Eugene more excited than anxious about returning to work

Eugene Domingo

Eugene Domingo resumed taping her well-loved comedy anthology on GMA 7, “Dear Uge Presents.” She’s more excited than anxious about going back to work amid the pandemic. Her show’s fresh new episode, “My Forgettable Love,” is about an estranged couple forced to live under one roof again due to the enhanced community quarantine (the second part airs on Sunday at 2:30 p.m.).

In real life, my Amiga (that’s how Uge and I call each other) is blissfully cocooned with her unforgettable love, Danilo Bottoni.

Here’s my chat with Uge:

What do you love about your show?

We are already on our fourth year. I love how our format keeps evolving. What’s nice about the changes that happen is that our viewers also grow with us. When the show started, I was reading stories in the “tindahan” with my gang.

Now, we are giving viewers a full story with yours truly being a part of it.

What love and career advice do you want to share?

For love, I am still new at this, but one thing I am learning is that whoever it is that you end up with and choose to love forever should be your best friend, partner, your strength and joy. Most of
all, laughing together is important.

My career advice is to feel free to do what your soul yearns for. One can only grow if he is free. Don’t be afraid to try everything, to fail, to rise and to be inspired, to be ignored … your star will shine at the right time.

Learning from tragedy

I fondly remember watching Tito Eddie Garcia and other show biz luminaries sing “Handog” live. It was the finale number of an awards ceremony, produced by my mom in the ‘90s. That iconic song of Florante serves as an ode of entertainers to their loyal fans.

Manoy’s incredible body of work is more than enough “handog” to keep his legacy alive. But even after he passed away, the screen legend continues to give back to the industry that he loved and served so passionately for seven decades.

The tragic accident on the set, which led to Tito Ed’s death, turned out to be a wake-up call for better working conditions in the biz. So it prompted his stepson, Rep. Mikee Romero, to file a bill called the Eddie Garcia Act. It seeks to institute policies for the protection and promotion of the welfare of workers in the film, TV and radio industry.

As of press time, the bill has been approved in the House committee level. If and when it becomes a law, Manoy would be singing “Handog” again (with the choir of angels up above): Tatanda at lilipas din ako/ Ngunit mayroong “batas”/ Iiwanan sa inyong alaala/ Dahil minsan tayo’y nagkasama.I asked Tito Ed’s fab longtime partner, Lilibeth Romero (whom I call Big Sis) to share her thoughts about the Eddie Garcia Bill (EGB). I always enjoy our phone chats. In jest, Big Sis and I say that Tito Ed and my mom are eavesdropping on our conversation. Thoughts of them seem so real that Lili and I almost forget that they’re no longer here.

Here’s Lilibeth’s sentiments:

I am most grateful to my son, Deputy Speaker Mikee Romero, Congressmen Eric Pineda, Raymond Mendoza and all the other members of the EGB. The untimely death of Eddie has caused me and the family untold pain, but the enactment of the EGB, which guarantees the protection of his colleagues against unsafe working conditions will somehow assuage our deep loss. May the movers and shakers in the industry learn what they need to learn from the accident that happened to Eddie. Ed’s death was not sacrificed in vain. He is larger than life.