10 Things You Should Know About Audie Gemora

At play with Audie Gemora

The King of Musical Theater: Audie Gemora says, “I think when you’re an artist, the most important thing for you is your craft. That you spend an awful lot of time perfecting your craft and getting good at it, and the popularity or the adulation of people is a result of the work you put out.”

He has staged numerous plays ranging from the sweet and colorful Little Mermaid to the controversial and sensual Equus, and has mentored different generations of talent on both stage and television. He is the president of Trumpets and Stages, an actor, a director, a father, and everybody’s “Tito.” Here are 10 things you should know about Audie Gemora.

1. He was an average student in high school. But one day, he went from being the most unpopular kid in school, to being the “second most popular kid in school.”

“In the late ‘70s, nobody was into the arts. And our teacher at that time, an American lady named Ruth Butler, recruited me to be part of her high school musical. Ako naman, I didn’t have anything to do, I wasn’t really into anything, I didn’t have very many friends,” recalls Audie of his days in the International School. He said he hid out in the library most of the time, not because he liked books, but because he didn’t want people to see he had no friends. Until he was introduced to theater.

“We did a musical called Oklahoma and I played the kontrabida,” he says of his first-ever role at 15. “The response was just tremendous. Parang na-discover ko yung gift ko. Yun, tuluy-tuloy na, I became Drama Club president. Then after high school, I wanted to see if I was still good enough outside of school. There was the Manila Theater Guild, and that’s where I started, I did Grease. And again, ang laki laki ng response. So every step that I took just kept affirming that I had something special.”

2. On ego and the theater world: “There was a point I was just this very mayabang golden boy of Repertory.”

Audie: “Freddie (Santos) and I have had so many fights.”

Bianca: “Sigawan?”

Audie: “Oh yeah. I would submit to him as my mentor, but I would remember, two years older lang siya sa akin so di ako pwede masyado apihin. It was also largely because I was a lazy S.O.B.”

“Being an artist is very self involved,” Audie admits. “Everything revolves around you as a performer. Being an artist has a form of immortality, that you create something, you perform something and it affects people’s lives. They gather around you and idolize you. You get that feeling that it’s all about you. But it’s also the most insecure position to be in.

“I went to the States to study filmmaking in NYU. All of a sudden, this big fish in a small pond became this small fish in a big pond. It was like, who was I? That started my insecurity. Pagbalik ko dito, I knew I wouldn’t be happy just doing the same thing again. I was searching. I was really searching for something.” That was when some friends brought him to church, and that’s when his life changed.

3. Theater company Trumpets was born in 1991 out of a group of theater friends and a reaffirmation of faith.

“Friends led me to a church, and that’s when I became Born Again. Mari Kaimo, Freddie Garcia, sunud-sunod kami,” Audie recalls. “And of course being theater artists, our most immediate response was, how do we express our love for God? Eh di yung talent namin.” Their group actually staged two plays prior to putting up Trumpets — the comedy First Name and the musical Joseph The Dreamer. “I think it revolutionized Christian entertainment because up until that time, it was only kantatas or senakulos. This one was hip, modern, the music was Gary V and Ogie Alcasid, and we put in a lot of hip hop and comedy.” It was around 1997 when Stages, the events and talent management company, was put up.

4. On art and religion: “Art is supposed to reflect life. That’s where my Christianity stops.”

“I guess I’m liberal in that sense,” Audie shares. “Being an artist is the license, the privilege, the anointing of God to be able to express what you see. You are supposed to reflect what you see in the world, and that’s a gift. I don’t think anybody has the right to stop it, ban it, edit it or censor it. If you don’t want to see it, you don’t have to. So it really scares me when the Church gets heavy-handed.”

He reveals there was a time that he left Trumpets for three years, because of the struggle between his being an artist and a man of faith. “I went back to Repertory and I found myself again. I had lost myself for a time, I lost the artist in me,” he recalls. “When you are supposedly a Christian theater ministry, there are things that are expected of you by the Church. But that’s precisely why I believe God got us to do this as artists. So we would be out of the box, because how can we reach out to people who would never be caught in a church to begin with, if we can’t be real? If we can’t speak of their issues and reflect what they’re going through, right?” He recalls a time someone questioned his staging of Little Mermaid because it was about a “demonic character,” and another time someone told him he couldn’t play his dream role, Sweeney Todd, because he was a killer. “I’m already in that frame of mind that I think it’s the Church that needs to expand its mind. Your testimony is how you live your life, it’s not the role you play.

“Yes, God is very important to me, but not in a way that people could dictate. I would have to find Him in finding myself first. In being honest to who I am, by being a good father maybe, learning to love properly. That’s when I found who I was as a Christian again,” he adds. Audie was once quoted telling the Church to “relax” during the issue of the controversial art exhibit in the CCP, and was also a vocal supporter of the RH bill. “Maybe that’s the reason bakit palaban ako sa ganyan, kasi pinagdaanan ko yung struggle na yan.”

5. Audie Gemora in numbers:100-plus: Number of plays watched

50: Theater productions done

4: Awards won for performing and directing (including Aliw Awards Best Stage Director for Noli in 2011)

2: Number of dogs owned. “They’re aspins (asong Pinoy), Skipper, who’s really furry, and Yuki, who looks like a Japanese Spitz. They say when they’re rescued that they love the amo more.”

100: Number of opening night gifts in his collection. “Like for Footloose, I got a cowboy boot. For Les Mis, I got a troll dressed as Javert.”

120: Approximate number of hours it takes to prepare for a play. “Around one month, four hours a day, and then eight hours a day during production week.”

6. He has a modern-day family. “My son has a mother and two sisters.”

“I saw this kid walking around the lobby of Meralco Theater. I said, who is this? Whose kid are you?” Audie recalls the time he met Richard. “He was like the Trumpets baby because his tita worked in Trumpets. He was being brought there a lot and I just fell in love with him. It was at that point in my life when I had achieved everything… And I always had this fatherly instinct in me. When the boy was there, we just gravitated towards each other and it became an instant bond. It’s amazing.”

Since Richard was two, it was Audie who would go to their house to be a surrogate dad to him. Until 2009 when Richard was nine years old. “I said, ‘Son, it’s time to live together.’ So I went back to the house and took the whole family.” He says that Richard is starting to show interest in theater, but as of the moment he’s much more into sports. “You’d think at 13, mag-uumpisa na yung problema. He would tell me about classmates and what they were getting into, and he’s not into it. I’m just so blessed. Ang bait bait na bata.”

7. He is called the King of Philippine Musical Theater, and was once actually in a five-year relationship with the Queen of Philippine Musical Theater, Menchu Lauchengo-Yulo.

“That started in Repertory, and we weren’t even acting together. She’s very pretty, and we were barkada,” Audie recalls. On how they were able to remain friends after: “I love Menchu! I think we just both recognized that we were not for each other. But we remain very close.”

