ACTOR JC de Vera was born to play a lot of roles. You name it, he’s played them. From teenybopper to romantic lead to kontrabida, JC has done them with aplomb. In fact, he’s now considered one of the more reliable male actors in the industry today.
But now, JC is playing what may be his most important role ever in his life: that of a father to his 2-month-old baby Lana Athena, or simply Lana.
Lana was christened just last weekend in an intimate ceremony at Santuario de San Antonio Parish in Makati, attended by close family and friends who gushed over how such a beauty Lana is. “She’s a happy baby and she brings joy to everyone around her,” gushes JC in an exclusive interview.
“Talagang totoo ’yun sinasabi nila—na kahit pagod na pagod ako pag-uwi ko, but when I see Lana, I feel happy and content, at parang may bagong energy to play with her and to take care of her,” he continues.
JC is such a hands-on dad that he refused to hire a yaya for Lana, and is proud to say that he has learned and can do everything for Lana from feeding her to changing her diapers. “I just can’t breastfeed her [laughs] but seriously, lahat talaga kaya ko at ginagawa ko,” JC reveals.
While JC is busy juggling two shows (the ABS-CBN prime-time drama Since I Found You and weekly gag show Banana Sundae), he says that his daughter is his priority now and inspires him to work even harder to provide her the best future he can possibly give.
Congratulations, JC! And to baby Lana Athena, know that you have as a father one of the best human beings I’ve ever known, and you are such a lucky girl to be surrounded by love.
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THE Boy R. Abunda Talk Series (BRATS) was officially launched on June 8 at Artist Playground, Arts Above, 112 West Avenue, Quezon City (Penthouse, BIR Building). BRATS is an eight-minute onstage talk with a speaker and an audience. The speaker takes center stage to share real and empowering personal stories. BRATS takes inspiration from inspiring talks and talk series around the world, like Ted Talks, the Gel Conference, Ignite, PopTech, Big Think, etc. Boy previously delivered an interesting and provocative speech, titled “Why Can’t We Have a Gay President?,” for Ted ADMU.
In his BRATS opening remarks, Boy emphasized the need for people to talk to each other. “We need to touch each other’s lives. We need to listen to each other. We are in a wired generation. One of our goals is to go back to the basics. To enjoy laughter, aspirations and conversations. And it should be experienced live.”
“We are hoping that BRATS becomes a celebration of life, where ideas merge with inspiration and passion. We would like to be able to tackle issues that deal with the physical, the intellectual and the spiritual journey that a person takes when moving from pain to wisdom, from being wrong to becoming right, from being a victim to becoming a victor, from being a failure to becoming a success, and from being a big shit to becoming a bigshot,” he added.
BRATS encourages people to tell their stories, to share, to listen and to open their hearts. “We want to remind people that you can tell your stories, inspire and empower, and you don’t need to ask anybody’s permission to do good,” Boy said.
Boy promised that BRATS will continue “for as long as you’re willing to listen. For as long as you’re willing to tell your stories, we will be here. We want to go to schools, to companies, to organizations and to the provinces. We will organize BRATS for you. Magkukuwentuhan tayo.”
Image credits: Bright Bulb Productions