Why We Support The Full Implementation Of The RH Bill After Watching 'Hinog Sa Pilit' Docu On 'Reel Time'

GMA NEWS TV’s recent docu, “Hinog sa Pilit”, on “Reel Time” is a real eye-opener. The title refers to young people who are still babies but already breeding their own babies. It showed some teens who become parents at a young age, like Beverly who became a mom at 14 and is preggers again at 15 when her common law husband, Noli, 18, is jobless. Another teen, Jeane, 15, is also pregnant and the dad, Kyle, 16, is also jobless. No wonder the United Nations studies on such matters say we’re number 1 in Asia when it comes to teen pregnancies. And we don’t think that’s a compliment!

When my late wife Vicky and I were doing outreach programs for the Marriage Preparation Foundation, that conducts the monthly Discovery Weekend retreat-seminar for engaged couples, we realized that those who consciously want to start right in their marriage are mostly yuppies who have finished college and have established careers. They tend to marry late, usually in their early 30s.
But the uneducated young people living in depressed areas and slum communities don’t think twice about cohabiting and fornicating as soon as they are able to do so. They live in, bear children, and as expected, quickly get tired and disappointed with each other, and then move on to have kids with other partners. Meantime, the children they’ve given birth to end up as neglected street children who become problems of society.

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Pinoy Showbiz

Jessica Soho Features The Best Tourist Spots In Our Country In A Travel Special On 'Kapuso Mo Jessica Soho'

THE DEPARTMENT OF TOURISM dubbed 2015 as “Visit the Philippines Year” to encourage both foreigners and locals to explore more of the country’s amazing tourist attractions. With 7,107 islands, the Philippines is truly a travel destination that boasts of provinces with breathtaking sites, rich historical backgrounds, cultural experiences and mouthwatering delicacies.

This Sunday, fall in love with some of the country’s breathtaking travel destinations as Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho presents its food and travel special – “Eh Di Wow Philippines.” Join program host Jessica Soho as she visits different parts of the country to discover native cuisines and world-class holiday destinations.
First stop is Palawan where tourists can wander around luxurious resorts, which are popular vacation spots for international celebrities, and dare to go on an exotic food trip in these islands.

In Aurora or Quezon, on the other hand, tourists can enjoy the region’s sweet treats after an exhausting but exciting day of island hopping. Others may opt for the unique adventures in the Queen City of the South, Cebu, including extreme land, air and water activities!

Indulge in fresh seafood dishes from Panay Island and explore the best tourist attractions within 24 hours.
Witness stories of love that started and bloomed in the tropical paradise of Siargao, and be charmed by the special recipes of their local restaurants. And give in to a love affair with Davao’s pride, the durian, and the Island Garden City of Samal.

Visit the Philippines this year and discover more about the country’s mouthwatering dishes and magnificent destinations in Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho’s food and travel special “Eh Di Wow Philippines” this Sunday right after Ismol Family on GMA-7.

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Pinoy Showbiz

Baguio's Annual Panagbenga Festival Of Flowers Featured This Weekend In Drew Arellano's Show, 'AHA!'

THE ANNUAL Panagbenga Festival of Flowers is now ongoing in Baguio and you can join Kapuso host Drew Arellano as his show “AHA!” takes a closer look on the preparation of giant floral floats. The annual flower festival in Baguio was established in 1996 to symbolize the rebirth of the city after it was devastated by the killer Luzon earthquake in 1990.