“Nangyayari kasi sa theater, nagsasama kayo madalas, so you will get drawn to someone. In Trumpets, we have so many theater couples, and a lot are married now.”

8. He once headed the Talent Center division of TV5, but despite being a mentor himself, realized it was not for him. “I realized hindi ako showbiz, I’m a theater person.”

“I had to follow the artist around, talk about their love life, think kanino pwede ipares, pano magkakaroon ng intriga,” he explains. “Sometimes you get lost and you think, ‘Wait, where does talent come in here?’ At one point it wasn’t even about the project anymore.”

On the difference between an artist and an artista: “I don’t mean to demean artistas, and I hope I can make the distinction well so nobody gets offended. I think when you’re an artist, the most important thing for you is your craft. That you spend an awful lot of time perfecting your craft and getting good at it, and the popularity or the adulation of people is a result of the work you put out. In showbiz, it’s the complete opposite. You are now dealing with a different market, and so it is personality-driven, looks-driven and youth-driven.

“You can look at any talent center of the three networks. There’s a big bench of talent there, and a lot of the talented ones aren’t being used. For an artist like me, that’s hard to take,” he shares.

“Pero dito naman ako bilib with artistas. Tatanggapin mo yung script ngayong araw, tapos magsho-shoot na. Because you don’t have the process of creating your character, you just need to now have a library of emotions that you just have to pull out.”

9. He is now taking his craft to the next level. Audie is putting up the Talent School of Academics and The Arts.

“Playshop was a summer workshop we developed in 1993. We wanted to make it different, so we were the very first to offer Musical Theater, Hip-hop and Modeling,” Audie recalls. “As many as 2,000 students would enroll and parents would tell us why not have it all year? We then put up Musicademy that was year round, but nobody enrolled. I always had it at the back of my mind that it was an unfinished formula.”

Fast forward to 2013, and as fate would have it, this June, their school is opening. “It’s progressive. We will have dance, literature, theater, visual arts and music. Then that’s parallel to the academic, which is science, language, math, and other subjects. Those are the two pillars, and in the middle we have our Art Integration Program. We will use the arts to teach the subjects. For example, if you’re teaching the solar system to kids, you put them in a dance and they form the solar system. Its experiential, they realize the movement, rather than just memory work. Or for example history, instead of struggling through voluminous books of Noli and Fili, experience life at that time with theater. So you come to appreciate the characters of Rizal as real people. The possibilities are endless.”

He strongly believes that if it weren’t for that happy accident of getting recruited for theater in high school, he probably would’ve become a bored haciendero. “I don’t want that to happen to other kids. I want all children that will go to our school to have the opportunity to develop all their talents.”

10. More than the awards or the titles given to him, the biggest compliment he has received is: “Uy, yung anak ko nag-Playshop.”

“I hear stories of parents saying their children gained confidence or came out of their shell after taking our classes, and that just gives me so much fulfillment,” Audie says with a big smile.

On making a name in Philippine theater: “It’s definitely flattering, it’s an affirmation of my body of work. It’s also nakaka-pressure because you have to live up to it. More than the awards actually, yung respeto ng tao is something I really, really value.”

* * *

As I transcribed and wrote this piece on Audie, I looked over the course of his life and career and sincerely learned two things. First, that it is okay to do things that are out of the box, to define things differently from the way convention defines it. And second, that it is okay to lose your way. Because with the right mindset, you will eventually find yourself on the path where you were meant to be.

http://www.philstar.com/sunday-life/2013/02/24/912283/play-audie-gemora 

10 Things You Should Know About Anne Curtis

Anne Curtis: From party girl to best actress

Twitter girl: The year began with a bang for Anne, as she hit the four-million follower mark on Twitter, solidifying her status as the most followed Filipino on the site. But with more clout also comes more critics. “I’ve learned the art of deadma (not minding bashers) perfectly na.”

It is highly unlikely that a day goes by that you do not see Anne Curtis either on television or along major highway billboards, in the mall, on magazine covers, at the supermarket, when you go online, or even hear her voice on the radio. As the “Princess of All Media” turns 28 this month, her star’s light is blinding, and is shining even brighter as each year passes. What makes this woman everyone’s favorite sweetheart? Here are 10 things you should know about Anne Curtis Smith.

1. She doesn’t deny being a party girl when she was younger, and points out she was never obsessed over her looks.

“Sobrang fun! Uuwi kami may araw na. Nights of going home at 7 a.m., because we’d eat out after going out, then even do badminton the next day,” Anne recalls of her gimmick days. “I was so happy that I did it when I was young. I was around 18, 19, 20, till 21. Those were the days na it was fun, it wasn’t as hectic as it is now.” She says there was no one instance that turned her from partyphile to responsible adult, it was only age. “I guess it comes to that point na you all start growing up, everyone starts having boyfriends, starts settling down, it just came naturally. You reach that point when you just don’t want to go out anymore. You would just rather hang out to catch up.

“I was chubby! I was so chubby in the cheeks and I was so white,” Anne bashfully adds about how she looked a decade ago. “I guess I wasn’t so conscious back then. I don’t recall wanting to be thin, but I knew I had to lose weight. I learned about the South Beach diet and it worked. Now, it’s such a trend to be fit or thin.”

2. Four lessons in love that Anne learned from past relationships:

“No more naming names,” Anne begged off with a smile. “I don’t want that I’m in a relationship but I’m still talking about my exes.” (Anne is currently in a relationship with businessman and food blogger Erwan Heussaff.) She shares that she’s been lucky to have “good” breakups in all her past relationships, and that though communication was cut for a few months, she ended up being friends with all of them.

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1. “I don’t like to say they were mistakes or regrets; because if you ever really did love someone, you may not be in ‘love’ with them, but you still have that love because it was something that was genuine at the time.”

2. “I’ve learned how to balance my career and personal life — which is hard! If you make an effort to make them feel that they’re important and that you have time for them, it can work. But it doesn’t happen overnight.”

3. “To just be more sensitive. As girls we sometimes have that brattiness, that ‘I’m gonna get my way, I don’t care what you say.’”

4. “I used to have this behavior of ‘getting even.’ Now no more. When you get even, the only person you end up hurting is yourself. It’s better to just say, ‘Okay, moving on.’”

3. She has 10 brothers and sisters and never had any angst about her family setup. “We were very, very lucky that we all grew up together.”

“I don’t say ‘This is my half-brother or half-sister.’ This is my sister this is my brother. It’s really about not having that barrier of saying this is my half, regardless of the color of your hair or skin is, you all have the same blood somehow,” Anne explains. “I’m the panganay of the second batch,” she says. “Then now Dad has a new family with Charlie, and Clare Bear who passed away.” Both her father James and mom Carmen had a family prior to their getting together, and both sides got along well even before she was born. “No one ever had that feeling of, ‘Why does he love this family more?’ Because we were all together.

