“I’ve been to the Philippines probably near 100 times. You just didn’t know,” said American motion star Steven Seagal.
He got here to Manila not only to function a judge within the Miss Earth beauty pageant but additionally to take care of pre-production work for a television series titled “General Commander,” which he plans to shoot here in January 2018.
The 65-year-old American actor and martial artist is best known for a series of hit motion movies within the late Eighties and early Nineteen Nineties, including Above the Law, Hard to Kill, Marked for Death, For Justice, Under Siege and Deadly Ground.
Hollywood motion star Steven Seagal returns to Manila to support the cause #MissEarth2017 Beauty contest. photo:twitter.com/qafsWDaiF2
— Miss Earth (@MissEarth) October 10, 2017
He was one of the vital popular motion stars on the planet until the late Nineteen Nineties, when he began acting in, producing, and sometimes writing movies that were released straight-to-video and, more recently, as video-on-demand.
Seagal said to Inquirer that he was returning to the country due to “the people… Filipinos are gentle, kind, musical, funny, humble and have an important humorousness.”
He added that he spent most of his time in Manila, “but I was also in Vigan, Boracay and all the small islands with Chavit.”
Seagal was referring to Narvacan councilman Luis “Chavit” Singson. The motion star and Singson turned out to be long-time friends. Singson later said Inquirer that he will probably be producing the motion here for Seagal.
As for why the Philippines was chosen as the placement for the story’s principal base, Seagal explained: “We wanted a place that was exotic and different. We’ll shoot 80 percent of the show here… and maybe New York, Moscow, Kyrgyzstan and two other places.”
Seagal, a seventh-dan black belt within the Japanese martial art of aikido, also expressed interest in incorporating Filipino martial arts into the series, particularly eskrima and kali.
He also called Filipino-American martial arts instructor Dan Inosanto, best generally known as Bruce Lee’s training partner, his “blood brother for over 40 years.”
“He’s the best knife fighter on Earth,” Seagal beamed. “If you watch ‘Out for Justice’ (1991), you’ll see me doing some serious eskrima and kali in there.”
GMA News reported that Seagal met with President Rodrigo Duterte in Malacañang on Thursday, October 12. Photos released by Malacañang on Thursday evening show Duterte talking and laughing with Seagal, even striking a signature pose with the actor.
Former Ilocos Sur Governor Luis “Chavit” Singson accompanied Seagal throughout the meeting with Duterte, the Office of the President added.
