A whole lot of body-sand shaking going on

ISABELLE Daza is named MVP.

BORACAY— The sun had set and a frenzied mishmash of live band music and thumping dance beats started blaring from the different bars, restaurants and clubs that lined the bustling stretch of White Beach. Streams of tourists made the most of the remaining days of summer, strolling back and forth, looking for a place to spend the evening.

Not a few found themselves in front of a big stage mounted in front of the Pearl of the Pacific resort. For two nights, May 24 and 25, some of GMA 7’s most popular stars gathered here to treat revelers to song and dance numbers as part of the network’s “Kapuso Weekend in Boracay” event.

Goofy celebs

Both nights, headlined by different sets of artists, began with Rico Robles manning the DJ booth, intensifying the cacophony of nightlife on the island with sand-shaking remixes of hits

MIKAEL Daez and Andrea Torres take part in a parlor game.

from Nicki Minaj, The Black Eyed Peas, LMFAO, Jennifer Lopez and Rihanna, drowning the reggae music from a nearby establishment.

The shows were well-attended, mostly by locals who were probably already desensitized to the island’s sights and sounds. But there was nothing quite like the spectacle of celebrities goofing around to excite ordinary mortals. And doing the job on the first night were Steven Silva, Katrina Halili, Gabby Eigenmann, Kris Bernal, Aljur Abrenica and Christian Bautista.

With the exception of Sam Pinto’s cutesy “California Girls” number, the second night featured more serious numbers.

Mark Herras busted out his moves and did the Dougie. In a white dress, Rochelle Pangilinan performed “On the Floor,” pulling two unsuspecting men onstage for a dance showdown.

Kris Lawrence had everyone singing along to an upbeat Bruno Mars medley, while Jay-R performed slower, smoother R&B songs like his hit “Bakit Pa Ba” and his newest single, “Fallin’ for You.”

Beach games

MAX COLLINS (left) and JC Tiuseco lead Puka team to victory.

Aside from the shows, Kapuso celebs slugged it out in a series of beach games during the day.

They were grouped into two teams: White Beach (Rochelle, Katrina, Steven, LJ Reyes, Isabelle Daza, Pancho Magno, Kris Lawrence, Christian Bautista, Mikael Daez, Mike Tan and John Feir) and Puka (Sam, Jay-R, Mark, Aljur, Max Collins, Kris Bernal, Andrea Torres, Bianca King, Carl Guevarra and JC Tiuseco). In the end, Puka emerged victorious. JC and Isabelle were hailed MVPs.

Cleanup efforts

But the weekend wasn’t just fun time. On May 26, Aljur, Mark, Steven, Katrina and Mike were out at 6 a.m. to lead Kapuso sa Kalikasan: Beach Clean-Up, organized by GMA Regional TV in collaboration with the Boracay Foundation and the municipality of Malay. Helping the stars clear the seaside of trash were local volunteers and representatives of various resorts in Boracay.

Aside from the clean-up operations, Oliver Amoroso, GMA 7 assistant vice president for regional TV, said the network had donated artificial coral reefs to the Boracay Foundation. “One

TEAM Puka Beach won in the beach games.

of our advocacies is to restore and protect Boracay’s marine life,” Amoroso told the Inquirer.

Amoroso said they would continue the environment protection efforts by spearheading activities that were both enjoyable and beneficial. “A lot of us love to spend our vacation here,” he said. “What if the place became too developed for its own good? We have to take action.”