“When we’re out in Australia, it’s so funny, we’ll meet random people when we’re out drinking beers and we’ll ask, ‘Guess what our relation is?’ And they’ll stay there looking at us, ‘Umm, cousins? Sisters? Whaaat?’” Anne says with a laugh.

4. Looking back, if she could have done things differently, would she have not quit school rather than entering show business? “I think so, yes.”

“I wish that I had done high school the normal four years, but you know, at the end of the day I have no regrets. It got me to where I am today,” Anne says. “I think now, it’s more doable to do both (school and showbiz), that’s why with Jasmine (Anne’s younger sister who recently entered showbiz), we’re very strict.”

She admits it was quite a struggle when she decided to leave school to focus on her career. “I was probably around 15, I was two or three years into showbiz. At that point, you can’t turn down work. Either I do it or I miss my break. At the school I was in, they don’t accept artistas, so they were the ones who suggested I go to DECS for home study. My whole high school stage took me maybe six years to finish. It was just so hard.” For her junior and senior year, she was able to get a special class schedule at Angelicum. “I got to do cheerdancing na, at least I got to go to junior prom, I had that sense of being in school rather than being at home just doing my modules.”

On college: “I really want to go!” Anne reveals she signed up for open university in Australia late last year, and got accepted. “Basically, you’re online for a class and everyone can talk to each other. But I don’t know, I would just get awkward, because you have forums so everyone can talk to you. I’m like, ‘Ack! I don’t want to talk, I’m shy!” Anne shrieks. Anne, shy? “I just put it off for a little while, maybe I’d do better if I’m actually with people.” She is leaning towards the field of Early Education. “I love kids!”

5. The seven life-changing decisions Anne made:

1. Saying yes to guesting on TGIS. “It was a Christmas Special in Star City to promote Magic Kingdom, the film I did that time. The director Dominic Zapata asked me, “Do you want to be part of TGIS? I said yes,” Anne says with a big smile. “Then I became part of the cast.”

2. Moving from GMA to ABS-CBN in 2004. “I was in Nuts Entertainment with Carmina and Gelli, and I was talking to them about it — I should transfer, how I love Nuts Entertainment and that “it’s so much fun. They asked, ‘Gusto mo bang umarte?’ ‘Here kasi I always get the balikbayan roles, mga comedy, and I want to act.’ They said, ‘Then gawin mo.’ And I did. And that was majorly life changing.”

3. Auditioning for Kampanerang Kuba. “I knew at that time that direk Wenn (Deramas) was eyeing a different actress. So I went into the audition knowing that there was already someone for the role. But I was so happy that I got the role. Having the guts to say, you know what, go, why not.”

4. Deciding to own up to her actions. “It was when I fell over in Boracay. There was no such thing as social media back then so it was by word of mouth, chismis, ganyan, that I was too drunk and I fell. So when they interviewed me about it, I was 18 at that time, I said, ‘Yes, nakainom po ako.’ And if you’re known to do teenybopper roles, it’s more like, ‘Ano ba yan napaka liberated naman.’ It’s about just being very honest all the time, even if it was negative I always owned up to it. I think that that is one of the major reasons why people trust my word, because I don’t lie.”

5. Choosing to play the other woman in No Other Woman. “Instead of playing the wife, which Viva wanted me to do.” (Anne won a FAMAS Best Actress award for No Other Woman.)

6. Doing Showtime. “It definitely helped change my career all together. People got to see who I was as a person. When I act, I get roles that are either fashionista or mayaman or kontrabida. But they saw how kalog I am in real life which is really, really who I am.”

7. Signing up on Twitter. “A friend just convinced us to join and we were following all these Hollywood celebrities. It’s been a big way that I’ve been able to connect to people, to make it more personal and reachable.”

6. On how she chooses her battles: “I choose not to have a battle.”

The year 2013 began with a bang for Anne, as she hit the four-million follower mark on Twitter, solidifying her status as the most followed Filipino on the site, with a number much higher than that of international celebrities. But with more clout also comes more critics. “I’ve learned the art of deadma (not minding bashers) perfectly na. Because of all the chismis that have come my way, I’ve learned to just say okay and brush them off,” Anne shares. “But the one thing that always gets to me is if anything is said about my sister, or my mother, or my family. I can’t explain it! Grrr! I cross the line if someone crosses the line.”

7. On what fearless Anne is actually afraid to do: “I admire people who have the guts to just pack up and leave and never look back. That’s one of the things I’ll never have the guts to do.”

“After auditioning for a role in an indie film in the States (she played the role of Crystal in Blood Ransom), it crossed my mind. Should I go? Should I try it out?” Anne shares. “But why give up something when you don’t have a concrete plan? It’s all about taking risks and chances, but I’m not yet ready to pack up and leave. I came from Australia and I made a life here. To just leave and build a whole new life, it takes a lot of courage.

“I know that I’ll follow that dream one day, but there’s no rush,” she adds.

8. Anne’s personal and professional bucketlist:

1. Start a business. “I haven’t gotten anywhere near it and it’s hard. Because I haven’t started college, I don’t know a thing about marketing or business management. But there are people who have studied that, and it’s all about finding someone I can team up with for that. So definitely, maybe this year.”

2. To go skydiving. “My gosh, it’s so scary! I’ve gone bungee jumping already. But this, if your parachute doesn’t open...”

3. More concerts. “So many concerts to watch and festivals to go to!” What’s on top of the list? “U2!”

4. More challenging roles. “I definitely want to do something action, like Angelina Jolie. But it’s hard because sometimes there’s no audience for that. Or maybe a romantic comedy with action like Mr. and Mrs. Smith. Or a dark role, like Girl Interrupted.”

5. An Australian tour. “Erwan and I really make an effort to go somewhere we’ve never been when we travel. I’m from Australia, but I’ve never actually done a full-on tour! I never leave Melbourne, New South Wales, Queensland. But it’s so big, there’s still the northern territory, South Australia, Ayers Rock, and all the major monuments.”

6. To own at least one first-edition book. “I recently renovated my apartment and in my new library, I want to have all hardbound books.”

9. Anne Curtis in numbers:

22: Total number of current endorsements, with five more coming out soon.

30: Number of moles on her body. “There are probably some in places I don’t even know!”

100: Estimated number of pairs of shoes in her collection.

85: Percent of earnings saved. “For basic spending, there are certain sweldos that are meant to pay the bill. I have quotas for myself every year, and until I reach my quota, I can’t spend anything. I only spend when I go out of the country.”

15,0000-plus: Estimated crowd at “Annebisyosa No Other Concert” in Araneta Coliseum. She had 12 costume changes and 10 special guests.

