MANILA -- Cue the shrieks: it appears the sequel to the hit Thai boys love series" "2gether" is also going to be airing in the Philippines. "Still2gether," set to premiere sometime before the end of the year, is announced as a five-episode follow-up to the original, which told the story of two college students falling in love with each other after pretending to be in a relationship. A huge ratings success in Thailand with a cute soundtrack and lovable leads, it also became a smash hit with Filipinos, inspiring a devout local fanbase and plans to air it locally dubbed in Tagalog. In an announcement made last Friday, ABS-CBN said that as part of its partnership with GMMTV, the producer of "2gether," the series' sequel will also be simulcast on the Kapamilya Channel and iWant. The deal also involves six other GMMTV shows, although the specifics were not mentioned. "2gether" and "Still2gether" are the first boys love titles from Thailand acquired by ABS-CBN. It stars Thai actors Bright Vachirawit and Win Metawin. The airing dates will be announced "soon," according to ABS-CBN. You can check out the dubbed trailer for "2gether" below:
MANILA -- Virgin Labfest, the Cultural Center of the Philippines' (CCP) annual theater event for "unpublished, unstaged, untested and untried" plays, will go online this year as the novel coronavirus pandemic continues. In a statement, CCP said the 16th edition will feature 10 new works, three revisited plays, and six staged readings. Billed as "VLF 2020 KAPIT: Lab in the Time of Covid (A Virtual Labfest Lockdown Edition)," it will run from June 10 to 28 on CCP's Facebook and YouTube pages. From June 14 to 28, the shows will be streamed on ABS-CBN's iWant. Check out the lineup, as described by CCP, below: NEW WORKS 1. "Doggy" (live on June 10, 3 p.m. and June 26, 2 p.m.) is about a man's fiancee's sexual peculiarity that becomes his source of repressed anger. 2. "Pilot Episode" (live on June 13, 5 p.m. and June 24, 8 p.m.) shows a young gay man who just quit his job through a text message, and how his parents attempt to de-escalate his extreme manic-depressive episode. 3. "Dapithapon" (live on June 14, 3 p.m. and June 27, 5 p.m.) follows the story of three boys in senior high school who have to confront their greatest fears in a single day: flunking out of school, impossible parental expectations, and an unhealthy infatuation with a teacher. 4. "Papaano Turuan ang Babae Humawak ng Baril" (live on June 13, 3 p.m. and June 24, 2 p.m.) shows what happens when a man reunites with his pregnant wife upon returning home from an encounter against the NPA. 5. "BlackPink" (live on June 11, 5 p.m. and June 28, 8 p.m.) tells of a father's discovery that his youngest son who is a staunch fan of Blackpink was prohibited by his school principal to dance "Kill This Love" in their Family Day talent contest, and the only way for him to join the competition is if he finds other male students to dance with him. 6. "Multiverse" (live on June 14, 8 p.m. and June 26, 8 p.m.) reunites two estranged brothers -- a writer and a recovering alcoholic. The two reconnect through their mutual love of comic books. 7. "Titser Kit" (live on June 11, 3 p.m. and June 27, 2 p.m.) tells of a young student who gets into trouble in his new school and hides inside a dilapidated storage room, afraid of what punishment the principal might sanction him with. He feels safe until Titser Kit finds him there. 8. "Mayang Bubot sa Tag-araw" (live on June 12, 5 p.m. and June 23, 2 p.m.) is a painful tale of two Ayta children whose friendship is tested as they choose different paths. 9. "Gin Bilog" (live on June 12, 3 p.m. and June 25, 2 p.m.) focuses on old issues that are rehashed in a drinking session of family and friends. 10. "Boyboy and Friends Channel" (live on June 12, 8 p.m. and June 23, 8 p.m.) was written by Anthony Kim Vergara and is directed by Joshua Tayco. It tells the tale of friends who lost their jobs as production crew members after the timely untimely shutdown of their TV network and find successful making a new career as YouTubers. Now, Boy-boy with his buddies make a decision that forever changes their friendship. REVISITED PLAYS 1. "Fangirl" by Herlyn Alegre, directed by Charles Yee (June 14, 5 p.m. and June 25, 8 p.m.) 2. "Anak Ka Ng" by U Z Eliserio, directed by Maynard Manansala (June 10, 8 p.m. and June 23, 5 p.m.) 3. "Wanted: Male Boarders" by Rick Patriarca, directed by George De Jesus III (June 10, 5 p.m. and June 27, 8 p.m.) STAGED READINGS 1. "Jenny Li" by Buch Dacanay, directed by Nour Hooshmand (June 20, 5 p.m.) 2. "Dominador Gonzales - National Artist" by Dingdong Novenario, directed by Bunny Cadag (June 19, 5 p.m.) 3. "LadyMasters" by Rouchelle Dinglasan, directed by Joy Cerro (June 25, 5 p.m.) 4. "Matira ang Matibay" by Bernice Dacara, directed by Alon Segara (June 26, 5 p.m.) 5. "Bagahe" by Nicko de Guzman, directed by Joel Saracho (June 18, 5 p.m.) 6. "Mongoloida's Casa de Pun" by Claro delos Reyes, directed by Guelan Luarca (June 24, 5 p.m.) Meanwhile, other Virgin Labfest events include an online edition of the playwright's fair, web discussions, and a writing fellowship program. More details can be found on the website and social media accounts of CCP. news.abs-cbn.com
MANILA - Streaming sites YouTube, iFlix and ABS-CBN’s iWant have agreed to cut down its streaming traffic to decongest telecommunication networks during the coronavirus (COVID-19) lockdown when people are staying at home, the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) said Saturday. In a statement, NTC said the streaming sites “heeded their call” to manage streaming bitrate, given the increasing Internet demand for school, office, and work purposes amid a lockdown which encourages work from home and online educational arrangements. “This means more bandwidth will be freed up to case data congestion due to work from home arrangements as well as increased private and education demands during the enhanced community quarantine,” NTC said. NTC said Google, the parent company of YouTube, was “doing as much as it can to minimize stress on systems around the world” as people remain confined to their homes in the global pandemic. YouTube is poised to shift from its High Definition setting to Standard Definition Setting in both mobile or broadband connection over the next few days, NTC added. Southeast Asian streaming site iFlix had earlier done so by setting streaming caps in its services. “iFlix will continuously balance bandwidth usage to use as little data as possible while optimizing resolution for its users,” NTC said. ABS-CBN network’s streaming site, on the other hand, “has already reduced its streaming bitrate by 33 percent” since March 27, NTC noted. Netflix was the first to announce it would reduce streaming traffic amid the coronavirus lockdown. Luzon, home to more than 50 million people, is on lockdown until April 12. Under this enhanced community quarantine, people are required to stay at home and public transport, school and work, save for frontline and basic services, are suspended. source: news.abs-cbn.com
