Entertainment

Ariel Rivera: I am my father’s son

DIRECT LINE CONVERSATIONS - Boy Abunda - The Philippine Star

July 12, 2023 | 12:00am

Ariel Rivera says his father Ben Rivera brought him and his siblings up through actions. His old man was there to support them in doing things, like basketball games, one might take for granted. ‘But he’s never the type who would say ‘I love you’ or ‘I’m proud of you,’ the singer-actor shares. ‘He just showed things through actions, and I’ve always been like that.’

I was a publicist first before I became a talent manager and my very first artist as a manager was Ariel Rivera, who was introduced to me by iconic songwriter Vehnee Saturno.

It was Vehnee who first saw the potential in Ariel to become a singer when the latter flew in from Canada for a vacation. Little did we know that our meeting would result in a fruitful beginning of our respective newfound careers – me, as a talent manager and Ariel, as a singer.

“We got beyond the manager-talent relationship. We’ve become family. You’ve always been there for me both in happy and rough times. You’re a big kuya and a father figure to me,” Ariel remarked. He is the only guy who can get into my house without knocking.

Ariel said he never thought back then that his vacation would lead him to clinching a singing career.

“I just graduated from college that time and I needed a year off — whether here or in Canada. So, I came here and I couldn’t speak Tagalog but I could understand very little since I was only five when we migrated to Canada,” Ariel ruminated.

“Vehnee discovered me through my cousin because they’re both part of a choir group in Pinaglabanan Church. I guess he saw something in me that I didn’t see,” added Ariel, an architecture graduate in Canada.

Ariel rose to fame after his debut single Sana Kahit Minsan became the No. 1 pop-R&B song. Other hits followed such as Simple Lang, Minsan Lang Kitang Iibigin, among others.

He initially struggled in managing his sudden fame and loss of privacy.

“To be honest, Boy, and I think you sensed that, my first two, three years here in the Philippines, everything blew up and everything was so unexpected. That was the unhappiest time of my career. It’s funny, no? Because that was at my peak, I was so unhappy,” he stated.

I asked Ariel if it was because he was shocked with the sudden change in his life and he confirmed, “Yeah, I’ve always been a private person. To this day, I’ve always been a private person. I know it’s difficult because you’re a public figure. I want to keep things to myself.”

Ariel was dubbed as Kilabot ng mga Kolehiyala. I asked him if I remember correctly that he didn’t like the moniker and Ariel responded, “I did not.”

Ariel even recalled instances when he would openly express his disapproval of being introduced as Kilabot ng mga Kolehiyala.

“There were a few times when Bong (Quintana, my partner) would be backstage. Bong would say, ‘Introduce Ariel – Please welcome, Kilabot…’ I told Bong, ‘Bong, you introduce me as that, hindi ako lalabas sa stage,’” Ariel narrated with a laugh.

“It’s so presumptuous of me to feel all these kolehiyalas love me. That’s so presumptuous of anybody to feel that way, and it’s not just me,” he reasoned.

He furthered, “Plus, looking back, I didn’t know Hajji (Alejandro) was the original Kilabot. I didn’t know the history of OPM during that time. How can you take somebody’s title when there’s already somebody who has that title?”

Ariel and his brother with their late dad Ben Rivera.

However, a lot of women were swooning over him during his heyday. Ariel amusingly recounted the “wildest thing” a fan did to him during one of his shows in an exclusive school for girls.

“What we do is take a girl up (on stage) then we give them a kiss. When it was time for me to kiss her, she just grabbed my face and (we kissed) lips to lips. The next day, ka-date ko na siya.”

At present, the singer-actor is noticeably happy as a family man. He’s a loving husband to Gelli de Belen and an affectionate dad to their two sons, Joaquin Andres and Julio Alessandro, now both in their 20s and based in Canada.

Ariel revealed that he’s a disciplinarian. “Namalo ako although slight palo lang when Joaqui was one year old just to let them (his sons) know that they did wrong and I would explain to them the reason. Sometimes, we let our heads cool first and then, we would talk to explain why I spanked them.”

Ariel began to turn emotional when we talked about his dad, Ben Rivera, who passed away in 2020 due to sepsis in their home in Toronto, Canada. He shared that it was right before Christmas in 2019 when he received a call from his brother Marvin informing him that their dad was not doing well. His dad had sepsis, but he was home and Ariel sensed that his dad was seemingly not himself.

He then received another call about his dad while he and his family were vacationing in Japan. They went back to Manila right away and got the first flight to Toronto.

“When I saw him, he was in the ICU already. He was breathing because of the apparatus. I just whispered in his ear and said, ‘Thank you, dad for everything you’ve done for me, you’ve given me. Don’t worry, I’ll take care of mom. Kung pagod na kayo, mag-pahinga na kayo. That’s all I said,” related Ariel, with tears rolling down his cheeks.

“I am who I am because of my dad. My dad brought us up through his actions. Things you take for granted, like basketball games, he was there to support. But he’s never the type who would say ‘I love you’ or ‘I’m proud of you.’ He just showed things through actions, and I’ve always been like that. I didn’t know I was like that also kahit noong nagka-anak na ako. I realize I am my father’s son, and I think he brought us up the right way.”