Cesar Montano in front of one of his paintings

Cesar Montano is a man of many talents but of course he is known first and foremost as an award-winning actor. Called Buboy by intimates, Cesar is also a film director, “Singing Bee” TV host, 2005 UNESCO commissioner for culture and arts, environmental advocate, singer, and restaurant entrepreneur. And soon-to-be politician and public servant if he wins in his bid to become the next governor of Bohol, his home province.

In the meantime, however, Cesar is giving focus to his art.

It is not a secret to many that Cesar has been dabbling in painting for most of his adult life, and some of his outstanding pieces adorn the walls of his Italian restaurant Bellissimo Ristorante in Quezon City and his homes in Quezon City and in Bohol. Some of his closest friends are also lucky enough to have been recipients of some of his art pieces as gifts from the generous actor.

But this time, Cesar, the artist, has been prevailed upon to share his artistic excellence in a larger scale by mounting his very own solo art exhibition billed “The First Impression.”

Gathering around 50 of his best paintings done in watercolor and oil, a few of which he painted in 2007, Cesar held the exhibit’s inaugural launch last Nov. 14 at the Glass Wing of Ayala Museum in Makati City. The exhibit is ongoing until Nov. 29, 2009.

“I paint mostly as a hobby at the beginning. My favorite subjects are mostly trees, flowers, nature. This is what the public will be seeing in this exhibit,” he said. Most of the paintings depict the rural day-to-day realities of his beloved home province of Bohol, which he dreams of someday promoting as Asia’s ideal movie-making center and an environmentally-protected ecological tourism paradise.

Unlike other artists who have a hard time parting with their masterpieces, Cesar said he will be selling all the artworks in the exhibit to give way to an even bigger objective, that is to raise funds for his Panaghoy Children Foundation, Inc. which helps bring to school, deserving but impoverished youths, mainly in his home province of Bohol.

Aside from painting as a hobby, he also teaches his three daughters with wife actress Sunshine Cruz – Angelina Isabelle, Samantha Angelene and Angel Francesca – to paint in their spare time.

Cesar Montano is a “Renaissance Man,” a dynamic, multi-faceted and multi-talented artist, who brings to his paintings his rich and colorful backgrounds in diverse fields of art and also his deep abiding commitment to his local community in Bohol.

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Daisy Reyes represents RP in Mrs. World 2009

Actress-beauty queen Daisy Reyes (now Mrs. Iqbal) is the country’s representative to the Mrs. World 2009 competition to be held on Nov. 22 at the Ba Rua Vung Tao, Vietnam. The grand finals and coronation will be aired over StarWorld cable channel in Manila on Nov. 23, 9 p.m. Daisy left for Vietnam last Nov. 6, after she was notified quite surprisingly by the Mrs. World franchisee that she was being chosen to compete in the contest. The country’s official representative begged off due to personal and family problems, it was said.

Daisy’s manager and publicist, Linda Celestial, said that Daisy was surprised when they approached her to ask her to represent the country in the Mrs. World 2009 competition. Since she was Bb. Pilipinas-World in 1996 (she was named Miss Personality in the Miss World Pageant held in India that year), she accepted right away. Although she did not have enough time to prepare for it, she rose to the challenge. “After all, she still maintains that regal stance onstage and she still have the face and figure of a beauty queen,” Linda added.

Daisy is married to an Indian national with whom she has a daughter, five-year-old Lauren.

Daisy will be competing with more than 70 beauty delegates from all over the world. The reigning Mrs. World is Natalia Shmarenkova from Ukraine.

The Mrs. World competition was patterned after Mrs. America, one of the oldest and most respected beauty competitions. It was reorganized by David Marmel featuring a more contemporary and glamorous approach. While beauty is the key element, contestants are also urged to voice their opinions about marriage and current events.

All married women – young wives, mothers and evern grandmothers – are eligible to join the competition. By providing this unique forum, in which delegates from all over the world can come together and share a common purpose, “Mrs. World” has successfully fostered greater communication, friendship and mutual understanding among all people.

By the way, among the movies Daisy Reyes has made include “Marital Rape,” “Parehas ang Laban” and “Lakas at Pag-ibig,” all made in 2001; “Testigo,” “Waray,” “Palaban,” and “Antonio Cuervo – Police: Walang Pinipili ang Batas” in 2000; “Ako ang Lalagot sa Hininga Mo,” “Linlang,” “Kapag Kumulo ang Dugo,” “Ms. Kristina Moran, ang Babaeng Palaban,” “Di Pwedeng Hindi Pwede,” “Dumating Ka Lang Ba Para Umalis?” and “Scorpio Nights” in 1999; and “Hatiin Natin ang Ligaya,” “Sa Piling ng Iba,” “Carino Brutal” and “Birador” in 1998.

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Tidbits: Happy b-day greetings on Nov. 20 go to Arturo Luz, Lyn Sunico of Makati Skyline, Lyn Curtain, Marimil Ballesteros, Fely Reyes of Towns & Cities magazine, Purita Soliven, Sr. Victor Serrano, Wilma Natividad, Dr. Angie Monteiro Mauricio, Maan Ilustre, Aisha Escalada, Bong Espinosa, and Edward Kenneth Valbuena. Happy wedding anniversary to Dyan Castillejo and Anton Garcia, Wally and Aida dela Cruz, and Roger and Cynthia dela Cruz.