So until when will ‘Ang Probinsyano’ air? “Depende yan sa viewers. Hangga’t gusto nila ang show, tuloy-tuloy tayo. Sa ngayon, nakatakas na si Cardo (the character he plays) so he will be having new adventures. Dadalhin namin siya sa iba’t ibang lugar sa Pilipinas para ipakita na rin ang kagandahan ng bansa natin. Sa pagtakas niya, una niyang pupuntahan ang Cebu, so we’ll tape their on location and we will tap the local talents there.”
After ‘Ang Probinsyano’, is it true he’ll next do ‘Ang Batang Quiapo’, another FPJ hit? “We don’t know yet. Mahaba pa ang journey ni Cardo as ‘Ang Probinsyano’ and marami pang ibang FPJ movies na puedeng gawin, all teaching good values sa mga kabataan. But yes, it would be nice to do ‘Batang Quiapo’, an action-comedy. Pero after ‘Probinsyano’, I want to do a movie muna, na ako mismo ang magdidirek. Para makatulong sa mga ibang artista at industry people na walang trabaho ngayon, gusto ko rin to go into digital TV shows, like yung ginagawa ng Netflix na available online, kahit hindi ako ang artista.”
He has helped a lot of people in real life, especially OFW’s for whom he holds free shows, like the one who did in Dubai. “Sa hirap ng pinagdaraanan ng Pilipinas ngayon, gusto ko talagang makatulong kahit pasayahin lang sila. Naging OFW din kasi ako noon as a janitor in Canada, at doon ko nalaman kung gaano kahirap ma-homesick.”
His movie was rejected by the Metro Manila Filmfest and we now all know that the total earnings of the filmfest is much less than what his movie with Vice Ganda has earned so far. How does he feel that there seems to be a polarization now between indie and mainstream films? “Ako, I really started with indie films, ‘Masahista’ ni Brilliante Mendoza which had a budget of only P500,000 but won awards abroad. Magandang training ground ang indie kasi madidisiplina ka talaga. Pero dapat wala ng distinction kasi pare-pareho namang pelikula yan. Sana, sa susunod, gawin na lang balanse ang mga pelikulang ipalalabas sa filmfest: apat na indie, apat na mainstream. Kasi hindi mo pupuedeng biglain ang audience. Dapat dahan-dahan para ma-develop ang taste nila for quality films.”
How about his lovelife? When will he settle down? “Darating naman tayo diyan. 35 na ako, but ang priority ko ngayon is to grab all the opportunities coming way way. Kapag lumipas nang lahat ito, haharapin ko rin ang pagpapamilya. Siguro kapag nasa 40s na ako. And sure akong magiging proud sa akin ang magiging kapalaran ko dahil pinaghandaan ko munang mabuti ang future namin.”