“AHA!” will also feature the showdown of Pinoy superheroes in a new ballet musical; an astronomy show in a planetarium at the University of the Philippines; and the latest update on Project Mars, a one-way trip to the Red Planet which reportedly aims to create a human colony in the said planet.
And in preparation for the coming summer vacation, join AHA in trying the bike zipline, Australian rundown, giant swing, and other adrenaline-pumping adventures in Pugad Pugo Adventure in Pugo, La Union. Catch all these in AHA! this Sunday, 9am, on GMA-7

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Pinoy Showbiz

'Born To Be Wild' Features Doc Ferds And Doc Nielsen On Separate Missions To Help Environmental Experts

ALSO THIS SUNDAY, Doc Ferds Recio and Doc Nielsen Donato are on separate missions to assist environmental experts on GMA7’s “Born to be Wild” . Two weeks ago, a megamouth shark, one of the rarest in the world, was trapped inside a fisherman’s net and turned over to authorities in Bicol. As it is very difficult to see and document under water, there is yet little study on the megamouth. Bicol’s provincial government has called on experts to conduct a necropsy on the shark.

Doc Ferds joins the team of experts to perform this once in a lifetime procedure. The team seeks to determine the possible cause of the shark’s death, and to preserve its specimen for future study. But this will be a difficult task as the 15-foot megamouth needs to be kept frozen and then transferred to a nearby facility for the necropsy.

Meanwhile, Doc Nielsen joins a team of DENR enforcers as they rescue wild animals in the city. The animals—a long-tailed macaque, a monitor lizard, and a pangolin—are suspected victims of the illegal wildlife trade.

Learn more about these animals on “Born to be Wild” this Sunday, February 22, right after AHA! on GMA7.

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Pinoy Showbiz

TV5 Wins Two Top Honors From Catholic Mass Media Awards

CONGRATULATIONS to News5, TV5’s News and Information Arm, for its most recent victory at the 36th Catholic Mass Media Awards (CMMA), where two of its widely-followed documentary programs, “Yaman ng Bayan” and “Bigtime”, won some of the night’s most major awards.

“Yaman ng Bayan” – a 12-part docu-series which boasts of a formidable line-up of hosts led by News5 Head Luchi Cruz-Valdes, together with veteran news anchor Erwin Tulfo, InterAksyon.com Editor-in-Chief Roby Alampay, and Rescue5’s Paolo Bediones – won the award for Best Adult Educational Program. Successfully making waves among viewers with its monthly educational and intriguing features about the country’s environment and natural resources, the program also tackles the challenges involved in preserving and protecting the country’s ecosystem.

The CMMA Body of Jurors also recognized News5’s weekly program “Bigtime” for giving the spotlight to simple and ordinary citizens whose success stories have proven to be awe-inspiring for viewers. The program, which has seasoned anchor Twink Macaraig at the helm, bested other shows by taking home the much-coveted award for Best News Magazine Program.

On top of these, the 36th Catholic Mass Media Awards also awarded one of TV5’s longest-running game shows, “Who Wants to be a Millionaire” hosted by Vic Sotto, as the year’s Best Entertainment Program.

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Pinoy Documentary

GMA-7 Airs ‘Pagbangon’, A Yolanda First Anniversary Special, This Saturday

ON NOVEMBER 8, 2013, the Philippines was battered by one of the strongest typhoons to make landfall, with Yolanda leaving at least 6,000 dead. Countless others are still missing. A year on, much remains to be done for those in Tacloban, Palo, Guiuan, Basey and other towns in badly-beaten Leyte and Samar. As GMA News and Public Affairs’ team of journalists go on the ground to document the rehabilitation efforts, tent cities remain, houses are back in no-build zones, people struggle to make a living, and stories of both survival and tragedy linger.

A year ago in Tacloban City, Jessica Soho met Marvin Isanan at the airport where he works as a security guard. While grieving the loss of his three daughters to the storm surge, Marvin tells Jessica how he was able to save two other guards when huge waves crashed into the airport. Today, Marvin is rebuilding his life with his wife and his only son, Prince. His dream, he says, is to finally make it out of the makeshift house where his family now stays, and to have a permanent home to call their own.

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Pinoy Showbiz

'Born To Be Wild' Celebrates 7th Anniversary With African & European Specials

THE FIRST and only nature and wildlife series on Philippine television, “Born to be Wild”, celebrates its 7th anniversary. Show hosts Doc Ferds Recio and Doc Nielsen Donato, have travelled the entire Philippines and neighboring Asian countries to bring viewers close encounters with the wild.

