“Walang-wala ako noong early teens ko,” openly declares Ice Seguerra during an intimate, no-holds barred conversation at her Quezon City home recently.
The former child actor said she went through a tough transition stage from being top of the line to ground zero as she left her childhood behind.
“Buti na lang, sinalo ako ni Vic Sotto, maraming salamat,” she said. Her two shows, Ok Ka, Fairy Ko and Eat Bulaga sustained her during that period.
She also did the rounds of provincial town fiestas, where she was forced to sing. “Yun naging lifeblood ko.” Ice admitted she experienced the first signs of depression then.
“I used to do two movies at the same time. Then, biglang nawala.” Ice also joined a band which played at a club called Joekher in Cubao, next door to girlie bars. “Nilalangaw kami sa umpisa with only two tables watching, one of them my parents. “Yung isa, lasing.” Their band was assigned a Tuesday timeslot, traditionally a dead day.
Slowly, they picked up, and were moved to Friday. “We were drawing a crowd na.” Ice said she didn’t know she could sing. When she first heard Pagdating ng Panahon on demo tape, she didn’t take the song seriously. “Di ko ma-gets yung song agad. Malay ko ba, it would be a hit and would turn my career
around, naging singer nga ako.”
Expect Ice to spill more beans in Becoming Ice, her 35th anniversary concert at Solaire on Oct. 15.
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Nurse and entrepreneur Dr. Carl Balita has thought of another way to honor the heroism of our nurses.
He’s producing a groundbreaking film with an all-nurse cast, aimed at celebrating 100 years of the Philippine Nurses Association. The announcement was made Oct. 9 at a dinner event marking the centennial held at the PNA courtyard on Benitez Street, Ermita, Manila.
Dr. Carl E. Balita said his own movie production company is bankrolling the film in cooperation with the PNA, of which he remains an active member. “My dream is to elevate our profession to a higher level of appreciation through this film,” he said.
Lemuel C. Lorca (Ned's Project, Water Lemon, Maestra) has been tapped to direct Siglo ng Kalinga. Lorca described the film as a fusion between past and present, juxtaposing the experiences and lessons gleaned from the life of Anastacia Giron Tupas, who founded the Filipino Nurses Association in 1922. The FNA was to become the PNA years later.
Balita announced a casting call in search of real-life nurses to play lead and supporting roles in the
film. They can be anywhere from 20 to 60 years old, are registered nurses, and are willing to undergo a 5-day acting workshop.
Other activities lined up in connection with Siglo are: a theme songwriting contest on the passion and heroism of Filipino nurses worldwide, and a poster-making contest.
Veteran nurses Mila Delia Llanes (centennial celebration overall chair) and Remedios Fernandez (historical committee chair) of the PNA pledged their full support to the film. They expressed hope that the varied stories told in the film could inspire more Filipinos to go into nursing as well as light the fire furthermore among our nurses to serve humanity.