Anji reinvents herself

by BOT GLORIOSO Philstar.com

ANJI Salvacion is saying goodbye to her sweet, bubbly image for a more sophisticated and alluring look that complemented the sound and feel of her new single titled “Paraiso.”

“This track will pave the way for new Anji — alluring, jaunty, immaculate,” enthused the Pinoy Big Brother Kumunity Season 10 grand winner who has become visible on screen as a singer, actress and host.

“I like to explore and experiment with different sounds. So, I believe that “Paraiso” is the perfect song to introduce the new me,” she added.

Released under Tarsier Records, “Paraiso” sees Anji creating a sound different from the ballads in her debut EP Kasingkasing Dalampasigan released last year. She is toning down the sound of heartbreak and turning up the volume of happiness and fun.

“I always sing heartbreaking songs. Everybody knows how I love to sing songs that break me. But now, I love to sing songs that really inspire me — my roots, everything about me,” declared the 20-year-old Kapamilya talent.

Composed by U.S.-based Filipina Annie Lennox and produced by Exale, “Paraiso” can make any listener grooving to its upbeat sound. That’s why, Anji agreed that the song can be a summer anthem.

“When I first heard the song, I felt excited because it’s really empowering and I really love the lyrics of the song,” she offered. “The beat always reminds me of the beach every time I listen to it on my laptop, naka-save na kasi ito even before its release (last April 14).

“It just made me dance, but at the same time, it made me so nervous because I was thinking, ‘Oh my god, the lyrics are so beautiful, the beat — everything was so beautiful,’ and I don’t know if I’m gonna deliver this well or (if I’m) good enough.”

Thus, Anji was elated no end when everything just worked out beautifully. “While we were recording it, I felt like the song made me confident about myself. It made me love myself even more. I just hope everyone will resonate with me when they listen to the song. I want everyone to love themselves even more,” she offered.

Anji admitted to having felt butterflies in her stomach during the first day of the recording sessions with Annie and Exale.

“I was really nervous because it’s my first time working with different people. I used to only work with Sir Rox (Rox Santos, ABS-CBN Music head) and Sir Jo (Jonathan Manalo, ABS-CBN Music creative director). But I was so happy that everybody in Tarsier was so chill and so welcoming, especially Miss Annie, so I felt comfortable right away.”

Asked what she considers as her concept of paradise, Anji replied without batting an eyelash, “Of course, my home(town) Siargao. It has always been a paradise for me and growing up in such a beautiful place with beautiful memories, it’s amazing. I would always choose Siargao and go back to Siargao.”

To recall, Anji was introduced as the Singing Sweetheart of Siargao when she entered PBB house as one of the housemates last year. She couldn’t help but recall her journey after her stint in PBB.

“Unti-unting na nga siyang natupad (pangarap). First, I was able to release my song Dalampasigan, then I felt so blessed when they offered me to do a concert — digital concert. I was so grateful for that.

“This time, my wish to be in a teleserye is also coming true.

To be an actress, to be given a chance, the opportunity to act with great, great people, great actors, great talents.”

Anji is also hoping to get international attention through “Paraiso”, “and this is the first step in realizing that dream with Tarsier releasing the song internationally.”

AFTER living in the U.S. for over 20 years, Kristan tried to obtain his green card by filing paperwork on his own, instead of hiring an immigration lawyer. In one instance, he tried to file as a minor child of an immigrant (F2A), even though he was already an adult. His application was rejected. On another occasion, Kristan filed for adjustment of status based on his father’s petition, as a minor child of a U.S. citizen, even though he was over 21 years old.

Finally, when Kristan received a Notice of Intent to Deny (NOID), he finally retained the services

SALEM, OR – Philippine

Consul General in San Francisco

Neil Frank Ferrer paid a courtesy call on Oregon Governor

Tina Kotek at the Governor’s Ceremonial Office in the State Library on March 27, 2023.

ConGen Ferrer extended his congratulations to Governor Kotek on her successful election as Governor in November 2022.

The Governor warmly welcomed the Consul General to Oregon.

Ferrer and Kotek explored possible areas of cooperation between Oregon and the Philippines, particularly in expanding trade, investment, and people-to-people ties.

The two sides also discussed the contributions of the Filipino Americans in the state, and discussed ways on how to assist small businesses. Additionally, the two officials discussed challenges faced by the Filipino American community in Oregon and possible ways to address these. Governor Kotek is the 39th Governor of the State of Oregon. She was the longest serving speaker in Oregon’s history before running for Governor. (PCGSF Release)

FOR Enchong Dee, getting nominated as best actor for his performance in the 1st Summer Metro Manila Film Festival entry, “Here Comes the Groom,” was “a big step forward for my career and my body of work, as well.”

Chris Martinez’s comedy, reportedly the top-grosser during the first days of the festival’s two-week run, was declared second best picture at the Gabi ng Parangal

"I am filled with gratitude and happiness,” said Enchong as a reaction to the film’s box-office and critical acclaim.