10. She admits to wanting to live a quiet life someday. “Like Audrey Hepburn, who bought a house in Switzerland and would just fly to Hollywood to shoot movies. But it doesn’t work like that here.”

“I really, really enjoy what I do, and I won’t stop until I’m too tired talaga to work. That’s why I take one month or two-week vacations, because you need that so you don’t get burnt out,” Anne shares. “But it’s not anytime soon before I stop working or settle down, no, not anytime soon. I want to at least have enough set aside to live by the means I want to. I don’t want to be some has-been that has nothing left of what she worked hard for.”

On the massive success she has achieved, she says: “I’m really enjoying it while I can. It was a really, really long climb to get where I am now. It didn’t come easily for me. I’ve been in the industry, going on 16 years, so right now I’m just enjoying it. Because at any time, you know, the seasons will change. As my dad always says, ‘There’s always someone younger than you, young lady, so if I were you enjoy it while you can.’”

* * *

Anne is known for always telling her fans to “dream big” and “go for their dreams.” What if a young girl tells her, “It’s easy for you to say go for your dreams, look in the mirror, not everyone is that beautiful.” Anne replies: “That’s why I add that you have to have patience and faith in yourself. It’s not like my dreams started to happen overnight. I’ve been in the industry since I was 12 and it’s just in the past three years when everything started to fall into place. You really have to have patience. I don’t want them thinking na parang you can just dream and think that it will happen. You have to want it and pursue it. That’s why I say I’m a pursuer of dreams.”

http://www.philstar.com/sunday-life/2013/02/10/906801/anne-curtis-party-girl-best-actress 

10 Things You Should Know About Jiggy & Jonty Cruz

Jiggy & Jonty Cruz on Cory, Noynoy, comics & getting busted

Grandkids of Filipino heroes: Jiggy and Jonty Cruz with their lola Cory Aquino, mom Ballsy, and dad Eldon Cruz

How do you live a “normal” life and cope with the expectations people have of you if you happen to have modern-day heroes as grandparents, and the president of the country as your uncle? Here are 10 things you should know about Jiggy and Jonty Aquino Cruz.

1. They swear they never got special treatment in school, but they did find it awkward when classmates would look at them whenever Ninoy or Cory’s name would be mentioned.

“In History class, we had a project na presidents. I was told, ‘Jiggy, bawal ka sa Aquinos, bawal ka sa Marcos.’ Or other times naman, classmates would rely on me if it’s an Aquino or a Marcos thing, kasi dapat alam ko na. But come on, hindi ko naman alam lahat about history,” the older Cruz brother recalls. Jonty shares a different story. “In Grade 5, when we took up (the) EDSA (Revolution), yung goal ko i-perfect yung quiz. I got the quiz back, minus one ako. I couldn’t believe it. I should know this. Nakipag-debate ako sa teacher ko and I reasoned out bakit dapat payagan yung answer ko. Good thing I had a book as proof, so naging perfect yung quiz,” he shares with a smile.

Jonty recalls having a professor in college who was not a fan of his uncle Noynoy Aquino, who was then campaigning. “He kept on referring to my tito for negative things. So after class, I didn’t say who I was, but I asked him, ‘What do you have against Noynoy and the Aquinos?’ And I asked who he was going to vote for. He’s not a registered voter pala. Nag-goodbye na lang ako.”

Both Jiggy and Jonty went to Ateneo de Manila from prep all the way to college. Jiggy says his history grades averaged around 90, and Jonty says his averaged around 85.

2. The moment they were born, they had Presidential Security Guards, three each. When P-Noy became President, they were again assigned PSGs, but now, one each.

Jiggy was only months old when the late Cory Aquino became President, and Jonty was born three years after. “We grew up staying in Arlegui, I remember a lot of men would accompany us to school,” Jiggy says. “I don’t remember much, but I remember some stuff like the rooms we stayed in,” Jonty shares. They did get the chance to play on the street as kids, right in front of Arlegui. “I do remember going down a really big basement. Naglalatag sila ng mattresses, and I asked, ‘Why are we sleeping here?’ It was a coup attempt, yun pala people were trying to kill us,” Jiggy recalls.

When asked if there were things they didn’t get to enjoy as kids because of who they were, they both said: “More now.” “When our tito became President, we told our parents, ‘Kuya and I don’t need guards, all we do is buy comics and watch movies.’ We don’t go to clubs or anything,” Jonty shares. “Sana wala kaming guard, but technically we’re the first family so we have to be assigned guards for his peace of mind,” Jiggy says. Jiggy has earned the trust of his PSG, so much so that they give him distance when he is out with his girlfriend. Jonty, currently single, is in a different situation. “I went on a date last week. I told them, ‘O, pwede na kayo umuwi,’ and they said, ‘Hindi, samahan ka namin,’ Then I just told them, ‘Okay, can you be two restaurants away?’”

3. On Cory as a lola: “Super bait talaga, she never got mad at us.”

Jiggy: Every Christmastime, our lola would ask all the apos for all the names of our teachers. She’d actually write them Christmas cards, parang our lola’s way of helping us. “Be good to my apos. Wag mo bagsak apo ko?” (Laughs)

Jonty: Her favorite story to tell was an incident that transpired in a hotel room in Cebu. I was playing with matches and medyo nasunog ko yung isang cushion. I turned it over para hindi mahalata. My lola asked, “What’s that smell?” I would be coy and say, “I don’t know, Lola. Baka it came from there.” She said, “Parang wala naman.” I told her, “No, Lola. Turn it over I think may nangyari.” I ended up explaining what I did without saying I did it. She didn’t get mad, naaliw lang siya.

Jiggy: Every important thing in school, graduation, other events, she was always there for me. She’d always bring me to different events when she was president, kapag may mga visitors of all nationalities, she’d always make me feel na, “Jiggy, dependable ka.” She can be really funny at times. We were in a Walmart, just the two of us. Then there was this Asian woman who told her, “You look like Cory Aquino.” “Oh, really?” she said. Lola then turned to me, smiled and said: “Tumahimik ka, tumahimik ka.”

Jonty: Gusto ko yung humility niya, whoever she was, she never made people feel it. She doesn’t go to churches with shades on, she doesn’t stay in front, simple lang talaga.

Jiggy: When she was president, there was this button in her car, it looked like that button in Voltes V. Eh pag bata ka, if you’re not allowed to touch it, the more you want to touch it. She’d always tell me and my cousin Miguel, “Don’t touch that.” It was a panic button. Pero nung last day niya she told us, “Okay guys, knock yourselves out.” Buong Arlegui daw super ingay, no one knew how to turn it off!”

4. They both never got the chance to meet their lolo Ninoy because they were born years after he had passed. Jiggy wishes he was there to witness the days in Boston, while Jonty wishes he could’ve seen his lolo deliver his speeches live.

