MOVIEGOER: Women who inspire

BY NESTOR CUARTERO

Mar 14, 2024 01:01 AM

  

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AT A GLANCE

• Ina and Sunshine provide a fine example of how women can take care of themselves by looking good despite the advancing years. 

Ina Raymundo (Instagram)

In time for International Women’s Month, Ina Raymundo and Sunshine Cruz, 48 and 46 years old respectively, gamely showed off their still-lovely female form during a recent fashion event. The two actresses walked the ramp wearing what looked like beach wear reminding viewers that they still have got sex appeal even while they’re pushing 50.

Ina and Sunshine provide a fine example of how women can take care of themselves by looking good despite the advancing years. They achieve this by working hard on their bodies and personal discipline.

How they preserve their looks reminds me of those mature Korean actresses playing mother and auntie roles in their drama-novellas. You can never see an overweight actress, young or old, in them.

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Sunshine Cruz (Facebook)

Because of how they look with matching talent to boot, Ina and Sunshine continue to land roles in TV and movie projects. Ina, for one, has a substantial role in the current hit series Can’t Buy Me Love (ABS-CBN), where she plays the vengeful, comebacking mother of the lead actor Donny Pangilinan.

PASSERBY:

Former FDCP Chair Liza Diño makes history as the First Filipina French Knight in Cinema and the only Southeast Asian producer selected for EAVE Producers Workshop 2024.

Liza Diño at EAVE in Luxembourg

Such is another groundbreaking milestone in her  career as actress, producer, and government official. 

The EAVE Producers Workshop, in partnership with Film Fund Luxembourg and supported by Creative  Europe,  is  a  premier  training  lab  based  in  Europe  aimed  at  fostering  professional development and international collaboration for global producers in the film industry. The year-long   program   includes   a   series   of   three   week-long   intensive   workshops   focused   on   the development   of   fiction,   documentary,   and   TV   series   projects.

Mentored by top-notch industry leaders, the workshop offers participants a transformative training journey spanning over three residential workshops in Luxembourg, Norway, and Sweden. Liza is currently in Luxembourg for the first leg of the workshop.

Good friend Jenny Peña, former PR director of Hotel Intercontinental, has written to suggest to local film authorities to organize a festival of award-winning Jaclyn Jose films, notably the Cannes Film Festival entry Ma Rosa that won her the festival's Best Actress award in 2016.

“I'm sure people, old and young alike, will be interested to watch her movies as she impressed many with her last role as Gen. Dolores Espinas in Batang Quiapo. Many aspiring movie and theater actors can learn a lot from her award-winning films. It'll also instill pride in well-made and well-acted Filipino movies among the general public.”

Dingdong Dantes

GMA murder mystery drama "Royal Blood” comes to Netflix in March, as in this month.

"Royal Blood'' is the story of Napoy (Dingdong), the illegitimate son of a business tycoon, played by Tirso Cruz III, who reunites with his long-lost father after years of neglect.

Things get complicated when his father is murdered, and he becomes the main suspect.

"Royal Blood" boasts a star-studded cast that includes Megan Young, Dion Ignacio, Mikael Daez, Lianne Valentin, and Rhian Ramos.

Marcos gets $4-B investment pledges from German firms

 President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. (L) and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. | PHOTO: Official Facebook page of Bongbong Marcos

By: Julie M. Aurelio - Reporter / @JMAurelioINQ

Philippine Daily Inquirer / 05:36 AM March 14, 2024

Trade Secretary Alfredo Pascual said that the investments that the Philippine delegation obtained in the visit of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. show the trust of German businesses in the country.

BERLIN—On the second day of his working visit to Germany, President Marcos secured at least $4 billion (about P220 billion) in foreign investment commitments from German companies in health care, information technology, agriculture and manufacturing.

The amount involved eight investment deals that were presented and exchanged during Tuesday afternoon’s Philippine-German Business Forum organized by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) at the Marriott Hotel here.

These included three letters of intent (LOIs) from different German companies, two memorandums of agreement (MOA), and three memorandums of understanding (MOU).

In his remarks before German business leaders, Mr. Marcos stressed the important role of German businesses in transforming the Philippine economy.

