When faith hit Judah Paolo

Photos by JEN VEGA

CEBU, Philippines - It was one of Studio 23’s anniversaries, and they flew in some of their video jocks and program hosts to Cebu for a chat with the local press. One of them was Judah Paolo, who during his interview, jested in passing how he was pondering becoming a priest or a monk. This was in 2007.

Asked that time what he considered his greatest achievement, the Los Angeles-bred gentleman had revealed, “It’s probably having to survive the street life and shield myself from the gangs, the drugs, the violence…I went back to the United States after seven years of being in the Philippines and I saw my friends, and most of them were really messed up. There were a lot of hardships growing up there, and for me not to fall into that trap of a hardened life, I’m glad I was able to survive that.”

It would be after a good six years that Judah would once again sit down with a merry mix of Cebu’s media folk. This time, instead of the casual baseball cap, he was fitted into a blazer and looking every inch like the corporate man he has since become.

The former Studio 23 VJ (a product of the network’s first VJ search), host of defunct shows such as “Breakfast” and “Bantay Kalikasan” and occasional commercial model and actor (“Tabing Ilog” and “Rounin”) was tapped to be the general manager of Red Box Philippines, officially taking the post last November. Red Box, an international karaoke franchise, currently has four branches in the country, three in Manila and one at the Garden Level of Ayala Center Cebu’s The Terraces.

Red Box’s new GM is a big fanatic of British singer Seal, but guess what his go-to karaoke song is? Ricky Martin’s hip-shaking “Livin’ La Vida Loca,” that’s what!

Judah is also the founder and president of Lead Out Coaching and Consultancy Inc., a Christ-centered organizational teaching firm that conducts leadership and values seminars for different companies. He still hosts events every now and then.

For a guy who never went to high school, it’s pretty amazing what Judah has achieved for himself. He is a voracious reader, learning more than he could ever have had inside the four walls of a classroom by devouring books and living through many challenges.

“My life changed when I turned 30. I’m 34 now. It’s a different chapter in my life,” he offered. “I started growing up and letting go of foolish things. I’m actually doing a lot of stuff for the Church now. I preach on the side.”

While he did not turn out to be a priest or a monk, Judah did embark on a spiritual path. He’s now an evangelist, using his gift of gab to share the Christian gospel to anyone who’d care to listen.

“I guess all my life, I was always searching for freedom. Freedom from worry, burden, stress of the future, and I searched on a lot of things when I first moved to the Philippines in 1998,” Judah said on how his conversion took shape.

Judah was born in the Philippines, but his brood moved to the U.S. in 1986. He came back here in 1998, a 19-year-old bent on pursuing a career in amateur boxing. “I joined the national boxing pool for three years in an attempt to win the first Olympic gold medal by a Filipino boxer. Interestingly, I wanted to do that because it was a means to an end. It was really to speak about the possibility in life, that anything is possible.”

But it was not meant to be. Judah instead landed in show business, nabbing a coveted spot in ABS-CBN’s stable of Star Magic talents.

“For some reason, God brought me this far without having to go down that route of physically getting hurt. Instead, he gave me a place of influence with my company and now as general manager of Red Box. I was really seeking before, practicing Hinduism, Buddhism, and all the isms until I finally found freedom from the scriptures. Then in 2009, faith hit me like a truck and I found peace.”

His Bible-based wisdom is one he eagerly applies as Red Box GM. “The criteria for building a company are really values and performance. You will not have great performance if you don’t have the right values. I believe that biblical principles are great foundations to build the right values.”

“You can have all the vision-missions, the SOP’s, the company policies…but if you don’t have one concept of integrity, then all of that is a waste. From my research of different world religions, integrity can only be found in the Christian realm. The Bible says make a yes a yes, and a no a no. It’s quite simple. When you say you want to do something, you do it and you complete it. That’s just one example of what I’m introducing into the company,” he explained.

Showbiz isn’t something he’s totally turning his back on, provided that the role does not clash with his principles. “I’m very loud in my Christian walk. For me, it’s really being in integrity with God’s command. But being Biblically-based does not mean you can’t have fun. In fact, it’s all about celebration. I’ve been more joyful since I became a Christian.”

The most recent acting offer was for the high-rating soap “Walang Hanggan,” where he was supposed to play the bar owner-boss of Coco Martin’s character.

“My agent was telling me, ‘Judah take this, it’s going to be great for you.’ This was around September.  I had to turn it down because it was a conflict to what I was already doing in Lead Out, but I ended up becoming a general manager for Red Box. Sometimes when you turn something down, a greater thing will come along.”

How Judah found his soul mate in former TV Patrol newscaster Earl Beja is also quite a story in itself.

“Even though we were going to the same Church for four years, it was still a wonder how we were brought together. When I met her, I was 29, she was 32. We worked in the same network, went to the same church, but never met. It was like we were walking on the same road, on different sides, and then we finally met. I believe God really has somebody made for you. I don’t believe in dating now. I believe you’ll just meet the person, and that’s it.”

Judah and Earl got engaged after three days of getting to know each other. The first two nights were spent just talking about the deepest things, “like what life was all about and the significance of our existence.”

“Two nights into it, I knew she was the one I wanted to marry. I think when you’ve dated enough, you’ll know exactly what you’re looking for. On the third day I proposed, and she said yes. Ten months later, we were married in Israel,” Judah shared.

It’s the couple’s source of pride that they are the first Filipinos to fly to Israel just to get married. The ceremony was held in Cana, Galilee where the first miracle happened according to the Bible. They went on a pilgrimage after exchanging vows, and the experience transformed them for the better.

Judah said, “There is really something about Israel. We grew up in a very Catholic country, and what we read in the Bible would seem like those fairy tale stories. But once you go there, you realize those were real places and that Jesus once walked along those paths.”

They are now proud parents to Sophia Ophir, their two-year-old “Holy Land baby.”

Had we asked Judah again what he felt his greatest achievement was, we wouldn’t be surprised if his answer would be different this time around.