Jiggy and Jonty are columnists for the Philippine STAR’s Lifestyle section every Friday. As a tribute on their lolo’s death anniversary this year, they wrote a tear-jerking piece titled “To the Man We Never Met.” Here is an excerpt:

There are so many things we wanted to ask you.

So many things we wish you could’ve taught us.

How did you make the greatest woman ever fall in love with you?

What are the secrets to getting the woman of your dreams? ...

What was it like raising such wonderful children?

How did you manage to raise such an amazing daughter in Ballsy? Seriously, she’s the best.

When asked which parts of Ninoy’s life they would have liked to witness most, Jonty says: “I saw the footage, there was this political debate and he was brought in. He just took control of it. He handled it so well, nasagot niya lahat. Wow. Sana I saw this live so I could actually cheer.” (You can actually search for it on YouTube, “Ninoy Aquino’s Face The Nation”)

Jiggy chooses the Boston days: “My dad said that in Boston, he would be driving with the windows rolled down, and singing at the top of his lungs to Imelda Papin’s Kung Liligaya Ka. Super ingay daw. Funny.

When asked what they think about the Marcoses, Jiggy says: “We’re civil. It’s hard, the stories we grew up with. Nobody wanted to be friends with my mom or her siblings kaya super close sila. Growing up in the martial law years, everyone wanted to be away from them, even at Mass. There was one particular wedding I can’t forget, my lola was saying she was in the corner table with the yayas of the ringbearers. She was told, ‘O, Cory, bakit ka nandyan, kawawa ka naman.’”

Jonty shares: “I think we got a normal childhood because my mom kind of didn’t. I can’t really debate on martial law because I wasn’t there, but yun nga, the difficulties they gave our parents. The things she wasn’t able to do, that she gave us. That’s why we appreciate everything.

5. When asked to describe how President Noynoy is as an uncle, Jiggy says “strict,” Jonty says “relaxed.” 

Growing up, para siyang fatherly figure, since wala siyang kids. Pag may ginagawa kaming kalokohan, siya yung magdi-discipline sa amin. Or like before, sa mall, gusto niya, we all stick together. Ayaw niya yung maghihiwalay. “No one gets lost, everyone should be by my side,” Jiggy recalls. “He’s relaxed naman. Funny din siya,” Jonty, who has P-Noy as a ninong, reveals. “He loves telling jokes na alam mo yung mga matatagal nang joke? It’s the joke na midway, mawawala ka na? Then when he gives the punchline, you don’t know yun na pala yun,” he laughs.

When the President gets criticized, Jiggy admits it irritates him but he does his best to ignore it. Jonty says, “I want to say ‘ignore,’ but I don’t. I try, but if ever, I just make witty comments. Like on Twitter, I read ‘P-Noy urged to be more like Santa.’ I just posted, “Wow, ‘urged’?” If they comment, I can give my opinion, too.”

6. Sunday family day with the Aquinos consists of a long lunch, TV, basketball and sometimes political or showbiz chismis.

“When my lola was still alive, we’d go to Times St. at around 12, lunch ‘til around 3, tapos kwentuhan, then the kids would go to the rooms to play games. Kapag may PBA game we’d all go to her room and watch,” Jiggy shares. “Alaska kami nung ‘90s! Johnny A! When Tito James came on board, Purefoods na kami. At that time, if there was a PBA game and The Buzz, she would switch back and forth during commercials,” Jonty says. The conversations among the cousins usually consist of jokes to each other, but now that they are older, the adults and children are together at one table. What do they talk about? “Politics, relatives, regular stuff, sometimes showbiz,” Jiggy says. “We get it from the source talaga, eh. Tita Kris! Politics naman, Tito Noy,” Jonty says.

Who is the most ma-kwento? “If Tita Kris is there, she’s the one.” Who gives the most punchlines? “Tita Pinky.” Who always makes kontra? “It’s got to be our family doctor, Alex Ayco.”

7. Both Jiggy and Jonty applied for a job right after college, both had to present résumés, both started at a trainee/assistant position, both got promoted in a short span of time.

Jonty started as an editorial assistant for Esquire Philippines, where his workmates admitted to being uneasy ordering him to get them coffee or photocopy papers. “I felt it, but I don’t think I ever gave them a reason to be dyahe. Kahit ano I would get it, part of the job, eh,” Jonty says. He went from that to web editor to managing editor in less than a year. “I always told Erwin, my editor in chief, that I guess I got in because of the name. But he told me, ‘You write well.’”

“I was a truck salesman,” Jiggy says of his first job with Nestle Philippines. “Caloocan, Malabon, Navotas, Valenzuela area, during the rainy season, baha, I’d go to sell my products. In the truck, nandun stocks mo, you sell to palengkes and sari-sari stores.” From that, he became a key account salesman, trainee, then assigned to field operations, and is now brand manager for Nescafe Dolce, in the span of five and a half years.

“Our parents really taught us about humility. For my dad, talagang hindi ka pwedeng mayabang,” Jiggy shares.

8. Jiggy versus Jonty:

When they started courting girls:

Jiggy: College.

Jonty: High school.

They share they’ve both gotten basted.

Biggest freebie received:

Jiggy: “Bank near the office, mahaba yung pila. The bank manager said siya na mag-aasikaso.”

Jonty: “Dad ko kilala yung pilot, next thing we know, we were upgraded to business class.”

Times caught by the MMDA:

Jiggy: “Once. I read that e-mail of what they can and cannot do, so when he knew I knew what I was talking about, he let me go.”

Jonty: “A lot, mga five times. Sometimes you really don’t see the signs, like it’s behind a tree. I really didn’t know. Napakiusapan naman.”

Things they usually fight about:

Jiggy: Little things, like clothes. Nauna ako, black na ako ha.

Jonty: We wrote an article today. In-edit ko. He said, “Bakit mo binago?” Or when watching a movie. “Tara na, aga aga pa?”

Jiggy: Tapos biglang traffic. “Sabi sayo alis tayo ng maaga, eh.”

Spending habits:

Jiggy: I think about it first.

Jonty: I’m more “buy now, regret later.”

9. Jiggy and Jonty in numbers:

2,000-plus: Total number of comic books they both own. “We’ve been collecting since 1996.”

3: Number of hours it takes them to write and edit their Philippine STAR column, “These Aren’t the Droids You’re Looking For” which appears Fridays in Young Star.

7: Number of days of their longest fight, not speaking to each other.

100 and 150: Grade of eyeglasses Jiggy wears, left and right.

350 and 750: Grade of eyeglasses Jonty wears, left and right.

10. They both love politics but will never run for office. “Kuya, the moment tumakbo ka, ako mismo magre-release ng smear campaign.”

“No,” Jiggy and Jonty say in unison when asked if they’ll ever enter politics. “I’ll do everything to make him not run,” Jonty says. “It’s worth it, I love it, but I’ll never join it.”

