According to a Filipino nurse at the facility, Vina was brought in looking a little shaken, not unconscious. She was in fact alert and mindful, if a little apologetic of the fuss she had caused among her friends.

Also, the source added, the singer was very pleasant, obedient (didn’t complain about the tests) and polite. She answered all the examining doc’s questions, the circumstance that led her to the emergency room.

In contrast, said another source, Vina’s companions were unpleasant and arrogant and treated staff nurses with suspicion. They were indifferent and uncommunicative.

“I got a sense they were not forthcoming about why Vina was rushed to the hospital. Vina’s people acted like they were dealing with paparazzi and intrusive fans. They were just awful.”

It was not revealed what treatment, if any, Vina received at the hospital, only that she was released shortly after she got there.

Vina is currently in Las Vegas and L.A. for the remainder of her current U.S. tour that will end in Washington, D.C. in the next few days.

Easy on the vodka Vina!

Mom urges Judy Ann, Ryan to marry in secret

Judy Ann Santos’ mother Carol is some mother. She is modern and radical in outlook, not quite the traditional Filipino nanay.

Asked is she approved of Juday’s boyfriend Ryan Agoncillo, Carol, a former Canada-based nurse, assured media she was all for the TV host-turned-actor or for any man who made her daughter happy.

“In fact,” declares Carol, “I told Juday and Ryan to have a secret marriage already, bago sila makalimot sa sarili.”

Uhum, that doesn’t sound very motherly, but a few see Carol’s point: kesa nga naman Juday gets pregnant and create a national scandal, mabuti na ‘yung she has a marriage certificate to show in case things go out of hand, so to speak. Juday’s core audience of young, impressionable girls might turn against her if their preconceived image of the star is ruined by an unplanned pregnancy.

Juday and Ryan are U.S.-bound and there will be lots of togetherness. Her mama and her overprotective handler Alfie Lorenzo are not on hand on this trip, so...

The lovers will grace two Philippine expos: one in Pomona, California and at Nanding and Mila Mendez’s Philippine Fiesta on Aug. 19 in New Jersey.

There’s talk that after the two events, Juday will squeeze time to make a digital film with California-based Nora Aunor. The project will be megged by Suzette Ranillo whose first directorial effort, also staring the Superstar, recently premiered in San Francisco to critical acclaim.

On the mend, Rudy preps for comeback

Rudy Fernandez made his first public appearance since coming out from a lengthy hospitalization looking none the worse from his horrifying health scare (he said he had visions of dearly departed colleagues like Jay Ilagan and others while hovering between life and certain death in his sickbed).

The event was the dance concert of teen starlet Maja Salvador at Zirkoh, the night spot that is co-owned by Sen. Jinggoy Estrada who, along with Phillip Salvador and Sen. Bong Revilla, make up Rudy’s tight gang of four. The barkadas were complete that evening. Phillip looked trim and was endlessly ribbed that his legal woes seemed to become him.

Rudy and his wife Lorna Tolentino were all smiles. He said he was hinayang losing a role in the Manny Pacquiao bioflick (it went to Jay Manalo). Lorna said perhaps it was not meant to be his and surely something far bigger will come around next for her husband. The two did not confirm if they were really going on a trip abroad this month.

Award-winning ‘Cavite’ opens in NYC today

Winner of the 2006 Independent Spirit’s “Someone to Watch” Award and recently screened as an official selection at the prestigious New Directors/New Films Festival in New York, “Cavite” is a heart-pounding suspense thriller and the impressive screen debut of West Coast filmmakers Neill dela Llana and Ian Gamazon.

“Cavite” starts its regular theatrical engagement today, Friday, May 26 in New York and Los Angeles. In Manhattan, it opens at the Cinema Village (22 East 12th Street. Telephone: 212-924-3363). In L.A. it will screen at the Nu Art (11272 Santa Monica, West LA. Telephone: 310-281-8223).

Already hailed by The New York Times as “ingenious” and lauded by the Los Angeles Times for being “an intimate political thriller that’s fresh and compelling to the end,” “Cavite” is guerrilla filmmaking at its finest. The Village Voice praised it for being “brilliantly resourceful” and called it a “landmark in diaspora cinema.”

The acclaimed film follows Adam (Gamazon), a young Filipino-American living in San Diego, back to his native country for his father’s funeral.

Upon his arrival at the airport, the purpose of his visit becomes radically different: an anonymous cell phone call by an unseen Muslim extremist who had kidnapped his mother and sister forces him to undertake a torturous journey to save their lives.

As Adam carries out a series of seemingly random errands ordered by the omniscient vice, he is led through the slums of modern-day Manila at the back alleys of the nearby city of Cavite.

Here, the returning expatriate is forced to participate in activities that challenge him to examine his own identity and conscience.

Says Unitel president/producer Tony Gloria (“American Adobo,” “Imelda”), “‘Cavite’ is a film we’ve been tracking to acquire since its February 2005 premiere in the Rotterdam Film Festival. Its filmmakers represent the kind of talent that we’ve always been looking for, someone with a fresh approach to moviemaking, one whose imagination is not limited by their budget or resources. The fact that they shot it digitally does not make their vision or storytelling any less than if they had shot it on film.”

Adds Gloria: “You can sense the excitement of people after they’ve seen ‘Cavite.’ A true moviegoing experience, after all, has nothing to do whether it’s on film or digital. Ultimately, it’s about the sheer visceral impact. It’s great, cutting edge cinema. It’s the future seen now,”

The filmmakers couldn’t agree more. Says Gamazon and Dela Llana, “When we conceived the movie we visualized it not in terms of its digital format but in terms of how the viewers will react. It’s all about storytelling. We’re glad that Unitel shares our vision and in our belief that it’s a film for everyone. And of course, we’re proud to have been in New Directors/New Films and thrilled to bring honor to the Philippines.”

Catch the thriller and get more info online at www.cavitemovie.com  or www.trulyindie.com 

Borgy finally heeds call of show business

After years of dilly dallying, Borgy Manotoc, Imelda Marcos’ favorite grandson, is finally breaking into show business, co-hosting a TV show that will air prime time Wednesdays in Manila’s Studio 23 channel.

“It’s a Guy Thing” is a men’s lifestyle show that is also co-hosted by the likes of Bernard Palanca, Ketchup Eusebio, Joe Joseph and Bubbles Paraiso.

Since breaking into the limelight in the late 90s as a teen model for Bench, the giant clothing line, Borgy, has been deluged with film and TV offers. But there were setbacks: his mama, Cong. Imee Marcos, determinedly put her foot down. Also, Borgy didn’t (still can’t) speak Tagalog, having spent his princely boyhood variously in Morocco, Spain, Singapore and other parts of the world.

So Borgy remained mainly a fixture in Manila’s social scene. People didn’t know what exactly he did but he became an instant celebrity. Borgy was famous mainly for being famous, sort of like a male Paris Hilton.

Then the boy was packed off to New York for college studies, disappearing from Manila’s frenetic party scene for a few years. When he came home early this year, Borgy had grown taller, hunkier and trendier (he’s sporting gridlocks. His mother once described him as a fashion victim), he couldn’t be any readier for television.

Borgy gets ample hosting tips from his half brother TJ Manotoc who is a program host of GMA 7. He is the son of former beauty queen Aurora Pijuan. The boys say they are very close and are in touch regularly with their father, the sportsman Tommy Manotoc.