Top of the Morning: Look! Nadine Samonte Welcomes Daughter!

1. Look! Nadine Samonte welcomes newborn daughter

Actress Nadine Samonte and husband Richard Chua welcomed their first child last Saturday, August 27 at the Manila Doctors Hospital in Ermita, Manila. The new dad took to Instagram to share the first photo of his wife with their little one. “Say hello to our baby Heather Sloane, Good job my love @nadinesamonte,” he wrote as caption. In another photo, he wrote, “Love you Baby Heather” with the hashtag #prouddaddyhere. Nadine posted their first family photo and said, “Now we are complete! They are my life. Thank you so much Lord!” Heather Sloane is only a few days old, and her photos on Instagram show that she’s going to be a certified Daddy’s girl. Congratulations! (pep.ph)  


2. Joy Sotto shares what life is like having four boys — and one girl!

The wife of Quezon City councilor Gian Sotto, Sen. Tito Sotto’s son and brother of Ciara Sotto, shared to Pep.ph what it’s like being a mom of five young kids. “If you have kids growing up sabay-sabay, you try to keep up with their pace. But I'm not complaining. They're all blessings." Joy has four sons--Hugo, Edrigu, Sandro, and Rossano--and last May, she gave birth to their unica hija, Amaria, whose name means "promised by God." Joy pointed out, “That's the beauty of having boys. When finally, I gave birth to a baby girl, it was an answered prayer. I said to myself, 'Tama na kami. Okay na.'" The mom said that she and her husband would support their kids no matter what they want to do in life, whether it's showbiz or even politics, but school is the boys' priority at the moment. (pep.ph)


3. In photos: Isabelle Daza’s bachelorette party in Bali

“Best night ever with these aging millennials!!!#BELLEchorette,” actress Isabelle Daza wrote as caption to one of the many photos she posted on Instagram during her bachelorette party in Bali, Indonesia. The soon-to-be bride was joined by her close friends: sister Ava Daza, cousins Martine Cajucom and Jess Wilson; and close friends Solenn Heussaff-Bolzico, Bea Soriano-Dee, Raymond Gutierrez, Carla Humphries, and Nicole Andersson. Despite the sudden loss of her father recently, Isabelle said she was still pushing through with her wedding. “Iniisip ko na lang, he’s in a better place right now.” Isabelle is set to marry her French fiancé Adrien Semblat on September 10 in Italy. (pep.ph)


4. Stranger Things’ actress is a young feminist

Stranger Things, the hit show from video streaming service Netflix, gave us the mysterious and powerful character, Eleven, and the actress who played her was in the country recently. Millie Bobby Brown visited Manila for the Asia Pop Comic Con over the weekend, and it turns out she is a budding feminist at 12 years old. When she was asked if she had qualms about shaving her head for the role, she replied, “Society tells us nowadays that, you know, girls they have long hair and blue eyes. Boys have their short hair. What if I just do a Charlize Theron and Winona Ryder? Let's boycott and be cool! There are kids out there who have no choice, who have alopecia, cancer—terrible diseases—and I thought 'Why not inspire people to think it's cool to have short hair? Why not embrace it?'" You go, girl! (gmanetwork.com)

5. Anti-red tape bill filed anew
Senator Panfilo M. Lacson filed Senate Bill 982 to further shorten the deadlines in processing applications to three working days for simple transactions, and seven days for complex ones. This would amend parts of the current law in place, Republic Act 9485, where simple government transactions would take five days and complex one take 10 days. Senator Lacson, who was also the author of the Republic Act 9485 passed in 2007, said the amendment answers President Rodrigo Duterte's directive to reduce requirements and processing time and aim to further enhance the efficiency of our public servants. Under the new proposed amendment, failure to comply by a government office to act on an application, it would be “deemed approved” or its validity “automatically deemed extended, until a resolution is rendered.” (spot.ph)