TAGUIG MAYOR LINO CAYETANO was the director of the very first Starstruck in 2003, still the most successful batch which produced Jennylyn Mercado (now one of the top stars of GMA-7), Cristine Reyes, Yasmien Kurdi and Katrina Halili who are still very much active up to now.
We remember he was then a long-haired and gangly young man who press people think should be working in front and not behind the camera.
In a recent lunch with him and his brother, Rep. Allan Cayetano, we’re surprised to see Mayor Lino, now 42 years old, looking much heftier and now sporting a closely cropped haircut. “You’re much bigger!” we tell him.
“Yes po, nahiyang sa married life!” he admits. He’s obviously happy with his wife of 7 years now, the former volleyball player Fille Cainglet, and their three kids: Ino, Neinei and Lily.
As Taguig mayor, he’s proud to announce that his city has one of the lowest number of COVID 19 cases. He now wants Taguig to be also an entertainment capital and he has big plans for it next year. He hopes to put up his own filmfest, like Quezon City’s QCinema, by 2022.
Does he miss showbiz?
“I do, but right now, I also find so much joy serving the people of Taguig, which is the fastest growing city in the country. We’re opening a high school for the arts where we can teach young people how to appreciate films, write, direct.
"We’re having an arts fair in SM Aura and also a cinema sa bangka where there are restaurants available and they can watch while on gondolas. Basta ipapatupad natin lahat ng needed safety protocols.”
He realized there's a similiarty between showbiz and politics.
“What I’ve proven kasi is that hindi naman nagkakalayo ang goals ng showbiz and politics, which is to improve the lives of our people.
"I learned from Direk Maryo de los Reyes when we did ‘Anghel na Walang Langit’ that we can help the poor by showing their plight, yung mga paghihirap na nararanasan nila dahil sa kawalan ng oportunidad for the poor. Tayo sa showbiz yung puso.”
Although he no longer directs, he continues to help worthwhile projects, like “Bagman” which won for Arjo Atayde the recent best actor Asian Academy Award. He co-produced it and he’s so glad when Arjo won.
“We’re so happy and proud of him. We hope this would open more opportunities for local actors to do projects all over the world,” he shares.
We tell him we’ve been waiting for him to direct his first full length film and not just the teleseryes he did. “Well, that was part of my plan then, but I now got busy with public service. But who knows, maybe, someday…”
As for Rep. Allan Cayetano, he hopes to help the local entertainment industry to achieve the success that the Koreans accomplished worldwide.
“Sobrang talented ng Pilipino sa culture and arts,” he says. “I’m a fan of Filipino films and I saw most of Sharon Cuneta’s movies. I also watched the movies of Dolphy and FPJ.
“But now, our local entertainment industry is facing a lot of problems so we should try our best to help, like what the Koreans are doing and also India with Bollywood. So how do we get there? Sa Korea, it didn’t just happen.
"It was planned. The government really helped them. So I’m pushing for the creation of a department to help our creative industry and performing arts. Long term yan as we need more worldwide exposure.”
What can he say about the news that ABS-CBN might continue their operations in 2021?
“Puede naman talagang i-appeal yan. We’re open-minded about it, as long as we do it legally and morally.”
What is his plan for 2022? “It’s still too early to talk about it. Nothing’s definite at this moment and marami namang options. We’ll just talk about it by the middle of next year.”
