“It’s really a magical night!” said Vina Morales about the outcome the two-hour benefit fashion show of Star Magic called “Magic For A Cause.”
The fashion show last night, October 11, at the Studio 10 of ABS-CBN turned out really well even with only a week of preparation. The stars of the Kapamilya network’s talent arm became models for a night for the A-list of designers who showcased their creations to the invited guests.
Piolo Pascual, who did the finale with actress Gretchen Barretto, said it was a blessing to be part of such cause-oriented event.
He related, “I think being part of Star Magic, we were able to come up with our show to promote, of course, ‘yong relief operations ng ABS-CBN. We were able to gather donations from our endorsersments, from our sponsors. I guess it served its cause. It’s nice to be part of the very meaningful event.”
In a separate interview, Sam Milby said almost the same thing about working together as a “family” to help the victims of typhoon Ondoy and Pepeng.
The Fil-Am actor-singer told PEP (Philippine Entertainment Portal), “It’s a family effort to help out ‘yong mga kababayan natin in need. I’m very happy about the outcome, of course. We raised over three million, so maraming families that we were able to help out with this show.”
Other Kapamilya stars who wore the designer’s collection for this charity event were Diether Ocampo, Bea Alonzo, Pokwang, Chokoleit, Erich Gonzales, Angelica Panganiban, Kim Chiu, Gerald Anderson, Rafael Rosell, and Shaina Magdayao.
Matt Evans, Robi Domingo, Enchong Dee, AJ Perez, Dino Imperial, Kian Kazemi, Xian Lim, Guji Lorrenzana, and Joem Bascon graced the event by wearing fasionable men’s apparel.
Malaysian actress Carmen Soo joined local female celebrities, like Melissa Ricks, Megan Young, Dimples Romana, Dionne Monsanto, Cassandra Ponti, Wendy Valdez, and Maricar Reyes, to name a few.
Singers Jed Madela, Laarni Lozada, and Richard Poon also shared their talent to entertain the guests while fashion models did their thing on the catwalk.
Meanwhile, the fashion designers featured in this event were Inno Sotto, Randy Ortiz, Joey Samson, Francis Libiran, Black Label, Patrice Ramos-Diaz, Oskar Peralta, Bang Pineda, Lulu Tan Gan, Cary Santiago Joey Samson, Marlon Rivera, Tonichi Nocom, Renee Salud, Frederick Peralta, Puey Quinones, Jun Escario, Avel Bacudio, Jojie Lloren, Bang Pineda, Josie Natori, among others.
Young Designers Guild, Fashion and Design Council of the Philippines, and Fashion Designers Association of the Philippines also cooperated in this event.
Mr. Johnny Manahan, head of Star Magic, was ecstatic about the outcome of the event. He said, “Magic For A Cause was truluy magical. In less than a week, we put up a superb fashion show with the best directors, models, makeup artists, and 80 of the top Star Magic artists, and we were able to raise millions. Magic yun!”
GENEROUS DONORS. The network’s goal in putting up such event was successfully achieved as it raised an ample amount of money from generous donors for the typhoon victims.
As reported by Vina and Piolo, cash donations during the event reached up to P152,000. While days before the event, a Kapamilya insider revealed to PEP that about four million pesos cash and three million worth of in-kind donations were turned over to ABS-CBN Foundation’s Sagip Kapamilya, which distributes the relief goods to the different areas affected by Ondoy.
Among the donors were Summit Media president Lisa Gokongwei-Cheng and sister Robina Gokongwei-Pe, Globe Asiatique president Delfin Lee, Julie Lim of Ultra Mega Supermarket, government officials of Tagum City, Davao del Norte, Procter and Gamble, Coca-Cola Foundation, and Mr. Ben Chan of Bench.
Sagip Kapamilya program director Tina Monzon-Palma was overwhelmed by the support of different private sectors, and had called their acts of generosity as “extraordinary.” She added, “You would be surprised with the kind of generosity that we have received.”
On the other hand, ABS-CBN Foundation managing director Gina Lopez assured all the donors that every single centavo of their donation will be spent wisely and distributed to the beneficiaries.
She related, “I’d like to inform all of you, in Sagip Kapamilya, we’re working very, very hard. We set up many trucks a day. We service about 10,000 families a day and our efforts are really going areas, which are far flung and which nobody has service. We have today almost 3,400 families.”
Ms. Lopez also thanked the Star Magic talents who have been very supportive of their cause for Ondoy victims from the very start. She said, “I wanna thank the stars because they have been going together with the trucks in doing relief services. Our effort is to use every single centavo well and we wanna save some money, and get some money to rehabilitate people.”
RUN FOR PASIG RIVER.After this fashion show, ABS-CBN Foundation is now planning to have a fund-raising marathon on November 8. This will be for the rehabilitation of Pasig River, which overflowed during typhoon Ondoy and caused large-scale damage to nearby areas, including Pasig, Mandaluyong, Marikina, Manila, and Rizal province.
Ms. Lopez strongly urged the audience to participate by stating, “If all of you want it clean badly enough, run for it. If thousands of you care badly enough to run for it, I will clean that river. But I need you to run for it!”
by Nerisa Almo of PEP.PH