“The worst thing that could happen to us is probably if we do something, then the next day on the front pages, ‘Pamangkin or apo or Aquino, ganito or ganyan.’ Kung kami mismo nagbigay ng harm to the name, I think that would be the worst,” Jonty says. “We grew up knowing to protect the name. During the Ninoy and Cory book launch, a letter of my lolo to my Tito Noy was read. “Wala akong maiiwan sa inyo na kayamanan, it’s my name I leave with you, take care of it,” Jiggy shares.

* * *

So, the grandkids of Filipino heroes do live their lives like ordinary citizens. They like movies and beautiful people, argue about being on time and what channel to watch, just like you and me. “Honesty, humility, integrity,” say Jiggy and Jonty about how they would want the Aquino name to be known. Virtues we would like to live by, too. Their charm lies in how charmingly and extraordinarily ordinary they are. As Esquire EIC Erwin Romulo describes them, “they have their lolo’s smarts and their lola’s heart.”

http://www.philstar.com/sunday-life/2012-12-09/883331/jiggy-jonty-cruz-cory-noynoy-comics-getting-busted 

10 Things You Should Know About Cris Villonco

Cris Villonco on love and the hole in her heart

On her own: “I’m pro-RH bill and I’m very vocal about it,” Cris Villonco shares. “We are all opinionated. Very. Extremely,” she says of her dad Opap, mother Monique, sisters Dara and Tere, and other relatives.

You may remember her as the bubbly, bright-eyed girl from that Pop Cola commercial. Today, she still is doe-eyed and baby faced, but all grown up. A notable theater actress and one of Manila’s most eligible young women, here are 10 things you should know about Cris Villonco.

1. She was born with a hole in her heart.

“I don’t know exactly the specifics but I know I was a blue baby, and that I had a heart murmur,” Cris reveals. “Maybe my mother was smoking or stressed or something,” she jokes about the time her mom was actively working as a TV producer. Cris vividly remembers going for an ECG and a 2D every year, until she was diagnosed as okay when she was five years old. “I just don’t do anything extremely strenuous, that’s why sports was never my thing.”

Cris was actually named after Kris Aquino, and she shares, “That was the time Ninoy died and she was the very vocal one, so my dad was so cho chong cho cho (crazy) about that.”

2. Cris only discovered her talent for singing when she auditioned for a role in Les Miserables when she was nine.

Cris didn’t really perform nor sing as a young child. “I just came from New York where my mom took me to my first three shows ever: Miss Saigon, Phantom, and Les Miz. I fell in love with all three. When we got home, my sister said, ‘You know today is the last day of auditions?’ And for some strange reason I just said, ‘Okay, I want to do it,’” she recalls. She ended up being cast as one of seven little Cosettes.

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In 2000, she was featured in Time magazine’s “Hero for the Planet” issue. “There were not too many child singers then so I would be called to sing for all these charities: Bantay Bata, Habitat for Humanity, Piso Para sa Pasig, the APEC. At that time a journalist took interest, thinking, ‘Wow, she is able to influence a lot of people through song.’ From age of nine to 16 I had siguro 10 theme songs. They flew me over to San Francisco to meet Haley Joel Osment, Charlotte Church.” Later that year, she was invited Jose Mari Chan to sing alongside for the OFWs in Rome, in a Mass officiated by the late Pope John Paul II.

When asked if she realized the gravity of her achievements for her age, Cris says: “That time I was more like, ‘Why doesn’t this boy like me, what am I going to wear to the prom?’ I didn’t realize how much of a privilege it was to let things happen as they did.” She shares that her mom was instrumental in her staying grounded. “She didn’t want me to feel like ‘magaling ako,’ she was always the type who would say, ‘There will always be people better than you, and there are times that you will be better than them.’”

3. On having Armida Siguion-Reyna as a grandmother: “That’s a tough question. There is only one star.”

“A lot of people say the reason I got to this point is because of her,” she says. On the worst criticism she ever got: “For me the most painful, which is still said to this day: that some of my shows are funded by my family. There will always, always be someone saying that about me. It just doesn’t end.” She says her lola Armida, who she fondly calls “Mahal,” didn’t even know that she was auditioning for Les Miserables. Even Fernando Poe, Jr. didn’t know Cris was Armida’s granddaughter when he cast her in his movie Ang Dalubhasa.

“One thing I can say about my lola is I thank her for my diction in Tagalog and for singing the way I do. She’s a stickler for pitch and for correct pronunciation!”

4. She used her first name Anna instead of Cris when she moved to New York for college. “When I left, I was angry. I was like, ‘Bakit, magaling naman ako ah?’”

Leaving Manila to study college in Sarah Lawrence was her mom’s idea, not hers. When asked what prompted her mom to suggest it (she had been set to enroll in Ateneo de Manila), she says, “I think I was so unhappy. Very unhappy. In the industry, there were promises that never happened. It was very frustrating.” Cris was really set on going the whole mainstream teleserye and movie route, but when the “promises” weren’t kept, she decided to just up and leave. “There were a lot of up-and-coming artists, and they were into the whole Britney and Christina thing. And I was always the losyang, wholesome girl,” she shares. “They tried to make me one, but it just didn’t happen.”

She preferred to be called “Anna” to detach from her showbiz persona. “I graduated with a liberal arts degree concentrating on economic development and music. I didn’t want to have anything to do with performing,” she explains. When she came back to Manila, she worked for two NGOs — Center for Humanitarian Dialogue and Asia Society — but after a year, she decided to go back to theater. “Not showbiz, just theater. That’s my first love anyway.”

5. Her thoughts on being in showbiz at such a young age: “I think it was self-imposed pressure, I wanted to be this perfect kid.”

She says that going away for college where nobody knew her or nobody cared who she was made her realize who she really is. “That was the first time I realized, wow, I’m this person pala. And there are people who can actually love me for me,” she shares. “This was at the time of my parents’ separation, realizing that time that, yes, may pagka-laos na ako, and I just felt, ‘Okay lang pala.’ May natanggal na fear, realizing you don’t have to be perfect all the time.”

6. Cris Villonco in numbers:

21: Number of musicals and straight plays done. She names Les Miz (her first), Alikabok (“First time I was recognized as a theater actress”), Orosman at Zafira (“That show made me viable for a lead”) and The Sound of Music (she starred as Maria) as her most memorable projects.

4: Number of awards won for music and theater.

3: Number of albums recorded (the last of which, her self-titled album “Cris,” was recorded during her college days and when she was traveling back and forth from New York to Manila.)

30: Number of Playbills in her collection (“My last trip to New York, I watched 19 shows!”).

4: Liters of water she consumes in one show.

