls off the rafters of the church, Santino revives him through the power given to him by “Bro”.

Having seen episodes of the series at least three times a week, I happen to like the simplicity of it. One can’t help but love Zaijan Jaramilla as Santino. They could not have picked a better Santino, the child actor’s performance displays his natural brilliance -rarely seen with this sea of child talents that are puppets to some failed stage mother‘s dream. By the way of child actors, the kid has a bright future ahead of him [here’s hoping the ways of Filipino showbiz doesn’t mess him up]. Santino struggles against his longing for a mother’s love, the burden of using his miraculous gift to benefit those that require healing, and the local town mayor’s personal unexplained vendetta to make life difficult for him and the priests in the monastery. I remember one of the priests asking if a child’s heart can take so much this early on in his life, and they find their answer in the way Santino touches the lives of those he comes in contact with.

Another network once did this series called “Mga Mata ni Anghelita” which in one word is horrendous. It started out the way of many religious dramas go and just turned into a farce after the miracles bordered on the fantastical. A part of me is wishing that “May Bukas Pa” does not turn into that. Although I have much to say about the sequences when Jesus Christ’s apparition interacts with Santino, the special effects of which are a bit amateurish and the texture of his draped costume so unfriendly to the camera, they are forgivable. My heart will definitely break if Santino goes the way of Marcelino in the movie and dies in the end. Knowing how the Filipino psyche works when it comes to endings, with the preservation of the status quo ought to be respected and the lead must never die, hopefully the soap’s writers won’t do that.

At a time like this, I believe that Filipinos need a child’s unbound heart and faith that someone up there has got our backs and that the promise of tomorrow is not without its required dose of faith and hope.

Thus spake the Barefoot Baklesa

movies from my adolescent youth

I was doing my usual rounds at the pirated DVD stalls at Quiapo [for those of you unfamiliar with the place, here’s Tami Ballesteros' take on the place, and here’s a post I did on it just last Valentine's -just click on them] last Wednesday after I came to hear the late afternoon mass. Having been a patron of the underground economy for many years, I have noticed how trends changed when it came to the titles released by the bootleg lords responsible for the enjoyment of cheap DVD copies.

In 2004, when I first ventured into that neighborhood that sold the bootleg DVDs across the Basilica of the Black Nazarene in Quiapo, there was such a variety in the titles that were available other than the usual Hollywood and commercial releases. There was a stall that had old movies and foreign language films, while another had Operas and Musicals, and another had concerts and rare performances on sale. For Quiapo adventurers like me, the rare titles have become less and less through the years and have given way to the more commercial ones. I would be lucky enough to get a few really good ones if I actually spent an afternoon looking at the other less ventured stalls. Just to point it out, there’s been a surge of gay movie titles released lately, and some of them are ones that went out of circulation a few years back. Hooray for the gays…

In the past months, I have noticed how the titles they were coming out with were movies from the late 70s, the 80s, and the early 90s. There’s the old “Dune” movie with Kyle McLachlan, The Last American Virgin, Porky’s, The Last Starfighter, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, The Neverending Story Trilogy, Labyrinth, Mannequin, Revenge of the Nerds, I could go on forever…



As I was going through the titles of the DVDs stacked on the floor, I saw two movies that held a place in my heart when I was an adolescent: Disney’s “Iron Will” and that Brad Renfro movie called “The Cure”. I have been looking for a copy of these films for the longest time; the last copy of The Cure I beheld was on VHS. I loved “The Cure” because it was the first movie about friendship I saw that really hit home. And the day after that, I learned that Brad Renfro passed away just days after Heath Ledger but has obviously been overshadowed by the latter’s death. I reckon Brad Renfro deserves another tribute blog soon. Oh well…



I saw “Iron Will” with my childhood best friend, Schneider, it was the first movie we watched on our own -a bit of a growing up moment there. I even remember buying two large packs of that Mr. Chips snacks with our sarsaparilla drink. The movie even had a tagline “It isn’t a question of age or skill, but of iron will.” Funny thing though, when I was about to watch it, my DVD player won’t read the disc!!! Insert image of the Barefoot Baklesa screaming his lungs out going, “Whaaaaaargggghhhhh!!!”

Well, this is not the first time that happened -it goes with the territory. And it’s Friday again, Quapo calls. After the mass, all I have to do is cross the street.