THIS is an advance warning to anyone usually dependent on a Filipino maid to prepare dinner. It might be a good idea to make alternative arrangements between June 12 and 14. For on those three nights one of the leading lights of the Philippines show-biz industry, singer, actress and TV star Nora Aunor, will be starring at the Academy for Performing Arts - and nothing will stand in the way of a Filipina and a possible date with the woman known throughout the Philippines as the ''Superstar''. Ironically, Nora will be appearing in a play entitled Domestic Helper which deals with the emotive issue of Filipinos who are compelled to go abroad to earn a decent living. Actually Domestic Helper is a play within a play - the plot revolving around a group of Filipino domestics in Saudi Arabia who are rehearsing a play about their counterparts in Hongkong. Freelance entertainment writer Mel Tobias, who saw the play in Manila, said: ''It is a beautifully structured drama that has been both a critical and commercial success. There are some very moving moments, with many points of reference for the 90,000 or so Filipino domestic helpers living and working here.'' Tobias (who next month will cover the Cannes Film Festival for the 18th successive year) added: ''The play is performed in Tagalog, but deserves a much wider audience. ''So I have advised the producers to arrange for sub-titles, or sur-titles as it is know in the theatre, so people outside the Filipino community could also enjoy the play.'' Nora's wide appeal among Filipinos is as much to do with her stage versatility as with her humble beginnings. She used to sell water on crowded commuter trains before being advised to enter a TV talent contest by someone who had heard her sing. The rest, as they say, is legendom.
