Kiana and Gab Valenciano during an interview with the press. Image: Hannah Mallorca/INQUIRER.net
Gary Valenciano may have established himself as a performer with “Pure Energy,” but his children Kiana and Gab Valenciano see him as a father who always makes an effort to show up and never bring his work home.
Married since 1984, Gary and his wife Angeli Pangilinan have three children: Paolo, Gab and Kiana, who all have carved their paths in their chosen fields. The five of them were able to showcase their respective strengths in the veteran artist-performer’s “Pure Energy: One More Time” concert last December, which they considered a “family affair.”
“A lot of people know him as Mr. Pure Energy or Gary V. To us, he was just Dad. He never brought his work home,” Gab told reporters in a recent interview. “And if he did, it was more of a collaborative or a shared type of concept. That’s the legacy of being a father and a friend to us.”
Kiana, on the other hand, is aware of her parents’ busy schedules. But she’s thankful that Gary and Angeli were never absent, especially when she needed them the most.
“Just recently, I was going through challenges and I called [Gary]. He just happened to be in the middle of a meeting, but he made everybody wait so he sat there and talked to me for 15 minutes. That’s so rare because it just urged me to reflect and think if I would do the same,” Kiana recalled.
(From left) Gab Valenciano, Angeli Pangilinan and Gary Valenciano. Image: Hannah Mallorca/INQUIRER.net
Simply Papa
Touching on Gary taking a bow from the concert scene, Gab admitted that it hasn’t sunk in him completely, but it would hopefully allow the “Shout for Joy” singer to showcase his “quirkier and weird” sides which he doesn’t show to the public often.
“I feel like this next chapter he’s going to somewhat share this personality which he has withdrawn,” he said. “I know he has achieved so much and awards in a container that he can’t put in a room or anything, yes, I’m proud of that. But I’m proud that he raised us in the best way that he could alongside our mother.
“That’s the legacy he left with me. When people ask me about growing up with [Gary V], honestly, it wasn’t the perfect childhood. It was great,” he continued.
During the interview, Kiana and Gab continued to share stories about Gary and how he was at home, which included moments of him letting loose of his “serious and inspirational” sides to be the house’s official comedian.
“He’s super quirky… He’s a comedian at home. He’s just so weird,” she said of Gary. “He’s going to say something under his breath and he’s so good at staying serious. But if you look at him, he’s so serious.”
Gab also looked back at the time when Gary dressed up as Borat, the lead character of a 2006 black comedy film starring Sacha Baron Cohen.
“I don’t know if you remember the videos I made back in the day, but those were heavily inspired by him. [Back then], we would always dress up. There’s this one time where my dad goes, ‘I’m here.’ Do you know Borat? So he’s up on the staircase in a Borat outfit and a wig, and he starts dancing around,” he said while laughing.
Gary’s “Pure Energy: One More Time” show, which took place in December at the Araneta Coliseum, was a celebration of the singer-performer’s final chapter in the concert scene. Among the songs he performed were “Babalik Ka Rin,” “Shout for Joy,” “Warrior Is a Child” and “I Will Be Here,” to name a few.