V for vim, vigor, vitality and verve

Vilma Santos

We’ve always marveled at Vilma Santos’ “unsinkable” vitality and verve, despite her “advancing” years, but never was her “Vilmacious” and “eternally” youthful vibe in clearer evidence than on her recent guest stint on “Magandang Buhay.”

The Star for All Seasons and frissons was indubitably in her element as she brought her friends and fans up to snuff on her personal, professional and political activities, which have been so hectic that they would exhaust some people half her age.

Best of all, she even whipped up a special dance number, complete with frisky and toothsome chorus boys, making fans remember what a perky exponent of terpsichore she was on her popular TV show, decades ago.

The decades may have come and gone, but Vilma’s “dance diva” verve and vibe haven’t dimmed and ebbed, as her smash-hit “extended play” dance number on “Magandang Buhay” vividly and even stunningly proved.

Viewers and the show’s hosts were left in slack-jawed awe as Vilma danced up a feisty storm for many minutes on end!

Even more awe-inspiring was the fact that, right after the “surprise” number ended, Vilma wasn’t completely winded and wasted, and managed to answer the hosts’ addled questions, without even gasping for breath. How does anyone over 30 do that?

Vilma herself had a lighthearted take on her show-stopping feat, impishly joking, “It isn’t easy being 35 and gorgeous!”—You can say that again, unsinkable and unquenchable Queen Vi!

Atom Araullo

‘Philippine Seas’

Also a sight for sore eyes on TV recently was Atom Araullo’s first documentary for GMA 7, “Philippine Seas.”

The docu insightfully detailed and dramatized the many problems hounding our all-important marine resources and seas.

Extra care and enterprise were obvious in the breadth and scope of the documentary’s coverage, ranging from a tuna-fishing expedition that was caught in a dangerous squall at sea, rare underwater encounters with dugong and other endangered marine animals, etc.

On the debit side, too many of the issues featured have already been tackled on other TV shows, so they were more “expected” than truly eye-opening and thought-provoking. Some of the questions fishermen and their dependents were asked were similarly too obvious or “emotion-encouraging.”

Yes, there’s a need to make docu features “personal” to generate viewer empathy, but less obvious emotional “blackmail,” please.

As for host Atom Araullo, his concern and involvement are genuine and thus valuable but he needs to find a way to go beyond his generally low-key and laid-back projection and stance, because it diminishes the vitality, dynamism and urgency of his features and insights.

All told, however, “Philippine Seas” was a credible debut for the GMA 7 “chapter” of Atom’s evolving career in broadcast journalism.