Rarely editors of entertainment section of both broadsheets and tabloids gather together for a night of food and fun to celebrate the holidays that would keep all of them busy attending other company-sponsored parties and other private gatherings.
And so, the members of the year-old Society of Philippine Entertainment Editors, Inc. decided to hold theirs on the first day of December, preempting all other parties scheduled on the following weeks.
Thanks to Boybits Victoria, sales manager of Victoria Sports Tower on Edsa (adjacent to GMA Network), who offered one of the function rooms for the group to hold their second Christmas party.
At around 6 p.m., guests started to arrive at the venue that looked Christmassy with Christmas trees and a crèche by production designer Sander Andan. Among the early birds were GMA Network’s AVP for CorpComm Angel Javier who also lent the group the screen and projector for the AVP. She was with her team – Marian Domingo Antonio, Lendl Fabella, Nish Berida, among others.
Also among those who came early was former GMA Network’s head of Corporate Comunication, now doing public relations on his own, Butch Raquel who came with Globe’s Yoly Crisanto and Unilab’s Claire de Leon Papa. Also, talent manager of PPL came with his wards, Sunshine Dizon, Rochelle Pangilinan, and Carlo Gonzales.
The Kapamilya team also came led by CorpComm Head Kane Choa with Aaron Domingo, and Henry Barrameda among others.
After dinner, SPEEd members Dondon Sermino (Abante), Tessa Mauricio-Arriola (The Manila Times), and Ervin Santiago (Bandera) delighted the guests that at that time included Viva’s June Rufino and Regal matriarch Lily Y. Monteverde with a Christmas ditty, Nat King Cole’s “The Christmas Song.”
By nearly 9 p.m. the hall was filled with guests, mostly friends of members of SPEEd, including la doyenne of showbiz writing Ethel Ramos who for years was skeptical a group of editors would ever be formed.
The members were a bit overwhelmed by the turn out of guests. Though there were not many TV/movie celebrities, as expected, because most editors, I understand, don’t hang around on the sets of TV series, ergo the stars don’t know them very well or they don’t understand what editors do in the papers, the party was, to everyone’s assessment, was a big success. Thanks to those who sent in their Christmas cheers, like TAPE’s Tony Tuviera, Piolo Pascual, Regine Velasquez, Congressman Vilma Santos, Kim Chiu, Boy Abunda, Senator Chiz Escudero and wife Heart Evangelista, former Senator Manny Villar and wife Senator Cynthia Villar, former Senator Bong Revilla and wife Lani Mercado, UNTV’s Daniel Razon…oh there were a lot of them. Thanks Annabelle Rama for the lechon.
It will take a lot of space to mention all of those who made SPEEd’s second Christmas Party memorable.
As president of the group, I am thanking all those who took time to join us for the second time our Christmas Party that we held, first and foremost, to raise funds for air-conditioning units we promised an orphanage in Bulacan. Thus far, I have gotten two pledges, and we will be working for two more.
SPEEd also has a scholarship program that we launched last year. This year we will add two additional scholarships we will grant to indigent but bright students.
And, in the first quarter of this year, the group will hand out its very first awards that we are calling Editors’ Choice for movies and TV shows. We will be announcing the nominations soon.
So, it has been another year for SPEed, and as we move on and face another year, we are even more determined to make our mark, not only in entertainment journalism, but as one with social responsibility. See you in December!