Derek Ramsay Almost Got Into The Asiana Airline Plane That Crashed In California Recently

IF DEREK RAMSAY didn’t change his airline at the last minute during his recent trip to San Francisco, he would have been in the ill fated Asiana Airlines that crashed on July 6. “It’s really good we changed to PAL dahil kung Asiana, may stopover pa, kung hindi, doon kami nakasakay,” he says at the presscon of his new TV5 show, “Undercover”. “Later on, when we were listening to the reports, we were so thankful we didn’t get that flight.”

He went to Sanfo to accept an award for being the Most Bankable Celebrity at the Filipino community in Martinez, California in the first Adobo Festival they held there. Earlier, he was also in the U.S. with Sharon Cuneta and Aga Muhlach for the Philippine Independence Day celebration.

“That’s where I found out na marami palang nanonood sa TV5 kahit hindi pa kami kasinlakas doon like the other networks. Kasi people call me ‘Kidlat’, which they get to watch there. And now, when people see me naman in public, they say Roy Velasco, Undercover. So ibig sabihin, marami ring nanonood ng bago kong show.”

Now on its third week, Derek plays a hardhitting cop who is suddenly abducted on his wedding day in “Undercover”. For six years, he was held captive inside a room, isolated from the world outside. Then, he is suddenly freed. He goes back to his home, only to find out that his bride, Arci Munoz, is now married to his own stepbrother, Wendell Ramos.

He starts to investigate on who kidnapped and imprisoned him for six years. His main suspect is a crime lord, Amang, played by Phillip Salvador. But there will be twists and turns in the story that will surprise him as well as the viewers. The plotting is reminiscent of the Korean pic, “Old Boy”, and also “Legends of the Fall” with Brad Pitt.

“After ‘Kidlat’ where I played a superhero, this one is more dramatic as I have to go through a lot of emotions because of all the misery that I went through. Mas mahirap ang role ko rito and I’m very thankful that Kuya Ipe (Phillip Salvador) is with me kasi sa batuhan pa lang ng dialogue, I’m already learning a lot from him. Pati sa pag-anggulo, pagputok ng baril, he serves as my mentor. He’s really so generous and helps make me a better actor. Nage-enjoy akong umarte rito.”

For the past two years, he’s had hit movies like “No Other Woman” and “Secret Affair”, what’s in store for him this year on the big screen? “Viva sent me a wonderful script and I can’t stop the moment I started reading it. I got the same feeling when I read the scripts of ‘No Other Woman’ and ‘Secret Affair’, and also ‘The Mistress’, which I ended not doing kasi nga lumipat ako sa TV5. I’ll be with Heart Evangelista, Cristine Reyes and John Estrada as my older brother. Ang ganda ng role ni Cristine dito, may pagka-psychotic. Inaayos na ang schedule ko ngayon para maisingit yung shooting ng movie while I’m taping ‘Undercover’.”