Carla Abellana - The Pinay Rosalinda

I stumbled upon this news saying that Rosalinda, the famous Mexican Telenovela, is to have it's local version here topbilled by the beautiful newcomer Carla Abellana.

There were a lot of contenders for the said show and one of the rumored contender for the coveted role was Marian Rivera who has been successful with her previous shows, namely "Marimar" and "Dyesebel".

So far, only Marian is dominating the primetime for the Kapuso Network GMA-7. Marian is everywhere. She's in the news, in a lot of commercials and in GMA-7's primetime shows for a long time.

But many observe the drop of viewers in Marian's latest telenovela "Ang Babaeng Hinugot Sa Aking Tadyang". Although there's a lot of factors they are looking as to what is the cause of the drop in the show's ratings, it cannot be denied that people will someday lose interest to Marian Rivera and look for someone new.

People needs a new face. The Filipino audience can't afford to see only one face every time they open their televisions.

GMA-7 bigwigs also noticed this and made the wise move. They dropped Marian Rivera and selected a new talent in the person of Carla Abellana. She's a commercial model and has the lineage of artists in her family. Her father, Rey "PJ" Abellana, was a matinee idol in the 80's and her grandmother, Delia Razon, was a famous actress in the 50's.

She's got the "mestiza" beauty and the face of an angel. She also got the brains, as she graduated Cum Laude in De La Salle University, one, if not the most prestigious university in the Philippines. She has already done some TV commercials, most noticeable were the shampoo and the Jolibee commercials.

With a lot of commercials, GMA-7 put their money to a newcomer and hopes to make big in the show business. As some say, for GMA-7, "After Marian Rivera, the next big thing is Carla Abellana".

Motorcycle Menace

Motorcycles nowadays are everywhere in the roads of Cagayan de Oro City. With the advent of high fuel prices, Filipinos find their way to fuel-efficient vehicles and the no.1 hit are the motorcycles, be it branded or the China brands.

Anybody can have one, if you have the bills. Anybody can drive a motorcycle and you can see just anybody driving one in our roads, some even have no driver's license.

But what I have observed is the requirement what most riders don't follow - the wearing of helmets. Most riders think that wearing of helmets is just a policy. They use helmet just to avoid being apprehended by the law enforcers.

With this on mind, they wear just anything. Have you seen someone driving a motorcycle wearing a helmet for bicycles? Many are doing that. Some are also wearing helmets that are not DOT certified. But those wrongdoings are just tolerated by the law enforcers maybe because they themselves doesn't know the rule. They think any helmet will do.

The real purpose of wearing helmets is safety, not just to avoid being apprehended by the law enforcers. It protects our head, which is susceptible to fatal injuries, in case of an accident. Many deaths have been recorded, not just in CDO but worldwide, in motorcycle accidents due to the use of substandard or non-wearing of helmet at all. This menace continues to claim its victims due to some ignorant or hard headed riders.

Many are aware of this but just find ways to deviate. Some says they're ashamed because their friends call them "X-Men". Some says helmets can 'deform' their hairdo an some even believe the myth that wearing of helmets can cause baldness. Some have their own reasons and some are just funny and dumb.

What's funnier is the way some riders are doing. They have their helmets but they don't wear them. Many put their helmets in their elbow which make some wonder if their brain, which is supposed to be protected by the helmet, is in their elbow. It's maybe a joke but it could be a serious call for the ignorant riders to heed before it's too late.