Medwin Marfil (right) with husband Mark Angeles CONTRIBUTED
Since Medwin Marfil, frontman of True Faith (TF), and I are kindred spirits, he told me about his wedding plans long before he announced it on social media. But I’m not too much of a show biz columnist to be a friend. So I granted Meds’ (Medwin’s nickname) request not to write about his getting hitched to Mark Angeles in San Francisco (SF) until both of them were ready to go public about it.
After Meds made his union with Mark “Instagram-official,” it was picked up by various media outlets. For the first time after their wedding became the buzz du jour, I thank Meds for granting me his first full-length interview.
I hardly miss any gigs of Meds’ iconic band, TF. We have this running joke that I’m their back-up vocalist. I was even part of TF’s entourage during their last Dubai concert. On the gig scene, it’s an open secret that Meds is gay, but he was not really “out” so his tying the knot with Mark caught netizens by surprise.
Since Meds and I are so affectionate with each other, people keep asking us if we were a couple. That always makes us laugh. But because of Meds, I know that friendship is the best kind of love.
It was a major decision for the seasoned singer to take a hiatus from the gig scene and relocate to SF, where Mark is based. But after three decades of singing hit love songs that are part of the soundtrack of every Pinoy’s love story, it’s high time for Meds to let his “happy ever after” unfold.
Mark is truly all the love songs that Meds has ever sung.
Here’s my chat with Meds:
Tell us about your wedding
There was a massive solar storm. It was really apt since I call Mark my Sunny Boy. And he calls me Moonskie. I joked during our exchange of vows that it’s so “Miss Saigon.” It was so surreal.
I never thought of myself as the marrying kind. “Always the wedding singer, but never the one to be wed.” But I did wish that if I ever got married, it would be by the Pacific Ocean along the California coast. And it did happen. Being married to a wonderful and beautiful man is a dream come true.
I was very emotional and I geared up for it. I said, “Mark, life is crazy, reality is nuts. We are on a beach on this massive ball that’s swirling around nothingness. There’s a solar storm happening now. There are so many things we don’t know. But the one thing I’m very sure of is that I love you very much!”
So, your marriage was also your way of “coming out”?
Not really. Though I’ve never been completely out, it was an “open secret” in the biz. I did say that I was “sexually fluid” in a magazine interview in the early 2000s. I guess no one read that article.
How did your love story begin?
We were batchmates in Don Bosco, but we weren’t even acquaintances back then. Mark was close to Niño Muhlach in high school. We reconnected in early 2021 through Facebook. We became a couple in June of that year.
I got to see him for the first time as my boyfriend the following year, when I was part of the “OPM Summerfest” in the US. Mark works for a top neurosurgeon in University of California SF Hospital.
Are you bowing out of the gig scene?
Nope. Even if I’m now based in SF, I will be flying back to Manila every so often to do shows. I wish that my bandmates can come to the US so we could do a tour.
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Where will your honeymoon be?
South America, Spain or the United Kingdom.
What’s your TF song for Mark?
Our biggest hit, “Perfect.” No further explanation needed.
Jerome Ponce (left) and Krishha Viaje VIVA ENTERTAINMENT
Terrifying turn for the ‘Univerkada’
Following the success of “Safe Skies, Archer,” Viva One and Studio Viva are strengthening the bond among the “Univerkada” composed of Krissha Viaje, Jerome Ponce, Aubrey Caraan, Hyacinth Callado and Gab Lagman in “Sem Break,” with Keann Johnson as a new addition.
The six-part series that’s streaming on Viva One is directed by Roni S. Benaid. It’s about a quick sem-break vacation that leads to terrifying events that the barkada might not get out of. A road trip turns into one big “bad trip.”
Here are quotes from Khrissha (K), Jerome (J) and Roni (R):
K: The dynamics of my role and Jerome’s as a pair is totally different in this series compared to what it was in our previous project. Our characters are more focused on individual struggles.
J: It’s harder to scare the audience than to make them feel giddy. In my tandem with Khrissha, the “kilig factor” comes naturally.
R: Our series is 70 percent horror and 30 percent romance. It’s our gift to the avid supporters of the “Univerkada.”
R: In the lighthouse where we shot the creepy scenes, the caretaker said that ghosts lurk there. My assistant director even saw some strange images when he played back some scenes.
J: Khrissha and I have learned not to bring to the set what is better kept between us. As a guy, I always am the first one to apologize, even if [the problem] is not my fault.