Published December 22, 2020, 1:39 PM
In life and death, Father Fernando Suarez was an enigma.
Emerging seemingly from out of nowhere, he became an overnight sensation mainly due to his ability to heal a variety of ailments.
He will be known for far more than that, however.
To say that Suarez was a very controversial man is an understatement.
He was often at loggerheads with the leaders of the church.
At one point, he was even implicated in a sexual abuse case involving some minors.
Dante Rivero, John Arcilla in a scene from the film
Then there’s talk about his supposed ostentatious lifestyle.
SunStar
MMFF
Magikland December 20, 2020 Not even the pandemic can stop us from enjoying Philippine cinema. This year’s Metro Manila Film Festival is still happening, albeit online via streaming.
There are 10 diverse films this year that’s two more than previous installments of the festival. Based on the diverse genres of the entries, from heavy drama and straight horror to boys’ love rom-com and fantasy adventure, it looks like the film festival has a pretty solid lineup this year.
The 2020 Metro Manila Film Festival will run from Dec. 25 to Jan. 8, 2021 exclusively on Upstream.ph.
“Tagpuan”
Director: MacArthur Alejandre
Love proves to be complicated in this romantic drama starring Iza Calzado, Alfred Vargas and Shaina Magdayao. The film, which was shot in Hong Kong and New York in 2019, initially joined MMFF that same year but was not able to be included as a finalist.
From an exclusive interview by The Sunday Times Magazine Editor Tessa Mauricio-Arriola from this section’s online program “The Manila Times
CSI: Celebrity, Style, Inspiration,” available on The Manila Times official website, YouTube and Daily Motion channels and Facebook Page.
John Arcilla
With an illustrious career spanning more than three decades, multi-awarded acting genius John Arcilla still considers himself a late bloomer in mainstream entertainment.
The actor portrays the title role in ‘Suarez: The Healing Priest,’ an
entry to the upcoming 2020 Metro Manila Film Festival. PHOTOS COURTESY OF FACEBOOK/HENERAL LUNA , INSTAGRA M/JOHNARCILLA AND SARANGG OLA MEDIA PRODUCTIONS
He is not ashamed to say this though, and nor should he be, since the time it took for him to land his most memorable movie role thus far and a box office hit was extremely well spent, honing him into a legend of sorts in among his peers and the public eye.
In just a few days, the world will be celebrating Christmas in very different ways. Here in the Philippines for one the country known for having the longest holiday celebration the contrast from Christmases past is truly very stark.
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Unlike before, cities and homes hardly glitter with holiday décor; malls aren’t crowded with the happy buzz of shoppers; and the usual parties and reunions aren’t allowed, when all these sights and feels should have been afoot as soon as the ber-months began. Sadly, the global crisis that is the Coronavirus Pandemic has not let up in the last nine months, with the newly approved vaccine only being given to volunteers this past week.
December 18, 2020 | 12:04 am Font Size
FATHER SUAREZ played by John Arcilla in the film Father Suarez: Healing Priest
SHIFTING to an online platform may have led the annual Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) to introduce a greater variety of films for this yearâs pandemic edition. While the requisite family films such as
Magic Kingdom and
Mang Kepweng: Ang Lihim ng Bandanang Itim are still part of the programming, it has been seven years since the festival last included a biopic on a religious figure, 2013âs
Pedro Calungsod: Batang Martir. While
Pedro Calungsod tells the life (or what little is known about the life) of the second Filipino saint who lived in the 1600s, Joven Tanâs