Beauty and the Net
by Dominic R. Rivera

I AM a Net addict.

I'm addicted not because my work calls for me to surf the Net but because I was caught with awe when I first logged in to this technology that is sweeping the entire globe like a phenomenon. It was love at first sight.

About two weeks ago, my wife and I were stucked in the hospital tending to our son Lolek who was confined for croup. (do a search at altavista.digital.com to learn more about this sickness).

It's a bore being in that place-- both for the patient and for the ones looking after the patient. How you wish you could go home immediately and enjoy the comforts of being in your own place.

In one of those boring nights, I sneaked in my laptop computer for me to release the urge of surfing the Net. There was no stopping me from logging in to my Internet service provider even with only a local line that we have in our hospital room.

After checking the letters that has accumulated in my mailbox, I launched Netscape to browse the World Wide Web.

Searching for Keannu

Going to Yahoo, a subject-oriented Internet directory, I searched for the keystrings "actors and actresses." Not because I was hoping that I can chance upon the rumored nude pictures of Carmina Villaroel and Kris Aquino but because I would like to know if there is indeed a movie entitled Chain Reaction that stars Keannu Reeves and Morgan Freeman. A student organization was asking us to co-sponsor their movie premiere.

Okay, I found the website dedicated to Reeves and got a "preview" of his high-tech espionage movie. Impressive site to promote a movie which was released only last October 22.

Scrolling at the list of movie actors and actresses with their websites, or presence on the Internet, I noticed that most of theme are US-based-- from Bill Cosby to Alyssa Milano.

I chanced upon Maricel Soriano's Appreciation Page and Dawn Zulueta's Home Page, being the only Filipina actresses listed at Yahoo.

Curiosity led me to search for other Filipino movie actors and actresses with sites on the Net.

Scarcity on the Net

Unlike their US counterparts where putting up a website is a common medium of promoting themselves, Filipino actors and actresses with their personal sites are still scarce.

Even movies abroad have already invaded the Internet as part of its promotions. Examples are Micael Jordan's Space Jam and Shaq's Khazzam. This ensures global exposure for the movie long before its release.

I still have to see sites being put up solely to promote an upcoming Filipino movie of international quality. On the other hand, however, I do not want to see "Mabango" having its own presence on the Net. This would make Sen. Gringo Honasan push further for his unpopular bill of censoring the Internet.

Perseverance paid-off as I found some sites of Filipino actors and actresses. Aside from Dawn and Maricel, I got to browse around the websites of Anjanette Abayari, Donita Rose, Ruby Rodriguez, Charlene Gonzales, and Lea Salonga.

I know I have seen somewhere the site of Dale Villar but failed to find it again. This may be related to his inactivity in showbiz. The same thing happens when accessing Sharon Cuneta's webpage and Donna Cruz.

Raymart Santiago is currently building his site together with this author. The site will feature, aside from career details, his pet snakes.

The Official and the Unofficial

Maricel Soriano's Appreciation Page was authored by a certain David. The manager of the actress is said to be well-supportive of the idea of putting Maricel on the Internet, making it an unofficial "official" page for the actress.

Viewing her guestbook, I found this twisted tagalog message which says, "hinahanga ko po kayo! mahal ko po kita!"

Dawn Zulueta's page is more exciting to browse around. The webpage which boasts of honoring the beautiful and talented actress of Philippine cinema and television has a more extensive content compared than Maricel's site. It contains latest news on her movies such as Lahar, a career history and a list of awards that the actress has so far garnered.

A message in her guestbook says, "Dawn, I love you, call me in my office at telephone number..."

Part 2 -->