For the program’s seventh anniversary, Doc Ferds and Doc Nielsen go on dream journeys to Central Europe and South Africa! Although he’s been a vet for more than two decades now, Doc Nielsen is still excited to see animals for the first time.

The wild vet finally fulfills his dream of seeing the Big Five of South Africa, and majestic marine mammals like the Southern Right Whale. Another must see from Doc Nielsen’s journey is his face to face encounter with none other than the Great White Shark!

Doc Ferds Recio, on the other hand, explores the streets of Europe to see how cities are adapting to the changing environment. In episode one, Doc Ferds finds himself in Venice, where he witnesses a city built around water with its endless canals. With its world-renowned beauty, the city must still work around nature to ensure its own survival from threats of flooding and subsidence.

This November, join Doc Ferds and Doc Nielsen as they discover the wildlife of South Africa and learn more about the environment from Europe’s history. Catch “Born to be Wild’s” special anniversary series, launching this Sunday morning right after AHA! on GMA7.

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Pinoy Showbiz

Stunning Natural History Series, 'The Blue Planet', Aired On GMA-7 On Tuesdays At 11:30 PM

‘THE BLUE PLANET’, the groundbreaking BBC series that reveals the complete natural history and the mysteries of our planet’s deepest seas and oceans, will be aired on GMA starting tonight at 11:30 PM. Narrated in Filipino by award-winning documentarist Kara David, The Blue Planet, is the definitive exploration of the marine world as it chronicles the mysteries of the deep, coastline populations, sea mammals, tidal and climatic influences, and the complete biological system that relies on and revolves around the world’s oceans.

An emotional experience, you can react with laughter and tears at the dramatic stories of survival in the vast oceans. Also an epic journey, it chronicles the mysterious habitats of the open ocean and the deep, as well as the more familiar coral reefs. Discover new species and habitats and study animal behavior never before caught on camera. Catch BBC’s The Blue Planet every Tuesday night, beginning October 14, right after Saksi on GMA-7.

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Pinoy Showbiz

The Real State Of The Country Revealed In GMA-7's 'Reporter's Notebook'

GMA NETWORK’s award-winning public affairs program, “Reporter’s Notebook” releases the latest compilation of six of its most noteworthy stories in “The Best of Reporter’s Notebook” Volume 3. Bannered by topnotch broadcast journalists Jiggy Manicad and Maki Pulido, “The Best of Reporter’s Notebook” Volume 3 contains the investigative reports “Pilipinas for Sale?”; “AFP: Ahensiyasat”; “Upuan”; “Black Sand Mining”; “Huling Hantungan”; and “Labor of Death.”

In “Upuan,” a finalist in the Japan Prize 2012, Manicad and Pulido tackle the pressing problem faced by many of our country's students—the lack of school chairs. From looted graves to so-called cemetery invaders, the “Huling Hantungan” feature reveals the squalor behind Metro Manila’s biggest public places of rest for the dead. This documentary was awarded the Silver Trophy in the 2012 Telly Awards.

Reporter’s Notebook exposes the illegal trade behind the black sand mining operations in the resource-rich province of Cagayan in the documentary “Black Sand Mining.” The program also investigates the abuses happening in declared protected areas around the country in “Pilipinas for Sale?” while the report “AFP: Ahensiyasat” examines the alleged corruption inside the Armed Forces of the Philippines and its impact on the soldiers who are tasked to protect the people and the State.

Lastly, in “Labor of Death,” the program journeys to far-flung barrios to witness the dangers of pregnancy among marginalized Filipino women. This report earned for Reporter’s Notebook a Certificate for Creative Excellence in the 2010 US International Film and Video Festival.

Manufactured by GMA Records and GMA Marketing and Productions Inc., “Reporter’s Notebook Volume 3”—with English subtitle – is available in all Odyssey, SM Music and Video, Astrovision, and Astroplus branches nationwide at P400.00 per copy.

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Pinoy Showbiz