Ice Seguerra —EUGENE ARANETA
Ice Seguerra is proud to wear different hats all at the same time.
Ice the concert director has a gig this weekend, while Ice the performer will be onstage the following week. Ice the actor said he “may have one or two projects in the pipeline,” while Ice the social individual continues to participate in causes that promote mental health awareness and the rights of every Filipino LGBTQA+ community member.
Ice and wife, former Film and Development Council of the Philippines chair Liza Diño, recently put up a production company called Fire and Ice, which will be producing the one-night concert of “The Voice” Season 19 finalist Ryan Gallagher on Feb. 17, 8 p.m., at Music Museum, titled “The Voice of Ryan.”
“It gives us so much joy that we are now able to mount projects the way we want to. It’s different to just get an artist to sing. To be able to mount something you’ve conceptualized yourself is much more fulfilling,” Ice told Inquirer Entertainment.
Feeling grateful
Ice is set to perform with Joey G and Noel Cabangon on Feb. 23 at the Newport Performing Arts Theater in a show called “Strings and Voices: A Threelogy Series.”
“I’m happy also because, even though I’ve been in this industry for 37 years (in August), I’m still doing what I love. We know how fleeting a career in this industry is. For me to be able to say that I still have a concert, I still have gigs and people still flock to them, I feel really grateful. It’s good to have a day job you’re passionate about,” he said.
Ice will be acting in a film soon “with an ensemble of amazing actors,” he said. “I can’t give too many details yet. I’m very excited about it because it’s been a while since I acted. As an actor, you get paid to wait—that’s how I see it. You enjoy what you do, but the waiting can be unbearable. “As singers, if you have a gig tonight, you arrive a little earlier for sound check, come up onstage for an hour and a half, then you’re done. As an actor, you only have a few scenes to shoot, but you’re required to stay on the set for 12 hours.”
Ice believes that to be able to promote his LGBTQA+ advocacy, he only has to “live my life authentically. As always, my only wish is for us to have more laws—these don’t even have to be for our protection, but just to recognize people like us. Socially, we feel acceptance, or is it merely tolerance? What’s that if there’s still no law to protect people like us?”
Going through therapy
He continued: “In terms of my mental health awareness advocacy, I’m doing a new album, and I’ve written songs about it. I hope people can relate to them. When we’re going through something, it helps to know that we’re not going through it alone, that there’s someone in this world who is feeling the exact same thing. Having gone through so much therapy and meds in my life, I also see the value of asking for help. “That’s where the problem lies. We stigmatize mental health issues so much that people would rather not say anything about their condition. Let’s try to break that. Let’s sit down and discuss, especially at home, because if it’s already arrested at home, then you won’t need to go to other people for help. My wish is for families to have an open mind about this because a change in mindset can help save lives.”
Ice has been battling depression and anxiety for nearly 19 years now.
Ice, the family man, is especially proud of the relationship he has formed with Liza and her daughter Amira, who is now 15.
“I’m pleased with our current setup. Our family dynamics is quite amazing, even though Liza and I are both busy with work and our daughter is currently studying in the United States,” he began. “We’re very open to each other. Our daughter tells us everything. She knows that we’re here for her, and that if she’s going through anything—whether big or small—she can actually come to us. One time, she said, ‘I don’t even know why I went to my friends [for advice] first. What they said didn’t actually work.’ I said, ‘It’s because we’re older. We’ve gone through that and survived.’”
Celebrity storyteller
Ice was Inquirer Read-Along’s celebrity storyteller this February. He read Genaro Gojo Cruz’s “What I Cannot Find in Google” to 20 schoolkids who came to PDI’s Makati City office.
“It was fun,” said Ice during the postevent interview. “I love reading to kids. Always, the main challenge is keeping their attention. One should keep the story interesting because kids nowadays have very short attention spans. I also enjoy hearing their inputs on the story, how it affects their lives.”
“This is a story that’s not only for kids. We live in a digital world. It’s about making sure we balance our time. While it is helpful, human interaction is still important—we learn more about empathy and discover so many interesting things because we get to actually experience life,” Ice said.