New year & new network

A new year is upon us! The Year of the Horse has smiled favorably on me and as luck would have it, I find myself back on television via GMA 7’s Paraiso Ko’y Ikaw.

Paraiso Ko’y Ikaw premiered last Jan. 27 before 24 Oras and airs from Mondays to Fridays. Through the series, I get to work with some people I have never acted with before, which is always an exciting process, as well as reconnect with people I haven’t been onscreen with in over a decade.

Directed by Bb. Joyce Bernal, Paraiso Ko’y Ikaw is a love story that will delight audiences because of the chemistry of Kapuso teen stars Kim Rodriguez as Josephine and Kristoffer Martin as Tupe. Among the cast are Janno Gibbs, Jessa Zaragoza, Gabby Eigenmann with the special participation of veteran actor Joey Marquez. Joey has been on hiatus from television for a while so it is with great anticipation that he reappears onscreen again in the teleserye.

At the press conference for the show recently, I thought it was rather amusing how perplexing it can be to other journalists that in the time I have migrated back to the Philippines (it will be two years this March), I have somehow managed to work with all three networks. 

In early 2012, I was on TV5’s Nandito Ako. Later that year, I played an antagonist for the first time on ABS-CBN’s Aryana. In 2013, I ventured into reality television with One Mega’s Young Designers Competition: All Stars Edition that aired on etc and immersed myself in two theater productions, Atlantis Productions’ PIAF and Repertory Philippines’ The Producers.

As an actor and TV personality, it is without a doubt refreshing that one can work with many people, whom undeniably I have personally grown very close to over the duration of the productions I am part of. I hear from my friends who are locked into one network how stifling it can get when you work with one conglomerate for the entirety of their career. The reassurance of work, however, is a welcome one and when it becomes lucrative to both parties involved, then a partnership is forged in stone.

So, perhaps, it may be a big deal that one can jump the fence and work with many companies, especially when association with one network is part and parcel of showbiz industry. But when a network really cultivates and invests in talent, why feel the need to go elsewhere? Yet, I call a spade a spade when it becomes inevitable that some homegrown talents may rise to star status and in turn become too big for their britches. Relationships unfortunately turn sour and in an industry as small as this, it can mean the end of the line for some.

But as you know, opportunity knocks when you least expect it and after more than a decade, I am back to the network that I was once a part of before leaving for New York in my 20s. I have so many fond memories of my time as Genie G with the defunct show Beh Bote Nga, where I first acted along Janno and also at the time a fresh-faced Anne Curtis played my sister. All my Sundays were well-spent with my colleagues from S.O.P., hosting and dancing in my own segment aptly-titled G Spot.

If there is one piece of advice that has really proven to ring true, it’s never to burn bridges in any industry you find yourselves in. That person who used to either get your coffee or be one of the many production assistants on a set can very well rise in the ranks and be your boss one day. Gratitude plays an integral part to the longevity of anyone’s career and as the New Year unfolds, I am humbled once again at the blessings bestowed my way. As the trending hashtag on Twitterverse goes: Dear GMA — Thank you for once again welcoming me into your roster of shows for the New Year.

The Chinese horoscope of the Year of the Horse has guided me to GMA’s stable and I am extremely encouraged by all the possibilities that are in the distant future. May the Year of the Horse bring all of you readers as much luck in your career as it has done mine this early on in the year. Kung Hei Fat Choi!

(Tweet the author on Twitter at @gtongi or follow on Instragram at @gtongi.)