Solar cell facility

The biggest commitment was the MOU on a $3.5-billion investment in a fully integrated solar cell manufacturing facility to process silicon sand into high grade silicon ingots, which will be used to produce high grade silicon wafers used in solar cell manufacturing.

The two other MOUs were on a $71-million investment in a manufacturing facility that will modify automobiles into high-end armor protected cars and manufacture military grade armored personnel carriers for the Asian market, and a $38.25-million investment to put up data centers that will host a digital insurance platform and serve the Philippines and Southeast Asia.

The MOA is on a $109-million public-private partnership venture to rehabilitate, reclaim and recultivate 5,000 hectares of degraded farm for an organic farming project.

Automation, logistics

A deal was also signed to expand potential collaborations in mobility solutions, software services, manufacturing, factory automation, logistics services, energy, security and safety systems for buildings, consumer appliances and health care.

The three LOIs were on a $150,000 additional investment of a German company in developing a partner hospital to become a training center to support the needs of lower tier hospitals and develop a curriculum on imaging technology; a $55,000 additional investment for the development of an innovation think tank hub, and on a strategic and digital partnership in health care with the Department of Health.

Skills upgrading

In his meeting with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, the President also witnessed the signing of a renewed cooperation program of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda) and the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training.

Mr. Marcos said he hoped the program would be a “continuing effort” to enable Filipino workers to upskill and reskill themselves.

Scholz assured Mr. Marcos that Germany would enhance its cooperation with the Philippines in vocational education and training as part of the agreement with Tesda.

“It’s important that we also focus on this area—vocational education and training—and that we continue to cooperate closely in this sector. I believe that it will enhance the opportunities of workers from the Philippines who set out to work abroad, to live abroad, and to engage there,” he said.

“Both sides are also working toward the conclusion of the Memorandum of Agreement on the Placement of Skilled Workers and other Professionals. We will continue to work on other agreements across various areas of cooperation and look forward to their conclusion in the near future,” Mr. Marcos added.

There are around 36,000 Filipinos living and working in Germany.

Job opportunities

The President expressed optimism that his discussions with executives of top German companies here would create opportunities for jobs and skills expertise for Filipinos back home.

He met with officials of Airbus Asia-Pacific, Siemens AG and Wind Power Development (WPD GmbH) to discuss their projects in health care technology, green manufacturing, renewable energy and aerospace.

On Wednesday morning here, Mr. Marcos also visited the Siemens Energy and Gas Turbine Plant in Berlin.

In his talks with executives of Airbus Asia-Pacific, Mr. Marcos and Anand Stanley, president of Airbus Asia-Pacific, discussed partnerships in developing the Philippines’ capabilities in the aerospace sector.

The President recognized Airbus’ willingness to support the modernization program of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

In response, Airbus reiterated its readiness to help the country boost its defense capabilities and enhance its joint venture partnership with the Philippine Aerospace Development Corp.

Siemens meeting

Mr. Marcos also met with Siemens president Roland Busch to tackle projects aimed at improving the Philippines’ health-care sector.

The DTI said Siemens would establish the Siemens Healthineers Training Center, which is seen to “respond to the demands and growing needs for advanced health-care services within the Southeast Asian region.”

Mr. Marcos also sat down for talks with officials of WPD GmbH and stressed the importance of their projects in promoting renewable energy sources in the Philippines.

The President encouraged German companies to set up shop in the Philippines to address their labor shortage.

The 34 Very Best German Sayings…EVER! (IX); Schnee von gestern

 By: 

AuthorMarcel Iseli

9 Schnee von gestern 

Schnee von gestern, literally “yesterday’s snow” is one of these German sayings that is pretty easy to grasp. 

You've heard that saying twice, and you can most likely already use it flawlessly in a German sentence (if not, don’t worry, there’s going to be an example).  But where does this saying even come from?

There’s actually a pretty interesting story behind “Schnee von gestern.” Who would have thought that? Well, I didn’t.  The saying is attributed to François Villon, a fifteenth-century French poet.    

Example:

A: Bist du noch mit Uta zusammen?

B: Nein, unsere Beziehung ist Schnee von gestern.  

 

Translation:

A: Are you still together with Uta?

B: No, our relationship is water under the bridge.