All you need to do is try to hit Robin’s vulnerable spot and a facet of his personality not often seen by the public comes to the fore.
Ask personal questions and Robin, just like all actors, at once clams up and turns defensive, understandably so.
Because he’s turning, well, light and breezy in his new movie, Star Cinema’s Videoke King, you can use another approach. Yes, ask Robin about his musical side. After all, in Videoke King, directed by Jerry Lopez Sineneng and in which Robin, as a videoke buff, is paired with the Concert Queen herself, Pops Fernandez, for the first time, Robin exploits not only his vocal chords but also his fancy footwork.
"It’s a welcome change after doing all those action roles," says Robin as he takes the same career path now getting crowded with such Hollywood biggies as Mel Gibson (as, for a change, a romantic hero in such flicks as What Women Want) and even Clint Eastwood (wasn’t he memorable and lovable as the love-struck photographer in Bridges of Madison County, with Meryl Streep as his love object?).
"I’m a singer at heart," adds Robin, "and until this movie, I confined my singing to the bathroom."
Let’s find out more about the songs in Robin’s life.
If you were a singer, who would you be?
"Elvis Presley."
Why Elvis Presley?
"Kasi during his time, he was also a rebel, di ba? Usung-uso ang ballad noon at bigla niyang pinasukan ng rock ‘n’ roll. And he became the king."
What’s your all-time favorite song?
"I have three – Light My Fire (by The Doors), Wonderful Tonight (by Eric Clapton) and Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For (by U2)."
Is there any song that makes you cry?
"That one – Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For."
What’s the significance of that song in your life ba?
"It’s about one’s search for God. He goes all around, all over, including the mountains, but he can’t seem to find what he’s looking for – his God."
What about you? Have you found your God?
"I think so. I remember I used to listen to that song before I landed in jail and it moved me so much because of my own personal search at that time. Parang may hinahanap ako na hindi ko maintindihan. I still listen to it now even if I feel that I have already found what I’ve been looking for."
Do you and Liezl (Sicangco, his wife) have any theme song?
"‘Yung Forever. You know…" (Starts to sing) "…Come with me my sweet…"
What’s your favorite line from that song?
"…Let’s go make a family, they will bring us joy for always…" (Proceeds to sing again)
That’s the title of the song, For Always, not Forever.
"Oo nga pala…For Always."
In Videoke King, you’re shifting gears, an action hero to a romantic hero…
"…We started shooting this movie right after I did Buhay Kamao. For a change, dapat light role naman. I had to lose weight for my role in Videoke King, the same weight I gained for my role (as a boxer) in Buhay Kamao. I used to weigh about 180 pounds, and I shed more than 20. I stopped working out for a while after doing Buhay Kamao, so medyo tumaba ako. That’s what happens when you work out and you suddenly stop, di ba? You gain weight. So nagensayo ako uli, kasama na ang dance training. My trainer, Edwin, is a boxer whose sideline is being a dance instructor (D.I.). I also had voice lessons. Part of my voice training was to shout every morning as soon as I wake up."
What about diet?
"Mostly fish and fruits ako, plus vegetables. Less of rice. I eat beef only twice a week."
What’s your waistline?
"Thirty-one inches."
For somebody forever romantically linked to his leading ladies, it’s surprising that, according to Pops, there’s no possibility of you two ever getting romantically involved. Hindi daw kayo talo, you being good friends.
"Minsan lang nali-link sa leading ladies but those link-link are not true."
How did you and Pops become friends?
"When I came out of prison, takot na takot ako sa tao. Pops and my Kuya Rustom belong to one barkada and they always invited me everytime they went out. They always asked Liezl and me to go with them. When Pops did a show at (The Mandarin’s) Captain’s Bar, nandoon kami. It was my first public appearance after makalaya ako."
Do you have any favorite romantic hero?
"‘Yung sa Streetcar Named Desire…"
Marlon Brando.
"Yes, he’s the one."
What do you like about Marlon Brando?
"He’s a natural actor. Lalaking-lalaki. He’s very good in Streetcar Named Desire, especially in the scenes where he’s fighting with his wife (Vivien Leigh). In real life, when a couple quarrels, ‘yon talaga ang hitsura at akto ng lalaki."
You’re a devout Muslim. How many times do you pray every day?
"Five times – 4:30 in the morning, 12:30 p.m., 3:30 p.m., 6:30 p.m. and then 7:30 p.m."
What do you usually pray for?
"Peace of mind."
Why? Don’t you have peace of mind yet?
"With the world situation as it is, how can you have peace of mind? Especially since my (half-brother), Gino Padilla (not the singer), has just been killed. How can I have peace of mind? May mga threats kami, so mayroon na naman akong mga security. I thought na tapos na ako sa ganoong buhay. Sometimes nga, I ask myself, ‘Is this a flashback?’ I’ve been going around solo, but now I have bodyguards again."
