99 Tula para kay Ella

Panlabing-Pito

Alam kong balang araw magiging tama,

‘Di man sa ngayon alam kong tinadhana,

Kakayanin, ‘di biro, pero hahamakin lahat,

Maipaglaban lang ang pagibig na pinanghahawakan

Like Fidel (JC Santos), the stuttering hopeless romantic in 100 Tula Para Kay Stella who expresses his feelings for Stella (Bela Padilla) in poetry, Julian Trono is also a romantic who bares his heart and soul more eloquently in poems. But he’s not hopeless.

“I’ve been writing poems for a long time,” said Julian who graduated valedictorian from Roosevelt Elementary School (and is now enrolled at Meridian International) — that is, pre-dating 100 Tula Para Kay Stella — “and I have written 20 so far,” the excerpt of one of them opened today’s column. “I intend to write 99 all in all.”

One of the 20 poems was written specially for Ella Cruz, Jullian’s loveteam-mate and leading lady in Viva Films’ Fangirl/Fanboy, directed by Barry Gonzalez, which opens nationwide on Wednesday, Sept. 6. In the movie, Julian plays Ollie, a one-hit actor who is a fan of Soo Ming Young (played by Yam Concepcion) in the Koreanovela Program for Love. Ella plays Aimee, the dubber for Ming Young, who turns out to be the lone fan of Ollie.

Julian and Ella (a.k.a. Julianella) have known each other since they were preteens as co-hosts of the GMA kiddie show Tropang Potchi, no wonder they are so comfortable with each other that during a mini-presscon they were touchy-touchy, at one point Julian drove Ella into a girlish giggle when he tickled her in the armpit.

Asked if there’s “something” between them, Julian and Ella looked at each other and laughed as if relishing a private joke.

“Wala pa,” said Julian. But action speaks louder than words and, along with Ella, he confessed that they are in love, although they don’t put any “label” to their relationship. They have agreed to take advantage of the breaks that they are getting (since their dance team-up in the music video Versace on the Floor busted the YouTube). That’s one of the things that set them apart from other young loveteams…their fancy footwork.

“We have to come up with something new,” said Julian, “especially now that so many talents are cropping up and the competition is so stiff. Ella and I share a passion for music. Boss Vic (del Rosario Jr. of the Viva Group of Companies) has a good ear for music and we are thankful that he’s supportive of us.”

Discovered by Joy Cancio (manager of the Sexbomb Dancers), Julian has been with the Kapuso Network for quite a while. A few years ago, he was sent to Seoul to perform in a musical variety show and he attracted several fans (mostly Koreans) who initially thought that he was a K-Pop artist (he does look like Korean).

“I learned a lot from my short stay in Seoul, especially their work ethic,” shared Julian. “When the working hours were from 1 to 5 p.m., tuluy-tuloy ang work, walang pahinga, unlike here when you can make pakiusap, magpahinga pag pagod ka na. Also, the fans cannot get very close to them while here, the fans can hug you and have selfies with you.”

Incidentally, Julian has been posting his poems on his Facebook account, #99TulaParaKay Fangirl, so feel free to read them…and find out which of the 20 is dedicated to Ella.

If and when Ella becomes Julian’s girlfriend (in the meantime, they are just “MU”/Mutual Understanding), she will be No. 6. Julian admitted having had five, three of them serious (all Kapuso). He was once linked to Kylie Padilla, now the partner of Aljur Abrenica. The sweethearts have a child, month-old Uno Joaquin.

Asked if he would act as UJ’s godfather (ninong sa binyag), Julian said, “Yes, I would love to be.” Serious? “Yes, no kidding!”

(E-mail reactions at [email protected]. For more updates, photos and videos, visit www.philstar.com/funfare or follow me on Instagram @therealrickylo.)