Janno Gibbs remembers late dad Ronaldo Valdez
MANILA, Philippines — Talking about his late dad Ronaldo Valdez through interviews has helped Janno Gibbs to somehow cope with the loss of his father.
Janno recently shared in a chat with this paper and another media outlet that most members of his family are still not OK after the demise of the veteran actor in December 2023.
“It’s the same with me. I still have episodes (where I suddenly remember him). I’d forget na, ‘Ay wala na pala.’ Sometimes, for example, we have (family) occasions, a party, it’s like, ‘I’m gonna see my dad again. Ah, wala na pala.’”
But it helped that he was able to grant interviews and had spoken about his dad. “Ako ang pinakamaagang naging OK. Because of my interviews like with Karen Davila, Boy Abunda, nailabas ko. Naiyak ko na. So it’s a great help. It’s like therapy. My family doesn’t get to do that.”
He also remembered Ronaldo as someone who piqued his interest in showbiz early on. When he was a teenager, he would ask his dad to bring him to film production outfits and sets. “Kinukulit ko siya (he would tell his dad), ‘Sama mo ko kahit extra lang.’ He didn’t want me to be an actor because of him. But what he did was, he brought me to Regal (Entertainment), to Mother (Lily Monteverde).
“Hindi niya ako sinamahan, hinatid lang niya ako,” Janno recalled and added that his dad wanted him to make it on his own in the showbiz industry.
Janno proudly noted that his first movie was with the late comedy king Dolphy in “Kalabog En Bosyo Strike Again” in 1986 and that Ronaldo’s first film was also with Dolphy in “Pepe en Pilar” in 1966.
It was Dolphy who suggested his dad’s screen name as Valdez. “My dad’s last name is Gibbs. The Valdez came from Dolphy. My dad used a different screen name before. But they needed an onscreen partner for Susan Roces,” said Janno.
“They introduced my daddy. Eh hindi pa ayos ang daddy ko, medyo gusgusin, hindi pa nakaayos. Mahirap lang naman ang daddy ko, ang background niya. Dolphy refused him. So ginawa ng manager, inayusan, binalik. ‘Ayan, OK ‘to.’ Haha! Hindi na nakilala ni Dolphy.”
Janno also felt lucky that his late grandfather, National Artist Gerry de Leon, brought him to the set of “Banaue: Stairway to the Sky,” the latter’s last film before he passed away. “It was the first time na nakasama ako sa shooting (set), but not in the movie. It was my first (set) experience.”
De Leon was honored at the Film Development Council of the Philippines’ Philippine Film Industry Month (PFIM) celebration last September.
Janno also looked back on his early days in the entertainment business.
“Nagkaroon kasi ako ng reputation na late, unprofessional, ganun which is kasalanan ko rin. You see, in my Instagram, my name there is jannolategibbs. I used it as a joke and spiel on my shows, ‘Alam niyo naman ako laging late.’ When in fact, when you asked the production, yung late na yun, hindi naman masyado yun eh. Yung fashionably (late) lang, you get me? Tama lang,” he said.
He went on to clarify that he was “never a cause of delay.” “‘We couldn’t start because wala pa si Janno.’ It never happened, especially now kasi nga medyo nabansagan akong ganun.”
Janno further admitted that there came a time that no one wanted to hire him for a project. “So when I entered Viva, I said, ‘I need to shape up.’ I said, kailangan hindi ako mapahiya because Viva got me again. So ever since that I joined Viva, hindi na ko nala-late sa shooting. Kahit yung konting late lang, no. When they say it’s 8 or 6 a.m., nandun ako.”
On what made him change his work ethics, he told The STAR, “Because it was affecting my work already. And then parang ayaw na akong kunin. And, of course, sa Viva yun eh hindi naman nakikita ng ibang network.
“But even in ‘FPJ’s Ang Probinsyano,’ if you ask them, like Coco (Martin), hindi naman ako nala-late dun kasi kung hindi magagalit ‘di ba? I wouldn’t stay in the show for three months if I’m difficult to work with. I hope they give me a chance because marami pa akong ibubuga. I still have the passion for it.”
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