‘I want to encourage all parents with autistic sons to come out and not be ashamed of having a special child. — Martin Nievera’
MARTIN NIEVERA
MARTIN Nievera’s recent 40th anniversary concert at the Solaire Theatre, “M4D” (Martin 4 Decades), was a huge success and star-studded affair.
“I still cannot believe four decades have past,” he tells us. “It went by so fast. I remember starting by guesting in the show of Pilita Corrales and now I’ve been singing for 40 years. Honestly, it didn’t feel like 40 years to me. I asked the audience at the end of the show: Will you still be there in the next 40 years? And they all said yes. God willing, why not? But first, I look forward to doing my 50th anniversary concert. Basil Valdez and the late Rico J did that so, hopefully, ako rin, ten years from now.”
Christmas is just around the corner. How does he plan to spend it? “I always go the States for Christmas since my three sons are all there. I’m preparing for a show called SOFA, which means ‘Sing Out for Autism.’ I have a son (with former partner Katrina Ojeda) who is autistic and I want to encourage all parents with autistic sons to come out and not be ashamed of having a special child. Santino is now 16 years old, very good looking and 6 feet tall. He’s a genius in math, is obsessive compulsive in wanting to see everything neat and orderly, and he just loves girls and mermaids. I just love him unconditionally.”
- Advertisement -
Why did Robin, his eldest son with Pops Fernandez, break up with Dolphy and Zsa Zsa Padilla’s daughter, Zia, when they were on for the longest time? “You know, we were all broken hearted when they parted, but they made a very mature decision about it. Robin wanted to try a career in the US and when Zia learned about it, she said, do we really want to have a long-distance relationship? And it’s true, it’s going to be very difficult, so they decided that with Robin leaving, it’s best for them to let go para wala silang commitments to each other while Robin is away. I think it’s a very smart decision as they parted as good friends and they get to save their friendship and respect for each other. Up to now, they’re still communicating with each other.”
***
Louise De Los Reyes plays Nadine Lustre’s friend who goes missing in the Viva Films horror entry in the coming Metro Manila Film Festival, “Deleter.” She later returns as a mysterious apparition as seen in the movie’s trailer.
“The last time I did a horror film was more than ten years ago sa Regal, ‘Shake Rattle and Roll 13’,” she says. “Horror film din ‘yun. Magkakasama kami nina Kathryn Bernardo at Sam Concepcion in the ‘Parola’ episode directed by Jerrold Tarog. Ngayon lang naulit and this time, we have another very young director, Mikhail Red, na napakagaling ding manakot.”
“Deleter” is described as a techno-thriller as it’s about online technician-moderators who delete bad or malicious content from video footage sent to them to filter it before being releasing it online.
“Kakaibang klaseng takot naman ang i-o-offer namin sa audience,” adds Louise. “High tech thriller, so we are all very excited. Kasama namin dito si McCoy de Leon as friend din namin ni Nadine and Jeffrey Hidalgo as our boss who is mysterious and has dark secrets of his own. I had fun working with all of them.”
***
Juancho Trivino is getting much acclaim for his nuanced portrayal of Padre Salvi in the hit GMA primetime series, “Maria Clara at Ibarra”.
“I never expected magiging maugong ang feedback for my role,” he says. “Siempre, maraming galit sa akin dahil kontrabida si Padre Salvi rito, kami ni Tirso Cruz III as Padre Damaso. But they all say effective ang performance ko kaya naiinis sila sa akin. And now, I got my first acting nomination as best supporting actor in the TAG Awards of Pinoys in Chicago for my performance as Padre Salvi. In my 10 years in showbiz, first time kong na-nominate for my acting. Salamat po.”
As Padre Salvi, he seems religious to the people of San Diego, but he’s actually an evil man who does the vilest things to Dennis Trillo as Crisostomo Ibarra and covets Julie Anne San Jose as Maria Clara. He is also very mean and cruel to Andrea del Rosario as Sisa and her sons.
Juancho is honest enough to admit that he didn’t really read “Noli Me Tangere” in school. “It’s only now that I’m playing Padre Salvi that I got to really read it and understand what our National Hero, Jose Rizal, is trying to impart to us. He wants to open the eyes of his readers to the abuses of the Spaniards then, including the friars.”
Juancho really has a lot of reasons to be happy these days. His career is doing well and his family life is even better. He just started his own podcast, “One on Juancho,” and his first guest was his wife, Joyce Pring, who said: “I’m super happy that he’s finally sharing his wit, humor and pagiging madaldal to the world.”
Juancho says he counts his blessings every day. “And I am very grateful. I’m very happy with my life and I really have so much to be thankful for.”