7. She admits to having been involved two times in a “showmance,” or show romance.

“It happens! You’re in an enclosed space for this amount of time, you get to know each other, the problems you are facing; of course there’s a connection,” she explains. She reveals the first was with co-actor Jeffrey Hidalgo when she was 16, and the second with co-actor Niccolo Manahan, who she was together with for five years. “My parents and my sisters feel, ‘Cris, you have to be alone,’ there’s always been someone already. They’re just really happy that for the past two months, there has been no one.”

On rumors of being linked to Sen. Chiz Escudero and Mayor Junjun Binay: “I think it’s because Chiz and Jun have been very close to the family. We really don’t know where that came from.”

8. She was friends with KC Concepcion and Stephanie Zubiri in high school and recalls, “There were people who would ignore us in school but when we’re out in public would say hi.”

“We became close at the time because we were in the limelight, whether or not wanted it,” Cris shares. “It was a very interesting situation to be in. You’re earning money, you have tapings instead of hanging out with friends. Having that kind of life at that age is tough kasi you also just want to be like everybody else.” She says that knowing who is genuine to you is more of a gut feel, and reveals that she did realize which of her friends were sincere and which were not.

9. On political opinions within her family: “Kanya-kanya. We get into fights, it gets personal.”

She says she has never been pressured to take the same side on an issue as her granduncle, Senator Juan Ponce-Enrile. “I’m pro-RH bill and I’m very vocal about it,” Cris shares. “We are all opinionated. Very. Extremely,” she says of her dad Opap, mother Monique, sisters Dara and Tere, and other relatives. At what point do the heated arguments stop? “Silence,” she laughs.

She vividly remembers bullets flying over their Makati home during the coup d’état of 1989. “When we would hide in the cabinets, my mom said we were playing hide and seek. Teddy Boy Locsin is a good friend of my parents and at that time stayed with us for a few nights. A friend of his sent a bulletproof car and we all rode in it. A bullet struck the window and I remember my mom telling me it was a bird! It was a good thing I believed everything she told me at that age!”

10. Best advice she has been given: “I love it when my mom tells me, ‘You don’t have to understand anything, just do your part.’”

She recently played a supporting role in an episode of Maalala Mo Kaya, and reveals that what she thought was going to be tough on her ego, wasn’t. “I think there was a turning point last year when I did Sound of Music. There was a lot of pressure. To be compared to a West End actress and singer, to be the lead in a three-hour show, it was too much for me. It took a toll on my health and my voice,” she reveals. “That’s when I realized I don’t like being a star pala. I’m not like that pala, I thought I was.”

She shares she would love to do more television work, saying she wants to balance theater with mainstream acting. “Not to make this a political issue, but no matter how good it is now, theater is struggling.” She wants to lessen theater performing, and instead venture into producing. “I’m actually putting up a theater production company with friends called Red Turnip. We felt that English straight plays were dying, and we also wanted something in connection with how society is today, a little more risqué in terms of scenes and content. And we want it in unconventional spaces.”

* * *

Cris has definitely grown up. She still is that positive, cheerful girl we’ve known her to be, but now she carries herself with so much more confidence, even injecting a few punchlines and curses between her intelligent answers. Things have changed, or gone up and down in her life, and Cris proves that it is okay to just relax and not be so hard on yourself, and that the best way to deal with life’s disappointments is to go with the flow and roll with the punches. “If there’s one thing I learned in this business, you can’t control everything. It’s just going to come. I’ll let it happen.”

http://www.philstar.com/sunday-life/2012-11-25/872591/cris-villonco-love-and-hole-her-heart 

10 Things You Should Know About Alvin Patrimonio

Alvin Patrimonio is dating – his daughters

Alvin Patrimonio: A hero to Purefoods fans then as their star player and now as the team manager.

Arguably one of the most well-loved Filipino basketball players, many fans say next to Robert Jaworski, this player-turned-team manager holds many PBA records including third-highest all-time scorer, fourth-highest all-time rebounder, and most MVP awards received (that’s four, tied with Mon Fernandez). Fondly referred to as “The Captain,” “Captain Lionheart” or simply “Cap,” here are 10 things you should know about Alvin Patrimonio.

1. He actually did not make the cut for the De La Salle University and San Beda College basketball teams, and at one point did not pass the tryouts for the RP Youth under-18 team.

His interest in basketball only started when he was in Manila Science High School. “My first sport was really chess,” Alvin shares. “Influenced by my grandfather na mahilig mag-chess. Hindi ko siya matalo-talo. Pinahiram niya ako ng chess books, pinag-aralan ko yun. Until he passed away, hindi ko pa rin siya natalo.”

He recalls the time his dad accompanied him to try to practice with the San Beda team. “Malakas yung lineup nila nun, sina Ronnie Magsanoc, Eric Altamirano, Gerry Esplana. Ako ang payat ko, talagang raw pa rin.” The same was the case when he practiced with the DLSU team, where everyone was physically much bigger and better than him. “Naging challenge sa akin to really work hard, sabi ko gusto ko maging varsity player din. Siyempre makakatulong din sa parents ko in terms of tuition fee. Pero talagang malakas yung lineup ng team so wala akong space or chance na ma-lineup.” That was when he decided to go to Mapua for college and play for their team, which was mostly comprised of rookies. “Chance ko na mapakita yung talent ko, at makilala,” he recalls. During his first two years, they lost every single game they played. “Sabi ko, sige, laban lang. I kept on improving yung skills ko.” It was in his junior year that his efforts were recognized, when he won the MVP award despite the team placing only fourth in the ranking. He was again hailed MVP during his senior year, despite not winning the championship. He played in the PABL for two years, and was drafted in the PBA in 1988.

2. On why 16 was his number: “That was my dad’s number.”

What surprised me most about the Captain was how quickly he gets emotional, especially when talking about his father. “He played college ball sa JRC,” he said with eyes so red, holding back his tears. “Yung dad ko kasi talagang ang laking influence niya, grabe. Every practice nandun siya, he saw to it na nag-i-improve ako every practice, everywhere I go, kahit mga tournaments out of town andun siya. Full talaga support niya sa akin.” His iconic No. 16 jersey for the Purefoods franchise was retired, and he was inducted into the PBA Hall of Fame in 2011. “Dream niya for me to excel in the sport.”

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Alvin is the second in a brood of four; his father worked in the investigation department of Central Bank, and his mother worked as a secretary to his lolo in a construction company. “Very grateful ako sa parents ko, tinuruan nila ako, di makatapak ng other people, maging humble, nadala ko in my basketball career. Yung career ko is because of my parents.”

3. Alvin is known to be very close to his fans, and some of his most loyal fans even kiss him on the lips.

He laughs when asked if his wife Cindy is okay with the fact that some of his original fans (“Sila yung Solid Alvin Patrimonio, very close na yung group since 1990 pa”) can give him a smack on the lips. “Alam naman niya, kilala sila ng wife ko for so long na,” he says, smiling.

