Gary Valenciano
Even well-respected and seasoned artist Gary Valenciano encounters bashers online.
“There were some who were questioning how I judge,” said Gary, one of three judges in the reality competition series “World of Dance Philippines.” He shares jury duties with Billy Crawford and Maja Salvador.
“Some were asking, ‘World of Dance’ ba ito or ‘World of Drama’? Or ‘World of Awa’ (pity)?’ I tell them it’s these contestants’ ‘drama’ that inspired them to do what they do. Just like in ‘Tawag ng Tanghalan,’ they all have stories of how they sing to provide for their families.
“I’m not judging that, but their singing or dancing. I respond to some of them to say, ‘Hindi gano’n.’ They don’t respond anymore. To me, that means they got what I was trying to say,” he shared with the Inquirer during a recent set visit to Studio 3 of ABS-CBN, where the show is currently being aired.
The program is hosted by Luis Manzano and Pia Wurtzbach.
It was the first time for Gary to meet show biz scribes since he encountered what he described as a “health challenge” in 2018.
When asked how he was doing, the singer replied: “My health is great. I just had my first checkup. It’s been seven months since, and they found nothing alarming in me. Everything is good.”
Gary said his doctor instructed him to “modify my work, so that I will not miss out on my workout.”
The singer had a heart surgery in June, during which doctors discovered he also had kidney cancer.
Gary confessed that what happened to him had been tough on his wife, Angeli Pangilinan-Valenciano, and the whole family.
“Thankfully, I’m now biking again, and going to the gym. They have been able to overcome that and are now excited that I can do things with them again. If I want to go skydiving tomorrow, I could,” declared Gary.
“The family is excited. I noticed that they’re more encouraging now,” he said. “I’m thinking of going on a cruise some time in September or October.”
Gary said the incident last year had changed him in the sense that he was now “more sensitive” to what others may be going through, whether it’s health-related or not.
“As a matter of fact, I resumed my dream of visiting 35 universities for my 35th anniversary celebration. We started the fifth university last week, the University of Manila,” reported Gary.
“I told the kids that there are no shortcuts in life. If they want to get somewhere, they have to go through the journey; that all the ups and downs will teach them who they are supposed to be,” he added.
Through the years, Gary, who is known to be a man of faith, has inspired fellow celebrities to “hang on,” just like his inspirational song released in 1993.
“I’ve realized that you can only exercise faith when fear begins to knock on your door. When things are great, it’s easy to say you have faith, but it’s different when things become quite uncertain, like when I was going through a health challenge,” he observed.
Gary considered surpassing the health challenge a great miracle. “The doctor came to my room two days after the operation. He was like, ‘Are you sure you’re a diabetic, because you’re healing really well?’” Gary recalled. “He then looked at his team and said, ‘This guy has been a Type 1 diabetic for 39 years, and look at how he is healing!’”