Jordan: A promdi in the lions’ den

So far, so good – never mind the avalanche of unsavory stories filing up on his head which he’s trying to keep above the sea of intrigues.

"Sobrang nabulabog" is how newcomer Jordan Herrera describes his life now, meaning it has been turned "upside down" by his painful showbiz baptism. "But now that I’m in it," added Jordan who said he just turned 19 last April 23 (although some people claim he’s older), "I might as well learn to live with it."

Oh, well, I guess so. When you jump into the pool, you get wet, don’t you? When you leap into the lions’ den that’s showbiz, you run the risk of getting licked if not eaten alive by those beasts, don’t you? Maybe as a matter of consolation, newcomers like Jordan who are subjected to such an "initiation" should learn to shrug it off, after all they’re entering neither a convent nor a monastery but a virtual flesh trade where more premium is put more on good looks than on real talent.

If you’ve been following showbiz developments lately, you should know the "issues" (or should I say "mud/slime"?) raised about and against Jordan, undoubtedly the most popular among the five guys in the attractive Rexona TV commercial, now collectively known as The Power Boys (more on the four others by and by) to be introduced tomorrow as added come-on to ABS-CBN’s MTB.

Issue No. 1: Jordan Herrera is (was?) a call boy;

Issue No. 2: Jordan Herrera is an unwed father (but some sources claim that he actually got married but is separated from his wife who’s his townmate in Bulacan); and

Issue No. 3: Jordan Herrera has a rich gay benefactor (you know, "Papa") who has provided him with a condo unit and a car.

As to be expected, Jordan has been denying to death all those ugly accusations, even if it’s none of your and my business if somebody – male, female, gay or matron – has gifted him with a house and a car, is it?

As the irrepressible Kris Aquino quipped on Morning Girls, "If somebody gives me a car, I’ll accept it."

She’s right – and so will I.

Jordan is part of the Rexona Boys quintet who struts on your TV screen with only towels wrapped around their sexy bodies while swiping Rexona deodorant roll-on in their underarms to the tune of the Backstreet Boys’ Everybody. It’s such a catchy commercial that the boys soon found themselves "overnight sensations," guesting on such shows as (the defunct) Talk TV, SIS, Master Showman and Morning Girls where they are mercilessly stripped to near-buff by the hosts suspected to be sex-hungry, much to the amusement of voyeurs from Aparri to Jolo who love that kind of spectator sport.

The four others are:

• Frank Garcia, 18 (youngest in the group), who has been doing TV and ramp spots for four years now, including a role in a soft-drink commercial. He got his "foreign" features from his Dutch father. (Garcia is only his screen surname.)

• Jay Salas (also a screen surname), 21, is a resident deejay of a Manila nightspot and has been modelling since his early teens. Known as "the quiet one," Jay is a relative of Daria Ramirez, mother of Keempee de Leon.

• Geff Rodriguez, 19, half-Australian and half-Filipino, is the gregarious one with curly hair. He has been modelling in Sydney and was encouraged by his Filipino mother to try his luck in Manila. "I’ve been here for 15 months," said Geff. "I’m giving myself three months maximum to make a career for myself here."

• Greg Martin (no relation to the former Sampaguita actor; it’s also only a screen surname), 21, was born in Brooklyn, New York, and is an excellent break-dancer. Half-Serbian and half-Filipino, Greg arrived here a few months ago also to try his luck in modelling. With his macho looks, he can be a bold actor, ready, willing and able as he is to take off his shirt at the slightest provocation.

As The Power Boys, they are under contract with ABS-CBN and Star Cinema while Jordan solo is a contract actor of Viva Films which is introducing him, along with bold newcomer Maui Taylor (with Wendell Ramos as the male lead), in the skin flick Gamitan (movie directorial debut of Quarck Henares) where Jordan plays a reclusive artist seduced by Maui.

