He says his friendship with Barbie goes a long way back. “Barbie and I have been friends for a long time, bago pa ang show naming ‘Meant to Be’. We even played husband and wife in the movie ‘Laut’, for which she won a best actress award in Europe. Ako yung irresponsible husband niya roong pabigat sa buhay niya. Pero hindi pa kami talaga. Kumbaga, what we had, it’s only a friendly date. Niyaya rin nga naming sumama ang mommy niya, pero sabi, kaming dalawa na lang daw. E, matagal na akong di nakakapanood ng movie dahil sa sobrang busy sa tapings. So sinagad na namin with three movies.”
Jak admits “Meant to Be” has done wonders for his career as he is now called Andoy (his character in the show) wherever he goes. He has really gone far from the days when he was just one of the many showbiz wannabes in “Walang Tulugan”, where he and Ken Chan started. He says his role as Andoy really suits him. “Torpe kasi siya, mahiyain, e ganun din talaga ako in real life.”
We heard aggressive girls approach him, attracted by his chiselled body that he has displayed on TV and in pictorials several times, giving him the title Pambansang Abs. “Naku, shy talaga ako sa ganyan. Nako-conscious nga ako kapag may nagpapa-picture sa’kin. Courting girls is not my forte.”
He and his co-stars in “Meant to Be” are all very happy now that the airing of their show has been extended up to June. “Dapat, nag-end na kami ng April but because the response to the show is so favorable at name-maintain namin ang mataas na ratings, ayun, na-extend nga kami for several more weeks and, for that, we are all so grateful to GMA management and to the loyal viewers who follow us every night. Abangan nila dahil mas marami pang magagandang developments na mangyayari sa show ngayong nadagdagan pa ng four more boys and mga nag-aagawan kay Barbie.”
