Push Admin

'Darna' extra: The touching story behind DOT chief Berna Romulo-Puyat's planned part in superhero film

Article (news)

ABS-CBN News

<p>Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat is planning to make an appearance in the highly anticipated superhero film &quot;Darna,&quot; going by a recent exchange she had with the project&#x27;s director, Erik Matti.</p><div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2018/entertainment/03/08/liza-darna-030818.jpg"/><figcaption>&#x27;Darna&#x27; star Liza Soberano poses beside a life-size depiction of the Komiks icon at ToyCon Philippines 2017.<em> Star Cinema</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>&quot;Darna,&quot; which stars Liza Soberano as the pop culture icon, is currently in production under Star Cinema and Matti&#x27;s Reality Entertainment.</p><p>The big-budget movie is Matti&#x27;s next major undertaking after the acclaimed &quot;BuyBust,&quot; which is currently in cinemas. The action flick included in its end credits departed individuals to whose memories the film was dedicated.</p><p>Among the seven names was Lupe Romulo, who died in November 2017.</p><p>&quot;Lupe Romulo was my number one fan,&quot; Matti wrote in an Instagram post paying tribute to each of those mentioned, in memoriam. &quot;She&#x27;s the sister of Erwin Romulo, our musical director.&quot;</p><blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/BmFhoH5Adt-/?utm_source=ig_embed" data-instgrm-version="9" style="background:#FFF;border:0;border-radius:3px;box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15);margin:1px;max-width:540px;min-width:326px;padding:0;width:calc(100% - 2px)"><div style="padding:8px"><div style="background:#F8F8F8;line-height:0;margin-top:40px;padding:50.0% 0;text-align:center;width:100%"><div style="background:url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAACwAAAAsCAMAAAApWqozAAAABGdBTUEAALGPC/xhBQAAAAFzUkdCAK7OHOkAAAAMUExURczMzPf399fX1+bm5mzY9AMAAADiSURBVDjLvZXbEsMgCES5/P8/t9FuRVCRmU73JWlzosgSIIZURCjo/ad+EQJJB4Hv8BFt+IDpQoCx1wjOSBFhh2XssxEIYn3ulI/6MNReE07UIWJEv8UEOWDS88LY97kqyTliJKKtuYBbruAyVh5wOHiXmpi5we58Ek028czwyuQdLKPG1Bkb4NnM+VeAnfHqn1k4+GPT6uGQcvu2h2OVuIf/gWUFyy8OWEpdyZSa3aVCqpVoVvzZZ2VTnn2wU8qzVjDDetO90GSy9mVLqtgYSy231MxrY6I2gGqjrTY0L8fxCxfCBbhWrsYYAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC);display:block;height:44px;margin:0 auto -44px;position:relative;top:-22px;width:44px"> </div></div><p style="color:#c9c8cd;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:17px;margin-bottom:0;margin-top:8px;overflow:hidden;padding:8px 0 7px;text-align:center;text-overflow:ellipsis;white-space:nowrap"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BmFhoH5Adt-/?utm_source=ig_embed" style="color:#c9c8cd;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;line-height:17px;text-decoration:none" target="_blank">A post shared by erikmatti (@erikmatti)</a> on <time dateTime="2018-08-05T05:59:16+00:00" style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:17px">Aug 4, 2018 at 10:59pm PDT</time></p></div></blockquote><div><script async="" defer="" src="https://www.instagram.com/embed.js" type="text/javascript"></script></div><p>The filmmaker went on: &quot;She was looking forward to watching &#x27;BuyBust&#x27; before she died. I miss smoking a cigarette with her. And she had the most infectious laughter. She even asked to be casted as an extra in &#x27;Darna.&#x27;&quot;</p><p>Romulo-Puyat, also a sibling of Lupe and Erwin, saw Matti&#x27;s tribute which she then re-posted on Instagram. Replying to the filmmaker, she wrote: &quot;Thank you for including Lupe&#x27;s name. Made me [cry] when I saw your post.