Thursday, March 29, 2018

In The Eyes of Bunso


He's always going to be known as Ryan Christian, althought he doesn't mind if you call him just Ryan (He has also heard people call him by his dad's name, Ralph, or by his brother's name, Luis). Unless you've caught his very few TV appearances of late, you might still picture Ryan Christian Recto as a fair-skinned, brown-haired, doe-eyed little boy. He is still all that, except that now he is twice as tall as that little boy and is a 19-year-old college student, taking up management at the Ateneo de Manila University. At the time of the Yes! interview, Ryan is thinking of shifting to another business course, management economics. "I still haven't made up my mind what to specialize in," he says. "I'm just exploring everything now." Yes, even including show business and politics.

Ryan dabbled in acting when he was younger. He had regular guesting stints on the long-running kiddie gag show Goin' Bulilit (He was in the same batch as Kathryn Bernardo, Nash Aguas, and Jane Oineza). "I'm cool with it," he says. "I think others want it more than me. It interests me, but not to the point where I'd go to the same lengths as others. More like, if it's there, it's there." Just a normal teenage boy, except that he is not - at least not to us, the public. He is, after all, the son of the Star for All Seasons. He grew up in a world where his mom was already the Ate Vi. To this day, when he comes home from school, there are times when he would look for his mom and jokingly shout: "Ate Vi!" "I didn't see her before she wasn't well-known to everyone," he says.

"I didn't need to get used to it, you know what I mean? Kasi, for me, that was normal." It was normal that one day he stumbled upon videos of the Darna series that starred his mother. "The feeling you get, you know," he says animatedly. "You see Wonder Woman, but I can say my mom did it better! Hahaha! Kasi ako, I'm a big komiks fan and the fact that she played a superhero, that's...ang galing!" Ryan lists the Darna series, particularly Darna and the Giants, as his favorite in his mother's filmography. Not many can say that their moms had "playing Darna"in their resume, but Ryan says that, for the most part, his mother is a "regular Filipino mom." Whenever Ryan had friends over, Ate Vi would welcome them and insist on feeding everyone. "Kahit busog ka, bibigyan ka pa rin." At home, Ryan says his mom would typically be in a shirt, "short shorts,"and one of those workout headbands. Not in a duster? "She's too young for that!" Ryan replies, chuckling.

"I'm kidding. Not just her thing." He says Ate Vi, on her days off from work, can usually be found sitting on the couch in the TV are. "She does everything in that couch!" he says. She works out, eats, watches TV, and even falls asleeep there. "She sleeps with the TV on," Ryan reveals. "If you turn off the TV, she'll wake up." Overall, he says, his mom is "a mix of strict and cool." He even prefers talking to her when it comes to the subject of girls. Both of his parents "give good advice," he says. "Pero I like mom's advice better. Hahaha! If you want to know something about a woman, why would you ask a man? Might as well ask a woman! So girls -Mom. Dad -all of the serious stuff." Ryan is currently in a relationship and has brought his girlfriend home to meet his parents.

"Napaka-welcoming ni Mom, fortunately. Every time we have a family thing, 'O, invite your girl,' like that." Ate Vi has also encouraged Ryan in music. He had tried diffrent kinds of instruments, but he found that the drum "clicks with me." he adds: "And like my mom said, pinakamalakas na appeal daw in a band is the drums. Hahaha! Siyempre, my mom, dancer siya, e. So my mom, sa beat siya. You can't make people dance with the guitar, di ba? There has to be a beat." He reiterates: "Kaya drummers siguro 'yong may pinakamalakas na appeal. Hahaha!" Like other boys his age, Ryan is also allowed to have fun and have a few drinks with friends, but not without getting serious reminders from both his parents. They always remind him not to drink and drive, and not to go all out when it comes to alcohol.

"Magtira ka bago umuwi," he says, repeating his dad's words. "Let's say you're in a friend's house and you get drunk. Don't puke in their house. That's very, very disrespectful to them. Don't pass out in their house or something. Don't do that." Ryan takes his parents' trust in him seriously. He knows that these freedoms were given to him out of trust. "It's mostly a matter of me just being responsible. If they see that I am responsible, that I can manage myself when I go out of whatever, that's fine. But if they didn't see that, then no." He makes it a point to give his parents updates on his whereabouts. "Not naman every five minutes, no. It's more like letting them know where I am, how long I'll stay." But, of course, the cool-parenting part ends somewhere.

Ate Vi draws the line when it come to serious matters like schooling. One time, when he was in high school, Ryan got into huge trouble because he was always late for school, which was "literally 20 steps away from our house." "Inaabuso ko 'yong the fact na my house is near," he recalls. "Napupuyat ako palagi. At night, I just think about the next day. Sometimes I watch movies. And because of that, nasanay na." His tardiness got so frequent that the school sanctioned him and made him do community service. "I had to clean up a beach." As a result, Ryan got an earful from his parents. Ate Vi tell us later, when it's her turn to be interviewed by Yes!, about how she scolded her bunso. She told him: "Kahihiyan na 'yan anak. Mahiya ka dahil 'yong ginagawa mo, boomerang sa amin.