“I also felt starstruck knowing that Ms Dolly [de Leon] is jury chair. To be nominated as best actor for a project that is meant to promote an ensemble cast is already something else,” Enchong told reporters shortly before the awards ceremony held at New Frontier Theater in Quezon City.

Blessing Enchong said the offer to play Junior, a guy whose soul gets magically swapped with that of a transgender woman’s a day before his wedding, was something he couldn’t say “no” to.

“I have always had a very good relationship with Atty. Joji (Alonso, producer). She presented the movie in such a way that I couldn’t resist. Also, its prequel, ‘Here Comes the Bride,’ opened so many doors for my friend Angelica (Panganiban). I want to be able to partake in that success. I consider this project a blessing,” Enchong said. The actor pointed out that was only one of several offbeat roles he’d be seen portraying this year. “Nakakasa na sila I’m excited for you to see them. The next one, which I’m still not allowed to reveal, is going to be shown in an international festival next month,” he said.

IN 2005, a 128-page report from the World Health Organization in Geneva stated that “nearly 400 million people will die from heart diseases, diabetes and other chronic ailments over the next 10 years, but many of those deaths can be prevented by healthier lifestyles and inexpensive medications.” Of the 40 million deaths per year in the world, 28 million would be in developing countries.

WHO director-general Lee Jong Wook commented that “the lives of too many people in the world are being blighted and cut short by chronic diseases. He cited the latest WHO report “to draw attention to the increasing threat from diseases that can be prevented in part by healthier diets and giving up smoking,” writes the Associated Press.

This recent report also was the first “to quantify the economic burden of treating such conditions in individual countries.” China, for instance, will be spending $588 billion in the next ten years, Russia, $303 billion, and India $236 billion, in managing heart disease, diabetes and strokes.

The co-author of the study, Robert Beaglehole, lamented that this epidemic is preventable because “we know what to do, how to do it, and preventions are very cheap,” and yet people die unnecessarily.

The WHO report highlighted the fact that heart-diseasesrelated mortality is down 70 percent in the United States, England, Australia and Canada in the last 30 years because of effective national prevention policies and campaigns in these industrialized nations that cut the death rates significantly.

Citing Poland’s statistics which showed reduced death rates among young adults by 10 percent in 1990, “in part by making fruits and vegetables more available, and removing subsidies on dairy products, like butter.”

Philippine statistics

The table in this column of the Leading Causes of Mortality (Number and Rate per 100,000 Population) in the Philippines will show we are part of this pandemic of preventable deaths

(see table). A major part of our unhealthy lifestyle as a people is our diet of high-saturated fat, high-cholesterol (red meats, processed delis, lard, dairy products), high-carbohydrate, low-fiber foods, and our sedentary life. Filipinos, in general, especially those who can afford, do not seem to care for vegetables, fruits, nuts and grains. It must be our culture. We train our infants and our young children to eat red meats and other high fat foods, believing these proteins are “good for their young body,” so when they grow up, they continue with the same unhealthy “habit” and remain “hooked” to red meats, eggs and other high cholesterol food items.

The fastfood chains all around us make matters even worse. Somehow, as parents, we have neglected to put more emphasis on fish, which is actually the superior source of protein, plus the added bonus of an ingredient in fish, Omega-3 fatty acids, the oil that protects the heart, besides the brain. And many of us do not seem to accept the fact that smoking maims and kills, alcohol damages our liver and brain, and that daily physical exercise, besides the low-fat, lowcholesterol, low-carbohydrate and high-fiber diet, is vital for a healthy lifestyle, to maintain good health and well-being.

In the name of love

Some of us may be shortening the life of our children without realizing it, unintentionally, unwittingly, all in the name of love, but nonetheless devastating to them when they reach middle age and beyond. Allowing them to live an unhealthy lifestyle, to be hooked on cigarettes, alcohol, soft drinks (which are poison), is loving our children to death.

“Love not our children to death” is the message in my coffee-table book on disease prevention published in the United States and in the Philippines, entitled “Let’s Stop ‘Killing’ Our Children,” which could be previewed on www. philipSchua.com.

Alarming statistics

Obesity in children has doubled the past couple of decades, and tripled the past 30 years. If the trend is allowed to continue through our parental neglect, inaction, or indifference, it is conceivable that obesity will quadruple in another ten years. And since obesity increases the risk for diseases like hypertension, diabetes and other metabolic illnesses, heart attack, stroke, and cancer, longevity would obviously suffer. All the gains mankind has achieved the past six decades through the advances in medical science and technology – preventive, diagnostic, and therapeutic –could simply go to waste for this segment of the world population if wisdom does not prevail.

Today, among the affluent people around the world, including those in developing nations, obesity afflicts about 20 percent of children ages 6 to 11, and more alarmingly, about 10 percent of those ages 2 to 5 are obese. Among those between