Francine Prieto is thankful to fellow celebrities for raising funds for her ailing mother

By: Noel Orsal & Nerisa Almo

Francine Prieto is happy to hear that her fellow

actors are trying to raise funds for her mother,
Amelia Falcon, who is suffering from ovarian
cancer. "Hindi naman ako nanghihingi, pero
may mga tumutulong naman. May mga
nagbibigay. Gusto ko nga magkatrabaho," she
says.

PEP (Philippine Entertainment Portal) learned

earlier this afternoon, February 26, through Ann
Curtis's Twitter account, that some of our
celebrities are now trying to raise funds to help
Francine Prieto's mother, Amelia Falcon. The
collected money will be used for the treatment
of Mrs. Falcon's ovarian cancer, which is now
in Stage 3.

Anne's full Tweets reads: "Amelia Falcon, mother of Francine Prieto, needs help in raising P
1,000,000.00 for treatment of her ovarian cancer. If 316 kapamilyas, kapusos & others could
SHARE P 3,000.00/each then that would hit approximately P950,000.00. Pwedeng lower than
or more than P3,000.00 din, pwedeng cash or cheque, pwedeng Pesos or US Dollars. Pwedeng
personal nyong dalhin or ipadala at ipaabot this Sunday Feb. 28, 830pm - 130am, BARRAKZ
resto/bar along Tomas Morato QC."

PEP associate editor Rommel Llanes relayed Anne's Tweet to Francine.

It took a while for Francine to respond. But when we finally got hold of her through the phone,
she said that she's in the hospital with her mom. "Bukas lalabas na si Mommy," she informed us.

The actress also said that her mother nees to undergo chemotherapy as soon as possible.
However, she is not sure how much money she needs for the treatment.

"Hindi pa kami sure kung magkano," she told PEP. "Pero alam mo naman ang chemo, hindi
naman siya mura. So, kaya nga nung last presscon ko [for Pitas], sabi ko nga, kailangan ko pa ng
trabaho para sa mommy ko. After that, may mga guestings na. Pero hindi naman sapat yun.
Kailangan ko pa talaga ng tulong."
Francine also mentioned that she sent an e-mail to someone to ask for help. Unfortunately, the
person has yet to reply. "Ewan ko kung tama o mali ba yung e-mail address na nilagay ko, pero
wala pang sagot, e," she said.

Aside from her close friends, Francine also seeks help through her Facebook account. "Ang sabi
ko, kung meron silang kilalang pulitiko o kahit na sino na puwede kong hingan ng tulong
financially, kasi mas malaki na yung mga gastos, e."

Francine is grateful that her friends inside and outside showbiz have willingly extended their
hands to help her with the expenses.

She related, "Marami na rin [ang tumulong], mga friends ko. Merong mga outside showbiz. Sa
showbiz, sina Alfred [Vargas], Sherilyn [Reyes], Diana [Zubiri], at si Ara [Mina]. Gumagawa na
sila ng paraan. Nagte-thank you nga ako. Sina Alfred at Diana yata balak pang magpa-benefit
concert para kay Mommy."

Meanwhile, other celebrities have also re-Tweeted [term for reposting a Tweet] Anne's tweets.
Among them were Ogie Alcasid, Angel Locsin, Paolo Bediones, and KC Concepcion.