“Na-influence ako ng isa sa favorite players ko, si Coach (Robert) Jaworski. Sa kanya ko natutunan to be very approachable and accommodating sa fans. Sila naman yung may factor kaya ka naging popular.” He says that to this day, he is often last to leave the dugout, and takes that opportunity to talk to the fans, some of which come all the way from Cavite or Laguna. “Yun na lang yung moment mo with them. Naka-smile sila kahit talo yung team, at pag nakikita mo sila naka-smile, yun, mission accomplished.”

4. On what made his wife Cindy stand out among all the girls he met when he was single: “Nakita ko sa kanya that she would be my life-long partner, at nag-decide ako na siya na.”

“Ito naman, influence ng isa ko pang favorite player na si Mon Fernandez, sabi niya, ‘Kayong mga bata, mag-asawa kayo ng maaga, para may direksyon ang buhay niyo,’” he recalls. He shares that it’s easy for a young athlete to be distracted by fame and fortune, and that Mon’s advice worked for him. “Mga kids ko, kasabay ko lumaki, tapos may goal ako to be a good provider for my family.”

Alvin and Cindy met through a common friend at a video shop, located near both Alvin’s team quarters and Cindy’s house. “Nag-meet kami, tapos ayun na, tuluy-tuloy na love story namin until gumawa na kami ng family,” Alvin says. They got married in 1989 when Alvin was 23 years old, and now have four children, Angelo, 23, Christine, 20, Clarice, 18, and Asher, 7.

5. On James Yap being this generation’s face of Purefoods: “Natutuwa ako kasi meron nang parang ‘following in your footsteps,’ yun bang pwede mo nang ipasa yung baton to him.”

“Kailangan ng mas malaki pang effort, pero papunta na dun ang direction niya, pag mas lalo pang mag-mature yung game niya. Yung overall package nasa kanya,” Alvin says of James. He says he really doesn’t take the role of mentor of the team (now named the San Mig Coffee Mixers), but instead just gives the team pieces of advice. “Kaya rin nila ma-achieve yung na-achieve ko, o daigin pa,” he says of the boys. “You have to be consistent, pag may department na kulang sa game mo, you can contribute in other ways, hindi lang sa points. Or kahit may pain or injury ka nakikita ng teammates mo na you’re still there.” He says that despite all the advice he may give, “it’s up to them anong gagawin nila.”

6. During the much-talked-about P25 million contract offered by Pepsi and matched by Purefoods, it was his dad who advised him. “You just have to prove na yung offer na yun, you deserve it,” his dad told him.

“I worked to death. Para sa fans at sa management, para hindi ko sila ma-disappoint. Push to the max ako palagi sa practice at sa game,” he says. He explains that when a player is given an offer sheet, his original team has five days to match the offer. “Ako naman sinign ko yung offer sheet para new atmosphere, gusto ko i-check kung sa team na yun magcli-click ako, kung makakakuha ng championship,” he recalls. Purefoods, however, matched the five-year P25 million offer (which was a huge amount in the early ‘90s, reportedly making way for other multimillion-peso PBA contracts) and Alvin played for the franchise his whole career. “Yung team na ito, I’m very grateful and very blessed. Itong team siguro yung destiny ko.”

7. His movie Last 2 Minutes, in which he starred alongside Paul Alvarez, Jerry Cordiñera, and Roderick Paulate, was a top grosser in the 1989 Metro Manila Film Festival.

“Super enjoy,” when asked about his acting career. “As long as may connection sa basketball yung role.” His first movie stint was a cameo role in Bondying with Jimmy Santos, then he went on to do Dobol Trobol with Maricel Soriano, and Tasya Fantasya with Kris Aquino. When asked why things did not work out between him and Kris back then, he politely begs off the question. “Wag, baka magka-issue pa,” he says.

When asked about the time he was constantly being linked to his then-manager Nap Gutierrez, he says: “Ang hirap nung time na yun. You’re on the front page tapos negative yung issue sa iyo. I had to prove to everyone, I wasn’t stepping on other people. Binuhos ko sa game ko. Sige, sabihin niyo na lahat ng gusto niyong sabihin against me pero pagdating sa laro ko dapat wala. Nobody’s perfect naman and naka-commit ako ng mistakes. Lesson learned yun. Di naman talaga mawawala ang negative issues sa showbiz.”

8. Alvin Patrimonio in numbers:

191: Height in centimeters.

17.6: Number of points per game on average throughout his career, making him the third all-time scoring leader (15,091 total points) next to Mon Fernandez and Abet Guidaben.

30,478: Total number of minutes played in his 17-season career.

22,400: Number of followers of his Twitter account, @alvinpatrimonio.

21: Total number of dogs currently in the Patrimonio home. Juicy, a three-year-old Great Dane, was a birthday gift to him from his family.

9. Despite his busy schedule, he always makes time for his family and even takes his daughters on one-on-one dates.

“He never forgets to bring home pasalubong when he comes home from out of town. He’s not really strict, cool dad siya like barkada namin, and he goes to bars with us nga sometimes. He always tries to make a joke but after making the joke he’s the only one laughing,” his daughter Tin shares during a separate interview.

“Yung effort na makasama ko sila, one on one, malaking boost yun sa kanila. Chance din to say, ito papa niyo, dito galing, dapat ganun din kayo. You really have to work hard, patience dapat nandyan kasi hindi right away makukuha mo ang success. Kailangan galing ka sa zero bago ka umakyat, diba ang iba pag privileged, minsan nakakalimutan to really work hard,” he reminds his children.

His eldest, Angelo, just graduated and Alvin says: “Siyempre proud ako kasi ako di ako grumaduate ng college.” It is important for him and his wife Cindy that their kids value education as well as sports. His two daughters are highly competitive tennis players and he reveals, “mas madami silang trophy sa akin!”

10. Beyond enjoying a successful career and family life, there’s one thing Alvin is possibly looking forward to: the world of politics.

“Maraming nag-e-encourage, why not try politics? Sabi ko, nasa heart ko yan, to serve the people,” he says. “Hindi muna ngayon, kailangan muna a lot of preparation. My family naman, kino-consider din nila. Mabigat na battle to.”

* * *

Throughout the interview, whatever the question, the 46-year-old sports icon shared tidbits of advice. “Continue your good attitude,” “Work hard,” “Stay humble,” “No shortcuts.” A man of few words, when he speaks, you know he means it. Sure enough, the bits of wisdom he shares are ultimately his personal secrets to success, things that he practices to this day. “Kailangan from the heart lahat ng gagawin mo, not all the time it’s about money, it’s because you love what you do kaya you give your 100 percent.”

http://www.philstar.com/sunday-life/2012-11-18/867856/alvin-patrimonio-dating-%E2%80%93-his-daughters