IN MY column marking the second anniversary of Only IN Hollywood “Constantly fishing for the Filipino connection” posted on April 9 at INQUIRER.net, I used the term “FC” for the first time.

FC, short for Filipino connection, is a tongue-in-cheek term that I came up with to call a comment or reply from a Hollywood celeb, a line from a movie, TV show, stage play, musical or anything that has to do with the Philippines that I can play up in my writing.

The readers’ response to my FC anecdotes was heartwarming. These encounters involved recent Oscar winners Helen Mirren (her late brother lived and loved in the Philippines) and Forest Whitaker (in the country for a film shoot, he stayed in a house in Balic-Balic, Manila when the 1986 People Power Revolution broke out), Robin Williams (married to a Fil-Am, he cracked me up with his balut anecdotes), and director Oliver Stone (filmed award-winning movies in Ilocos Norte, Cavite, Laguna and other Philippine provinces).

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