Among The Power Boys, it’s Jordan who is masang-masa, a promdi (from the province), having come from humble beginnings in Sta. Maria, Bulacan, and who is the most appealing because of his wholesome aura (the nasty rumors about him notwithstanding), smiling eyes, killer smile and striking resemblance to Romnick Sarmenta. Jordan, one of five children, admitted that his parents have been separated for several years now. He finished elementary school and high school at Sacred Heart Academy in Sta. Maria and was halfway through a course in HRM (Hotel and Restaurant Management) at St. Jude College (Dimasalang, Sampaloc, Manila).

Eager to help his hard-up family, Jordan (real surname: Hermogenes) quit school and worked as a bartender/waiter at the Basilica Bar in Malate, mecca of people who love the nightlife. It was there where he was discovered by a fashion designer, until talent manager James Salas (who used to be with the Universal Motion Dancers) met him and asked him to audition for the Rexona commercial.

"There were 30 of us in the beginning," recalled Jordan, "and then there were 15, until only the five of us were left. I never expected that that commercial, my first, would change my life forever and would be my stepping stone to showbiz. I thought it was just a ‘raket’."

Before the Rexona commercial hit TV screens, Jordan joined the Mossimo Bikini Contest in Boracay last summer, finishing second. The airing of the Rexona commercial opened not only new doors for Jordan but also the Pandora’s Box of his private life, as if a can of worms was let loose in public.

Jordan is putting up a brave front in the face of adversity, saying he doesn’t regret anything that he had done in the past. Describing himself as a happy-go-lucky person ("Masayahing bata ako"), Jordan is focused on making good as an actor ("I’m a good dancer," he emphasized) so that he can help improve the life of his siblings and send his brothers and sister to school.

"My role model is Richard Gomez. He also rose from humble beginnings. I’m going through what he has gone through. My idol is Robin Padilla and I hope to be in a movie with him someday."

Now living in a well-appointed condo unit in the vicinity of Robinsons provided for him by his "handlers," Jordan insists that he’s a promdi at heart and will forever be one.

"When the city seems too much to bear," he said with a sad face, "especially now that I’m being hit left and right, I rush back to Bulacan to be with my family."

As they say, you can take a boy out of the country but you can never take the country out of a boy.

Miriam meets XXX

The nice thing about being booked at a posh celebrity hotel like the Four Seasons in Beverly Hills is that anytime of day or night you are bound to cross paths, bump into/or rub elbows with Hollywood celebrities who consider the hotel as their second home where they can be themselves.

On the recent press junket for Columbia Pictures’ XXX, the potential blockbuster first solo starrer of Vin Diesel (touted as Hollywood’s "New Action Hero"), GMA 7’s Miriam Quiambao and I were among the 60-plus print/TV entertainment journalists from around the world invited to interview Diesel and his co-stars, Asia Argento and Michael Roof, and XXX director Rob Cohen.

As in past press junkets at Four Seasons, I very casually met international celebrities, like Enrique Iglesias who walked into the elevator dressed only in faded denims and casual T-shirt, and Geoffrey Rush (star of Shine) who lingered at the driveway waiting for his car.

At the XXX cocktails at the Four Seasons poolside, guess who Miriam and I bumped into at the bar – yes, MTV veejay Donita Rose who flew in early that afternoon from Singapore. I should say that in that crowd, Miriam was a standout, making people (especially the men) take a second, lingering look at her, no doubt because of her regal Miss U bearing and exotic beauty.

The next morning during the round of TV interviews, Diesel complimented Miriam by saying, "You’re the most gorgeous girl who ever interviewed me!" After the seven-minute interview, Miriam asked if she could have a souvenir photo with Diesel and Diesel said, perhaps jokingly, "Come, sit on my lap." Miriam politely begged off, sitting instead on the arm rest of the chair Diesel was seated on. "Even if I don’t have a boyfriend (Having just broken off with Hans Montenegro. – RFL)," Miriam later told me good-humoredly, "I won’t ever sit on his or any other man’s lap."