1. When Chris Brown had an extended mini-vacation in his hotel room in Manila

Seven months after his original concert date in the Philippines was canceled, Chris Brown finally performed at the Philippine Arena in Bulacan on July 21. The next day, American RnB artist was already aboard his Gulfstream G450, about to fly to Jarakta when lo and behold, he was barred from leaving the country. He was advised to seek clearance from the Department of Justice as a lookout bulletin was issued against him. The organizer of his original show, the one that had been canceled, had wanted to charge him with estafa.

He ranted and break-danced, even pleaded to Obama and proclaimed he “didn’t do nothing” on Instagram, only to delete his posts after the entire world had seen it.

On the three day of his extended stay, his silly antics were replaced with serious messages. He insisted he didn’t do anything wrong, that his name was only mixed up in the matter, and that somebody had to be made accountable for the mess.

That afternoon, July 24, he was finally allowed to go, but his promoter John Michael Pio Ranada continued to be behind bars. Brown headed to Macau to continue his tour.

The DOJ later subpoenaed him, and in August, had needed his address.

2. When ‘On The Wings of Love’ made teleseryes exciting to watch again

In July, ABS-CBN launched a new teleserye that was aimed towards, ehem, millennials. We admit the tag made us doubtful, but Antoinette Jadaone, she of English Only Please and That Thing Called Tadhana, masterfully crafted a fast-paced, super kilig teleserye trended on Twitter every single night! Kudos goes to, of course, the sweet and goodlooking love team #JaDine — that’s James Reid and Nadine Lustre for you — whose near kisses and away-bati dynamics sent electricity all the way inside our gut.

3. When ‘A Second Chance’ became the highest grossing local non-MMFF movie of all time

In June, a book inspired by the highly successful 2007 movie One More Chance arrived. In August, Star Cinema started telling everyone to watch out for a sneak peek of the trailer of the sequel of One More Chance. In November, a full trailer was released much to the collective sighing and screaming of fans, who had been waiting for the follow-up.

A Second Chance opened in cinemas on Nov 25 to the tune of at least PHP35 million. Last full screenings on opening day were sold out as early as 11am. After only 10 days in theaters, the successful love story of Popoy and Basha had already earned a whopping PHP442 million at the box office. It is the highest-grossing local non-MMFF movie of all time.
 

4. When ‘Heneral Luna’ rallied in the cinemas

When Heneral Luna opened in theaters in early September, there was minimal promotion and little fan fare. There was the imminent threat of being pulled out of the cinemas due to slow traffic, but such is the power of social media. There were a good number of influencers who Tweeted, posted a Facebook update, and uploaded a photo on Instagram propelling the historical movie to stay in cinemas for four grand weeks.

The movie achieved its PHP200 million target, allowing for the producers to make two more historical movies. While it may not have gotten the Golden Globes nominations, Heneral Luna and the rest of the Philippines remains hopeful it will get the Oscar nod.

5. Kris Aquino’s saga with the MMFF

In May, presidential sister Kris Aquino excitedly announced she was going to do a movie for the Metro Manila Film Fest that will be directed by Antoinette Jadaone. Her co-star? Ex-BF Herbert Bautista.

In October, the wind changed directions. Kris announced she was pulling out from the movie because her chosen cinematographer couldn’t make it. She even called herself a jerk for it.

But there’s more: a day after that, she revealed the real reason of her pull out: She wasn’t emotionally, mentally, physically ready to work with Bistek.

There was mention about how her pull out from the movie strained her relations with ABS CBN, how she tried to mend fences but “the door was closed”, and how there was no truth to Bistek’s claims that she asked him to seek reelection as Quezon City mayor.

In the end? It was Herbert who backed off the project. Kris is still topbilling All you need is pag-ibig with Derek Ramsay taking Herbert’s place.
 

6. When Maria Ozawa arrived and stayed in Manila

In April, ex-Japanese AV star surprised Manila when she appeared on the 9th birthday party of radio show Boys Night Out. But just when boys were desperately trying to find a pirate link to the show’s episode, Maria got busy nabbing magazine covers — and projects — in right in our city. She’s soon appear on men’s rags and quickly began shooting her first Philippine movie, Nilalang.

But that’s not all, she also quickly made an enemy out of her co-star Robin Padilla. When Binoe chose to take care of his pregnant wife Mariel, pulling out of the movie “last minute”, Ozawa called him unprofessional. This angered Binoe’s fans, who quickly trolled Ozawa on Instagram.

They somehow patcedh things up and Maria went on a charm offensive: She said she loved adobo, adjusted quickly to the traffic, and when the Christmas season rolled by, announced she wanted to find a boyfriend in the Philippines as this will be her first Christmas in the country.

7. When Jiro Manio lived in the airport for a few days

In July, ex-child actor Jiro Manio was seen living at the Terminal 3 of Ninoy Aquino International Airport. He was wearing dirty clothes, with cuts and bruises on his body. Apparently, he had already been hanging out in the airport for four days, living off kindness of strangers who recognized him. When asked if was an actor, Jiro said no.

Apparently, he had run away from home after having an argument with his foster father. The more bothersome fact: it wasn’t the first time Jiro ran away. In 2014, the troubled ex-child star was seen wandering around Balintawak. According to Maryo J. Delos Reyes, the director who discovered the actor, Jiro has also gone to rehab twice in the past already.

He was quickly turned over to police custody who called on his family. When his brother picked him up, Jiro refused to go back home to Cainta, preferring to stay at a friend’s place in Mandaluyong.

Ai-Ai delas Alas, who played Jiro’s mother in Tanging Ina offered to help by bringing him to an institution in Quezon City, where he currently in, seeking treatment.

8. Maria Letizia is born!

On the same month that she showed off her baby bump, posing in her sexy black bra on the cover of Esquire Philippines, Marian Rivera went through all 18 hours of labor and gave birth to baby Maria Letizia on the wee hours of Monday, Nov 23. Philippine press all erupted in happiness and soon, everybody was on standby on Instagram. Daddy Dingdong first posted a photo of his newborn’s hand, calling the event, “a miracle”. A week later, the IG wait proved worth it: proud new parents Marian and Dong shared photos of their beautiful little one. She looked just like Marian.

9. JM de Guzman IG meltdown

A week after Jessy Mendiola confirmed that she and JM de Guzman has broken up again, de Guzman went through a very public meltdown on Instagram. His strange videos of himself and photos of his journals, accompanied with disconcerting captions had everybody riveted, and waiting for his next post.

Strangely, people were eager to blame Jessy Mendiola for JM’s weird behavior. They started trolling her IG account.

Two days later, the actor posted a video of himself apologizing for what his behavior he deemed “uncalled for.” He also asked the public not to blame Jessy or ABS CBN, explaining it was a bad mix of depression, bipolar tendencies and anxiety attacks.

The posts have since been deleted.