We tell him he should get back the buff body he had in “A Love Story” and he says: “Oo naman. Struggle pa rin but papunta na tayo dun.”
His “Pinoy Explorer” episodes on New York City are very informative. He explored many facets of the Big Apple we’re not familiar with even if we’ve been there several times. And he obviously had lots of fun doing skydiving with Derek Ramsay and jamming with Sharon Cuneta and Lea Salonga.
“The next episodes will show more of our country, the Undiscovered Philippine Wonders,” he says. “This Sunday, we’ll start with Romblon at kasama ko ang female athletes na sina Gretchen Ho of Ateneo and Natasha Alquiroz of La Salle. Ang alam lang natin, marble country yun, but it has a lot more to offer. We’ll do some skin diving and show you the Blue Hole, Tablas Fun Resort at ang Bermuda Triangle of Romblon where so many accidents have happened. Then we’ll feature Cagayan and Isabela provinces. I’ll be a traveller with a cause as I will be helping our kababayans in the places I visit, like the Kawayan Elementary School in Romblon.”
Aside from “Pinoy Explorer”, Aga will soon be the game master in “Let’s Ask Pilipinas”, an interactive show where four contestants will appear nightly through skype. “Ang maganda rito, they don’t even have to dress up and come to the studio,” he says. “They can stay at home and just do skype on their computers while in various places in Luzon, Visayas or Mindanao. All those who want to join will be required to register first with us. The first time this was offered to me, ayoko. It’s out of my comfort zone. I’m 44 years old, takot na ko sumubok ng ibang bagay. But then, naisip ko, why not? I visited the Warner Bros. Studio in the U.S. where they do the original show and it’s very exciting. With ‘Pinoy Explorer’ at 6 PM Sundays and this one at 8 PM weeknights, I’ll be seen on TV Sunday to Friday. They’ll show two sides me of as a host. In ‘Pinoy Explorer’, I open myself up to the people I meet in various places ganung dati, very shy ako, set and shooting lang ang mundo ko. Now, I’m discovering an entire new world and this started when I campaigned sa Bicol. Everyone said, di ka mananalo diyan, sobrang yaman ng kalaban mo, dadayain ka, but whatever happened, I’ve moved on and don’t regret it as I learned so much from the experience. I’m just grateful to TV5 dahil now, I’m also hosting a game show and it’s really a lot of fun. Yung game itself, masaya na mismo at makakatulong pa ako sa contestants na mananalo.”
We thought he’ll also do a new movie. “Yes, but I’m still looking for new material. In terms of romance, lahat ng klaseng love stories nagawa ko na. I’m so happy with the indie films now being made kasi may freedom sila to do what they want. So I also want to try that, pero something na may kabuluhan.”
What about the movie he’s supposed to do with Lea Salonga? “I’d love to work with Lea. I told her it comes in 3’s. We’ve done two films, ‘Bakit Labis Kitang Mahal’ and ‘Sana Maulit Muli’, so maybe Star Cinema has a good project for us, something more mature, bagay sa amin ngayon, but still fun to watch.”
TV5 Exec Wilma Galvante tells him Studio 5, the film arm of TV5, actually has a project in store for him. “Maganda yung story, but di pa namin sinasabi sa’yo kasi busy ka pa with our new shows. We’ll discuss it later.”
