Puerto Rican woos Pinoys

CEBU, Philippines - When Miss Universe 1993 Dayanara Torres crowned her successor – the iconic Sushmita Sen of India

– on Philippine soil in 1994, Filipinos fell in love with the charming Puerto Rican beauty. The love was mutual for Dayanara, who found a second home in the country as she became a legitimate star on a foreign land far away from her own. For five years, she had a successful showbiz career, starring in more than ten films, earning the “Dancing Queen” tag, and fascinating lovestruck Pinoys with her romance with screen heartthrob Aga Muhlach.

Dayanara is the first Puerto Rican to make it big in the Philippines, and a compatriot of hers is hoping she won’t be the only one.

Fernando Alvarez, a 21-year-old Puerto Rican model who won Miss Puerto Rico International 2015, hopes to achieve the same success Dayanara gained in the Philippines, and he’s leaving no stone unturned to reach his dream.

Over a sumptuous dinner at Golden Peak Hotel, we egged on the Latino hunk to make the most of his second Cebu visit by enjoying the food in front of us. With a smile, Fernando politely declines, saying he needs to be fit for an upcoming photo shoot in Manila. There’s no tempting this career-oriented guy, no matter how mouth-watering the spread before us.

He has a goal, after all, and he’s not allowing missteps to hold him back. “Dayanara Torres is the only Puerto Rican in history to really have a healthy career in the Philippines,” says Fernando of Dayanara, who he has become friends with after he sought her advice about penetrating the Philippines.

“To only speak English and Spanish, yet have a career in movies and telenovelas – for me she’s an example to follow.  Like her, I also began in beauty pageants, then became a model. I hope I’ll have the same path as Dayanara.”

Fernando shares that unlike in the Philippines, Puerto Ricans have to make a mark outside their country before they’re given the time of day back home.

“It’s really tough to have a career in the acting world because Puerto Rico has 4.6 million people so it’s really small, really tight island. The opportunity to be on TV is very small,” he says.

“If I had a good career here in the Philippines, I can assure you I will be staying here because I really like Philippines. I was talking to my mom and she really loved her one week stay here and we were talking about the whole family living here in the Philippines if we had the opportunity.”

Fernando’s Philippine invasion last January, including riding a Sinulog float during the grand parade and experiencing the famed Cebu festival, made a big splash in Puerto Rican media.

Recently, he wrapped up a cover shoot for Men’s Health magazine, the second male Puerto Rican to land such a gig after singer Ricky Martin.

Despite the opportunities, Fernando has remained diligent with his studies. One more year and he’ll be earning his Accountancy diploma.

“The entertainment industry is a roller coaster – sometimes you’re up, sometimes you’re down, it goes or it doesn’t go. You just need to have the talent and good looks. But I want to have security in my life,” says Fernando of why he hasn’t neglected school.

His recurring Philippine visits, thanks to his role as New Placenta for Men ambassador, have been nothing but a joy, singling out the warmth of Filipinos as the main reason he yearns to always come back.

“I’ve visited New York and different parts of the world but people in the Philippines are just so giving, so open-hearted, really smiling at you. In the Philippines, you’re hungry they will give you food. If you’re in a float, they’ll throw you kisses, laugh and say your name. In Puerto Rico, nothing like that,” he shares.

This time, he’ll be in the country for a month, two days of which he spent in Cebu for Psalmstre’s Free Hug Day event at Colonnade Mall Colon and Robinsons Fuente.

“It’s a nice way to spread love,” says the six-footer of Psalmstre’s Free Hug Tour. “When we give them hugs from our heart, they really appreciate that. It’s like love transmitted to another person. Sometimes people feel so many things inside and they don’t express it outside, and in one hug you can change that person’s perspective in many ways.”

Nominated for the second time as Best Male Model in Puerto Rico, Fernando is further inspired to be the best role model he can be.

“I always love to become a role model for everyone that’s why I really focus on being on a strict diet, going to the gym and working hard. I like to help my family pay the bills. I don’t waste my money on drugs and alcohol. I want to be the son that my family always fought very hard to raise,” says Fernando.

The son of a hardworking microbiologist and a housewife, Fernando says his family is more than proud of his celebrity status outside Puerto Rico.

“They're really thankful because when I was a kid, I dreamed of becoming a superstar known around the world and to be living it right now is something big to all of us. For my mom and my dad, they cannot yet believe it, but they embrace it. It’s something that’s happening for the first time in our family and it’s really a blessing from God.”

Level-headed and speaking with a wisdom beyond his age, Fernando credits his upbringing for his mature outlook. The industry he belongs to, after all, is filled with temptations.

“The major thing in all of this is my parents. My parents raised me to embrace every second of life. I never drink, I’ve never been drunk before and I’ve never smoked. I’m not a person who’s always with girls. I am always focusing on the things that I want to accomplish, not to live life and lose everything. I always try to become my father because he is an example to follow.”

Of his possible place in Pinoy showbiz, this is what Fernando promises: “Some people have asked me, ‘You want to be the next Daniel Matsunaga?’ I tell them ‘No, I want to become the first Fernando Alvarez.”