18 Philippine Showbiz Today
Pinoy Pride Vancouver
joins the
39th Vancouver Pride Parade
Vancouver, BC – A record
number of spectators and
participants attended the annual
Vancouver Pride Parade on
August 6th, Sunday at the West
End district.
Among the many entrants
is Pinoy Pride Vancouver, an all-
inclusive LGBTQ+ group for
Filipino-Canadians that aims to
increase visibility raise awareness
and promote acceptance of its
members and also provide a safe,
respectful space for everyone.
In line with Vancouver Pride
Society’s theme of “My Pride”
for the Pride Celebrations, the
group’s marchers
wore all-
white ensembles with messages
of positivism, acceptance and
diversity emblazoned on custom-
made wings.
Pinoy Pride Vancouver is
marching at the 2017 Vancouver
Pride Parade for our Filipinx
LGBTQ+
siblings
in
the
Philippines who are pushing
for the full passage of the
Anti-Discrimination Bill, also
known as the SOGIE (Sexual
Orientation, Gender Identity and
Gender Expression) Equality Bill,
that passed its third reading in
Philippine Congress this year.
House Bill Number 257 was
introduced by Representative
Geraldine
Roman
(Bataan
First District) of the Philippine
Congress. The Bill “seeks to
define, prohibit and penalize
situations and practices wherein
discrimination on the basis of
sexual orientation and gender
identity occur. It also aims to
protect members of the Filipino
LGBT community and guarantee
their rights as citizens of the
Republic of the Philippines and
their rights as human beings.”
For PPV Co-chair Stella Reyes,
Pride means we can choose whom
we want to love. No restrictions.
“Every year, we try to be visible
to remind everyone that we are
very lucky to have a more liberal
attitude towards the LGBTQ+
community her in Canada.
Unfortunately, our kababayans
(fellow countrymen) back home
in the Philippines are still trying to
pass an Anti Discrimation Bill for
more than 16 years now.”
PPV Co-chair Gary Lising,
who has been out to family and
friends for twenty-seven years,
says that the coming out process
is an intimate journey, it is the
awakening of self. He compares
his experience to an onion, “as
I peel layers of my sexuality, the
core tastes juicier and sweeter
but some tears will also be shed.
I still have not reached the inner
core. I can only encourage others
to relish the process and to be
gentle with themselves.”
Reyes adds, “we need to have
more groups like PPV to educate
and to enlighten our community
that LGBTQ+ rights are also
human rights. We should all strive
to celebrate equality.”●
August 8 - 21, 2017
Famous ‘villain’ Zeny Zabala, 80
The scenery went down
to Zeny Zabala, one of the
memorable villains of the Filipino
film.
According to her son Ana
Liza Santos, the 80-year-old
actress died on Tuesday night,
Tuesday, at the National Kidney
Transplant Institute in Quezon
City due to kidney failure and
other complications.
One of the lead actresses of
Sampaguita Pictures is Zabala
who has torn down the leading
ladies like Gloria Romero, Lolita
Rodriguez, Susan Roces and
Vilma Santos.
He also often appeared
in movies of “Comedy King”
Dolphy. Zabala last watched
“Be Careful with My Heart” as
one of Richard Yap’s children’s
apprentices.
Her lips are bursting on
Packages Funeral Homes in San
Roque, Marikina. The schedule of
his cremation will be scheduled at
the Loyola Memorial Chapels &
Crematorium.●
- M. Dumaual, ABS-CBN
In Loving Memory
LEONIDES PAREL
January 28, 1922 – July 20, 2017
Leonides Banez Parel of Bangued, Abra, Philippines, age 95,
passed away peacefully at home in Vancouver on July 20 2017.
She was married to the late Atty. Ernesto Perlas Parel from
Bantay, Ilocos Sur, Philippines.
She is survived by her sons, Ernesto Jr., Apiro, Octavio,
daughters Perla, Betty, Virgie and Catherine, and numerous
grandchildren and great grandchildren.
Viewing will be held at Glenhaven Memorial Chapel at
1835 East Hastings St., Vancouver, B.C., at 6:00PM-10:00 P.M.
on August 10, 2017.
She will be interred at Forest Lawn Cemetery,
3789 Royal Oak Avenue in Burnaby, B.C., f
ollowing a funeral Mass at Holy Cross Parish,
1450 Delta Ave.North Burnaby, B.C.
at 10:30 A.M., August 11, 2017.