Piolo refuses to replace John Lloyd in ‘Home Sweetie Home’

John Lloyd Cruz (left) and Piolo Pascual

I can’t take that show away from Lloydie (John Lloyd Cruz)—that’s his,” said actor Piolo Pascual, who recently began appearing in the weekly sitcom, “Home Sweetie Home.”

Piolo stressed he was not replacing Lloydie, the sitcom’s lead actor, who filed an indefinite leave of absence from work in October.

Piolo said he was at first hesitant when his ABS-CBN bosses asked him to appear on the show a month ago.

“I didn’t want Lloydie to think that I’ve bypassed him, that I should’ve first asked him if it was OK,” he told the Inquirer during a gathering on Monday that launched him as the brand ambassador of Mober, a Philippine-based on-demand app that offers delivery services around Metro Manila.

Piolo said he had sent Lloydie a text message, “but we haven’t spoken yet.”

The actor said he agreed to appear in the show primarily “because I’m good friends with Tin.” He was referring to Toni Gonzaga, also one of the show’s lead actors. She plays Julie Valentino, wife of John Lloyd’s character, Romeo.

“My schedule can still accommodate what I do for the show,” Piolo said. “You can’t cancel a show just because one of its lead stars is absent.”

Helping Marawi

Also occupying most of Piolo’s time is the work he does in helping the 300,000-plus people displaced by the recent war against Maute terrorists in Marawi City.

Piolo, as well as his business partner, filmmaker Joyce Bernal, recently donated P1.5 million to a group that actor Robin Padilla assembled recently to help rehabilitate the area.

Piolo recalled: “It all started with Joyce telling me of her plan to donate P500,000 from the paycheck she got from our earnings in producing ‘Kita Kita.’ I said I’d also give since I earned more than her from the film. We went straight to Kuya Binoe (Robin’s nickname).”

He said his short chat with Robin about the plight of the Maranao people has “opened my eyes to the fact that war is really happening in our country.”

The actor added: “It made me realize that these people aren’t homeless, that they were merely forced out of their communities. We have to do something to prevent this from happening again. The Maranao people took a beating for the rest of the country. If [the government forces] weren’t able to stop the terrorists there, the group could’ve reached us here in Luzon.” Piolo stressed the need to spread awareness of what the people in Marawi City have been experiencing since their homes were ravaged by the war.

“This is not a one-time thing for us. We will help Kuya Binoe with his other projects. Once we get the money, which ABS-CBN has helped us raise through the recent telethon, we want to personally go to Marawi to see properties there that we can buy, so we can start building homes for them,” Piolo said.