THAT'S WHAT FRIENDS ARE FOR.....

The Friends of Rep.....





In The Pool.....










Rem Zamora, Katrina Holigores and Ayam Barredo Strike a Pose.....






And Pose.....





And Pose.....






And Pose!!!!!






I received an urgent text from John F. one day, asking me for my availability to shoot on such a short notice. Apparently, he was called by one of the staff from Repertory Philippines, asking him to shoot a group of people who have supported the theater company in one way or the other and thus are "Friends of Rep". The shoot was scheduled in the after noon of a working day and was to take place in one of those plush houses in Dasmarinas Village. Further information provided by John revealed it was to be shot inside the residence of the then Speaker of the House of Representatives, Joe De Venecia whose position as speaker is being rocked in turmoil at the moment. Photographs taken from the shoot shall be published in the Philippine Daily Inquirer broadsheet with a corresponding article to be written by Katrina Holigores. John, new member Edwin and I went to the location shoot.

A part of me got curious to see the De Venecia abode at its present state. Who can forget the news scene one Christmas day when footage of his burning house was shown in every local tv station which resulted in the death of his youngest daughter. I vividly recall watching JDV and his wife Gina silently crying as they watched their house, the top floor drenched with water as the fire had been put out, knowing that their daughter died because of it. It was reported that the cause of the fire was the faulty Christmas lights that adorned the house. Reporters also said that KC De Venecia hid in the bathroom when she couldn't get out of the grilled windows.

Chris De Venecia has grown! I remember him as the speaker's son who once was a child actor. I saw the infamous house. Gone were the iron grills that were at the windows. I suppose the house now had a more airy feel than before. And it was a real pleasure to shoot these yuppy art patrons with some assistance from Rep's Marketing Directors Rem Zamora and Ayam Barredo. Miss Holigores was also there to give as a brief of what kind of vibe does she want the pictures to show.

The shoot didn't take us that long. We called it a wrap after two hours. We talked about when we shall expect the photos to appear in the newspaper and also talked about future opportunities with the paper. We bade our goodbyes and left. As for the speaker's troubles? He got kicked out of his post at the end of that day when the House had a "no confidence" vote for him. I guess his son Chris won't be liking that outcome. All his life, he has known his father as the speaker, nothing less than that. Such is life, a spinning wheel.