Parang wala kaming kuwentang mga magulang, you know. Five minutes away sa school, late pa? May memo pa?" Ryan has since learned his lesson. Now that he travels from Ayala Alabang in the south to the Ateneo campus in the north, he leaves the house an hour and a half before his scheduled calss. He is now very punctual, his mom tell us. These days, he even prepares his school stuff, including the clothes he will wear to school, the night before. Ate Vi reports: "Nagugulat ako! 'Anak, are you sure?' Nakikita ko na preparing na. 'This is what I am going to wear tomorrow.' Nilalabas niya na 'yong rubber shoes, ayun." By the looks of it, Ryan is growing up to be a stand-up man, someone who's reliable and trustworthy, someone you can depend on to "stand up and be counted." Ate Vi and Senator Ralph must be doing something right. - Candice Lim-Venturanza, Yes! Magazine October 2015

Monday, March 5, 2018

Kung May Guy si Erap, May Vilma si Ronnie


Tuloy na tuloy na. Anytime now the cameras will grind. At ang magkakasama ay ang pinanabikan ng lahat sina Erap at Guy. Yes si Mayor Joseph Estrada at si darling bulilit Nora Aunor. Together, tiyak na theyèll be a riot twosome sa pelikulang Erap is My Guy. Sa titulo na lang, click na. And for sure, pipilahan ito. Just right for the new pair. No hindi sila love team. More of Magka-sidekick.

While showbiz is agog sa big news na ito, mukhang another equally gigantic happening ay nasa planning stage. The King himself, FPJ, ay makakasama naman ng sweet na si Baby Vi, Vilma Santos. So may Guy si Erap pero si Ronnie may Vi. Aba, sapak rin. Ano, mas mabigat ba? No huwag natin silang i-compare. Dahil hindi naman sila talu-talo. As far as some scribes are concerned, Nora and Vi have kissed and made-up.

Ngayon, kung may kaunti pang samaan ng loob na namamagitan sa kanila, despite publicities and printed materials na nagbati na sila, that is for the two to decide. Whereas kind Ronnie at Erap, alam natin ang real score...para silang magkapatid, parang nag-blood compact. Ilang taon nang tested ang friendship nila. Come hell or hi-water, nadoon pa rin ang dalawang chokaran, together they stand, divided they fall.

So, marmi ngang nagulat nang napadalaw si Ronnie sa shooting ni Vilma. More than once. At ang malimit na biro ni Ron, malapit silang magkasama sa isang super-production. Noon ngang unang dalaw ni Ronnie sa set ni Vi, ang biniro niya ay sina Jay Ilagan at Edgar Mortiz who happened to be her leading men sa ginagawang pelikula. At ang bulong ni Ron kay Vi, "Huwag mo na ngang pansinin ang dalawang iyan. Marami naman silang chicks."

Kaya nga the loudest whisper ay ito, although it isn't on the record yet. May kasunduan ang TIIP at FPJ. Na malamang, makasama si Ronnie sa war picture ng TIIP where he co-stars with Jay, Edgar and some young stars. Na matapos ito, sina Jay naman ang gagawa sa FPJ. Though maliwanag na malapit na ring magsama sina Ronnie at Vilma, malakas rin ang posibilidad na mag-change partners sina Joseph at FPJ.

Chances are matapos ang pelikula nina Erap at Guy, si Guy naman ang gagawa sa FPJ. And Erap's next target might be Vilma. While patuloy nga ang paglakas pa sa takilya nina Erap at FPJ as the real McCoy superstars, marami rin ang nagtatanong kung darating pa ba raw ang panahon na maabot ng ibang young male stars ang kanilang kinaroroonan. Jay Ilagan in place of FPJ - that is if the latter decides to retire.

Kasi, hindi mo basta mapapalitan ang isang institusyon like FPJ. Para siyang haligi na kahit dumating pa ang lindol o bagyo ay maiiwang nakatindig. Ang who'll succeed Erap? It could be anyone - like Pip? or Cocoy? Edgar? We can't think of anyone na hindi bantog sa music world ang puwedeng kandidato. The trouble nga with out young stars ay napakarami nila. Pero kaunti lang ang gusto ng publiko. Kakaunti ang pumapasa.

Mas marami ang mga bumabagsak. At this stage, marami rin ang humuhula: If Erap is paired with Guy and Ronnie with Vilma, then malaki rin ang posibilidad na the following witll emerge: Susan-Jay starrer; and Amalia-Pip flick; at ilang pang combination ng senior at junior superstars. Pero ang maganda nga nito, beautiful ang kanilang samahan. Walang intrigue at no professional jealousy. - Bee Kay Jay, Bulaklak Magazine No.66, 05 February 1973, reposted by Pelikula Atbp (READ MORE)

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