ACTRESS GINA Pareño is no stranger to the slums of Baseco compound in Port Area, Manila.

?Shooting there is hard, but I?ve gotten used to it,? she tells Inquirer Entertainment. ?Ka-vibes ko mga tao do?n (I get along with the residents there).?

She has worked in Baseco on three occasions: twice for the ABS-CBN drama anthology ?Maalaala Mo Kaya,? and for the opening scenes of the soap opera ?Tayong Dalawa.?

For her latest indie film, Ralston Jover?s ?Bakal Boys,? she revisits Baseco and acts with actual slum dwellers ? particularly real-life bakal boys or kids who dive for scrap metal in the fetid waters of the abandoned shipyard.

A show biz veteran, Gina knew how to handle young, inexperienced co-stars like Ian Villaroel, Vincent Alano, Meljun Guinto and JR Alano who play the Bakal Boys.

?Siyempre they can be makulit (hyperactive),? she says. So she sat down with them for a heart-to-heart. ?I told them that if they do well in this movie, they can become symbols of hope for Baseco.?

?Bakal Boys? reunites her with Jover, who wrote the script for ?Kubrador,? which won for her three international awards. She also hit it off with producers Albert Almendralejo and Bessie Badilla.

Still a thrill

Gina has grown accustomed to globe-trotting for her indie movies. She was recently named Best Supporting Actress for Dante Mendoza?s ?Serbis? at the 3rd Asian Film Awards, held in Hong Kong and dubbed the region?s Oscars.

Although she insists that she?s ?contented? Gina admits that this latest trophy still gave her quite a thrill. ?May kiliti pa rin (I still got tickled pink).?