&quot;</p><p>&quot;Ako na lang mag-e-extra sa &#x27;Darna,&#x27;&quot; the Tourism chief added.</p><p>It was unclear if Romulo-Puyat had written the suggestion in jest, but Matti appeared keen on the idea, commenting, &quot;Game!&quot;</p><div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2018/news/05/15/brp.jpg"/><figcaption>Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat. <em>Mark Demayo, ABS-CBN News</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>&quot;Game!&quot; Romulo-Puyat answered. &quot;Just tell me when, Direk!&quot;</p><p>Appointed to head the Tourism department in May 2018, Romulo-Puyat has made headlines for her anti-corruption drive within the agency, at one point calling the level of irregularities prior to her leadership, &quot;shocking.&quot;</p><p>&quot;Darna,&quot; a co-production of Star Cinema and Matti&#x27;s Reality Entertainment, has been billed as &quot;a first in Philippine cinema&quot; in terms of scale.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="http://news.abs-cbn.com/entertainment/08/09/18/erik-matti-confirms-darna-movie-has-found-its-valentina-but-">Erik Matti confirms ‘Darna’ movie has found its Valentina, but . . .</a></li></ul><p>Matti, who has referred to &quot;BuyBust&quot; as his most challenging project with over two years of production, teased that &quot;Darna&quot; would be &quot;five times bigger&quot; than the action film, which employed a total of 1,278 extras or bit players to populate its 8,000-sqm set.</p><blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/BjCsGwhg2Y2/?utm_source=ig_embed" data-instgrm-version="9" style="background:#FFF;border:0;border-radius:3px;box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15);margin:1px;max-width:540px;min-width:326px;padding:0;width:calc(100% - 2px)"><div style="padding:8px"><div style="background:#F8F8F8;line-height:0;margin-top:40px;padding:50.0% 0;text-align:center;width:100%"><div style="background:url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAACwAAAAsCAMAAAApWqozAAAABGdBTUEAALGPC/xhBQAAAAFzUkdCAK7OHOkAAAAMUExURczMzPf399fX1+bm5mzY9AMAAADiSURBVDjLvZXbEsMgCES5/P8/t9FuRVCRmU73JWlzosgSIIZURCjo/ad+EQJJB4Hv8BFt+IDpQoCx1wjOSBFhh2XssxEIYn3ulI/6MNReE07UIWJEv8UEOWDS88LY97kqyTliJKKtuYBbruAyVh5wOHiXmpi5we58Ek028czwyuQdLKPG1Bkb4NnM+VeAnfHqn1k4+GPT6uGQcvu2h2OVuIf/gWUFyy8OWEpdyZSa3aVCqpVoVvzZZ2VTnn2wU8qzVjDDetO90GSy9mVLqtgYSy231MxrY6I2gGqjrTY0L8fxCxfCBbhWrsYYAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC);display:block;height:44px;margin:0 auto -44px;position:relative;top:-22px;width:44px"> </div></div><p style="color:#c9c8cd;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:17px;margin-bottom:0;margin-top:8px;overflow:hidden;padding:8px 0 7px;text-align:center;text-overflow:ellipsis;white-space:nowrap"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BjCsGwhg2Y2/?utm_source=ig_embed" style="color:#c9c8cd;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;line-height:17px;text-decoration:none" target="_blank">A post shared by erikmatti (@erikmatti)</a> on <time dateTime="2018-05-21T13:58:55+00:00" style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:17px">May 21, 2018 at 6:58am PDT</time></p></div></blockquote><div><script async="" defer="" src="https://www.instagram.com/embed.js" type="text/javascript"></script></div>

<p>Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat is planning to make an appearance in the highly anticipated superhero film "Darna," going by a recent exchange she had with the project's director, Erik Matti.</p>

Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat is planning to make an appearance in the highly anticipated superhero film "Darna," going by a recent exchange she had with the project's director, Erik Matti.