What’s the last thing you do before going to sleep?
"I pray. Not the conventional way of praying but my own, personal way. I talk to Him directly."
And what’s the first thing that you do upon waking up in the morning?
"I pray again. The first thing I say is, ‘Praise God!’ I thank God na gumising pa ako… for giving me another new day. Isn’t it scary if you don’t wake up anymore? Nakakatakot, di ba? But you know, that’s the sweetest way to die; wala ka nang hirap. You just go on sleeping forever. That’s what every Muslim is praying for – a peaceful death…after martyrdom."
What is your most precious possession?
"My family – my wife and children, my mother ( Eva Cariño), my brothers…my whole family."
Being a long-distance father, your wife and children being in Queensland, how do you help in bringing up your kids?
"I act as the referee. Si Liezl mas mahigpit." (Their four children are Queenie, 12; Kayle, 9; Zenzen, 7; and Ahmad Ali, one year and eight months. Robin also has love children, one with Leah Orosa and one with Jobelle Salvador. – RFL) "I text to them every day or talk to them on the phone. I can even guide them in their homework. But the phone calls have to be brief, otherwise they’ll get bored kasi naguusap-usap kami every day. I usually ask them, ‘Are you okay? Is there any problem?’ Mga ganoon lang."
With Liezl miles away, have you been, ehem, faithful?
(Answers jokingly) "As far as I know, hindi pa naman ako ikinakasal sa ibang babae." (Robin, being a Muslim, is entitled to four wives. He has taken a second wife and a third wife from both he’s divorced. – RFL)
Haven’t you been unfaithful even only in thoughts?
"Sometimes, but not all the time."
But you still look at other women, I’m sure!
"Siempre, lalaki tayo, e! I can’t help it. I don’t think it’s bad to think of ‘something bad’ as long as you don’t actually do it."
What part of a woman’s body do you look at first?
"The hair. Malakas ang appeal sa akin ng buhok ng isang babae; ‘yung mahaba ng kaunti. It makes a woman look more feminine, babaing-babae. Short hair turns me off."
And which part of your body are you proud of?
(Laughs and then thinks hard before answering) "My heart. No matter what I’ve been through and what some people think or say about me, I know that I have a good heart."
What’s your greatest fear?
"Ang bumalik sa drugs. Takot ako d’un."
Your happiest moment?
"When I’m with my family; when I am shooting. Kasi until I got into prison, parang I didn’t appreciate my work the way I should. Ngayon ko na lang talaga na-e-enjoy ang mag-shooting. It’s only now that I’m really enjoying doing movies."
What’s your favorite fantasy?
"About sex?"
Not necessarily.
"I want to explore Europe with my children."
If you had a chance to spend one night with another woman, who would that lucky woman be?
"Only one?"
How many do you want?
"Three."
Who are they?
"Secret. But I have to marry all three of them first dahil ayoko magkasala."
You’re accident-prone. You got hurt in another accident recently, didn’t you?
"I was confined three weeks ago at Delgado Clinic (Kamuning Road, Quezon City) due to LBM. I was feeling weak. I slipped on my way to the bathroom and my lower back hit the floor. Nagkaroon ako ng slipped disc." (Lets me feel the protruding disc near his pelvic bones. - RFL) "When the pain got worse, the doctors gave me pain relievers. Aba, parang nasasarapan na naman ako doon sa pain relievers, so I got scared because I might get addicted to them."
Your body is the walking record of your feats, just like Jackie Chan who has dozens of scars, even a hole in his head when he miscalculated a stunt during a shooting in Yugoslavia, hitting the pavement head first when he leaped from the fourth floor of a building without a net to catch him. How many scars do you have?
"I haven’t counted them. Basta, marami! These scars (in his arms) I got during a hold-up; twice ako na-hold-up. The long scar on my back is from a surgery on my spinal column. I also have burned parts which I got during the shooting of a blasting scene. My body is like the map of scars and cuts."
Which was the most painful, the burns?
"Not the third-degree burns but the second deep burns. ‘Yon ang pinaka-masakit sa lahat. That was the time I had to take pain relievers."
What’s your favorite pastime?
"Reading pocketbooks. My favorite author is Mario Puzo and Mark Bowden (who wrote Black Hawk Down). I’m now reading Bowden’s new novel, Killing Pablo (Escobar). When I saw Black Hawk Down, hindi na ako nagandahan. Maybe because I liked the book better. I also read the novels of Tom Clancey."
How long will you remain a romantic idol?
"Not for long. In my next movie (with Chito Roño, which is about the Balanguiga massacre), I’m going back to action."