Mayor tries luck in showbiz
TREÑAS
If the trend is that movie stars are throwing their hats into the political arena, Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas is doing quite the opposite: trying his luck in acting.
And his debut role is very close to reality.
The two termer-mayor, who is also president of the League of Cities in the Philippines, is one of the casts in the Ilonggo film entitled Diamond Hearts. He plays the role of the mayor of Iloilo City.
"Well you know I'm nearing my last term, so I am looking for something to do," Treñas jested during Monday's press briefing with the local media at his office.
"We are trying our best to promote Iloilo City," he adds.
In an interview over dyOK Aksyon Radyo-Iloilo yesterday, Perla Valencia, producer of the film, said that the two-hour film will be due for release in the United States on December this year, and will be competing in an international film festival in San Francisco.
All of the casts are Ilonggos, and the dialogue will also be in Hiligaynon, but with English subtitles, Valencia said.
"Mayor (Treñas) is now an actor," said Valencia.
The film, Valencia narrates, is about two sisters, the elder of which had to stop studying to care for her younger sisters and brothers. The younger sister, however, finished college and became a successful businesswoman.
A portion of the movie shows the younger sister processing her business permit with the Mayor's office.
"In the movie, I greeted them 'good morning;' asked them what their business was; and encouraged them to do well with their business so that they could help the City," Treñas said. The segment was shot last week in his office.
Valencia hopes that the film, which she described as 'low-budgeted,' will receive a warm backing from the Filipino community in the US, particularly in the Bay Area.
"There are a lot of Ilonggos in the Bay Area," she noted.