Tom Rodriguez, nagpasalamat sa ABS CBN at GMA sa PEP List Awards

ni Nonie V. Nicasio

ISA ang Kapuso star na si Tom Rodriguez sa nanalo sa katatapos na PEP List Awards na ginanap sa Grand Ballroom ng Solaire Resort & Casino noong May 20.

Si Tom ay nanalo sa kategoryang Breakout Star of the Year award. Sila naman ni Dennis Trillo ang nakakuha ng Celebrity Pair of the Year.

Sa kanyang speech, pinasalamatan ni Tom ang dalawang TV network na nagbigay ng daan upang maging ganap siyang bituin. “I want to thank ABS-CBN for giving me my start because without them, I wouldn’t be in the industry right now.

“My biggest gratitude goes to GMA for giving me my biggest break in my whole career. For my whole MHL (My Husband’s Lover) family, thank you for showing me the true meaning of teamwork.”

Sa pangalawang akyat ni Tom sa entablado, pinasalamatan din niya sa pagkakataong ito si Dennis Trillo.

“Sino ang mag-aakala na ang dalawang lalaki ay tatangkilikin at susuportahan bilang love team? Of course sa aking Bhe (Dennis), unfortunately ay wala siya rito, may sakit siya. Pero, ang laking pasasalamat ko sa iyo dahil napakagaling at isa kang artistang hinahangaan ko. Pero Bro, isa kang tunay na kaibigan at isang kapatid, at Bhe, love-team tayo.”

Sina Representative Lucy Torres at Ai Ai delas Alas ang nagsilbing hosts sa naturang okasyon.

Ang iba pang nakakuha ng major awards para sa PEPsters’ Choice Category ay sina: Nora Aunor-Showbiz Treasure (Female); Joey de Leon-Showbiz Treasure (Male); Kim Chiu-Newsmaker of the Year (Female); James Yap-Newsmaker of the Year (Male); Kim Chiu-TV Star of the Year (Female); Vic Sotto-TV Star of the Year (Male), Child Star (Female) – Ryzza Mae Dizon; Fab Star (Male) – Xian Lim; Fab Star (Female) – Lovi Poe; OPM Artist of the Year – Daniel Padilla.

Para sa Punongbayan and Araullo-Audited Category, ilan sa nanalo ay ang mga sumusunod: Newsmaker of the Year (Male) – Raymart Santiago; Newsmaker of the Year (Female) – Claudine Barretto; Celebrity Pair of the Year – Kim Chiu at Xian Lim; Teen Star of the Year (Male) – Daniel Padilla; Teen Star of the Year (Female) – Julia Barretto; Most-Talked About Personality – Gretchen Barretto.

Sa Editors’ Choice Category naman, ang ilan sa big winners ay sina: Thumbs up! Award- Angel Locsin, Dingdong Dantes, Piolo Pascual, at Sharon Cuneta; FAB Award (Male)-Piolo Pascual; FAB Award (Female) – Anne Curtis; Showbiz Treasure (Male) – Eddie Garcia; Showbiz Treasure (Female) – Gloria Romero; TV Star of the Year (Male) – Vic Sotto; TV Star of the Year (Female) – Marian Rivera.

Samantala, pinasamalatan naman ng PEP at YES! editor-in-chief na si Ms. Jo-Ann Maglipon ang mga Pepsters.

“Maraming-maraming salamat sa mga PEPsters na laging nandiyan, at laging nag-aaway-away dahil ang gusto ng isa ay si Angel Locsin at ang gusto ng isa ay si Marian Rivera. Tagos sa puso ang kanilang away ngunit naiintindihan ng PEP na ito ay dala lamang ng matinding pagmamahal.

“We wanted this to be an awards night that would show our deep respect for the celebrities we cover and the awards night that would bare our very best intentions for everyone in the wonderful world of showbiz.

“Thus, we decided to have the awards independently audited. Partnering with the Punongbayan and Araullo auditing firm, we searched our site for the most viewed articles, the most-read. The PEP List we present tonight is the result of this partnership so that we owned this list, we did not manufacture them.”

Saad pa niya, “We think that after seven years covering the industry, we have earned the right to come out with an awards list.

“As an online entertainment news site, we actually got to the point when we thought that—we hope, rightly—that we have earned the right to give out awards. We finally found a grand way to recognize the rigorous and plain hard work that goes into a blossoming and successful showbiz career.Together, we hit a high of 60 million pageviews in February this year and now we get over 50 million pageviews a month.”