“Bawal ang Nakasimangot”

    I was so thrilled to receive my copy of the script for the first week of “May Bukas Pa” when it was delivered to me by Raffy – a crew assigned to deliver the scripts to the cast.  The cover page said that it was the copy for Edgar Sandalo as Father Jude a.k.a. Father Ngot. I tried hard to decipher what Father Ngot means and made a guess: perhaps I regularly pinch the nose of little boy Santino – the lead character and in the Filipino language it means “Pingot”.

    It was a cool breezy morning when I arrived at the location which is the parish church of San Guillermo in Bacolor, Pampanga, for my first taping day for “May Bukas Pa”. My adrenalin level was running high! Last Sunday’s taping was solely dedicated to shoot the scenes involving Santino and the 12 franciscan priests. Director Jerome Pobocan started our taping with a briefing on the characterization of the 12 priests. Direk Jerome assigned distinct characters for each of the 12 priests.

    It was then that Direk Jerome revealed to us  that my character – Father Jude is also known as Father Ngot to mean “Simangot” My character is a priest that is grumpy, cranky and always “nakasimangot”. I would not mention to you the rest of the characters of the priests but I assure you that the characterization of the 12 priests who would become the adoptive fathers of Santino is a unique mix of different characters blended together as a bunch of novelty figures that would soon fill the airwaves as “May Bukas Pa” –  set to have its first telecast this February.

    Leading the pack of priests living in a monastery is veteran actor Jaime Fabregas who will be our Father Superior. With us as priests are the following: popular actor /host Dominic Ochoa, popular teleserye actor Lito Pimentel, Badjie Mortiz – the baby-faced son of Edgar Mortiz. Badjie who is shaved bald is also in the cast of Banana Split. Pinoy Big Brother Celebrity Edition Big Winner Ruben Gonzaga is also playing another priest character. His Pinoy Big Brother “kasama sa bahay ni Kuya” Victor Basa is also playing another priestly character. Actor David Chua, A UST student who appeared in a Filipino version of a koreanovela is also playing as a priest. My fellow character actors Tony Manalo and Aloy Norona are also playing as priests.  Completing the list are Robin Tolentino a nurse by profession and Andrei Tianco – a veteran stage actor.

    Brace for yourself as you would soon see me always “nakasimangot” on screen. Instead of the positive “Bawal ang Nakasimangot”, in “May Bukas Pa” I am palaging nakasimangot!