"Everything in my life and career is doing good right now, so my only prayer is for it to get even better," he says.
His spiritual life has grown deeper through the years and he now does regular Bible studies to keep himself in proper focus. His growth started when he worked with Coney Reyes as his mother in the drama show, Munting Paraiso. She became his personal counselor.
"She helped me sort things out in my life and discern what my purpose really is. Before that, I felt that at such a young age, I became the breadwinner of my family after my parents separated. I had so much responsibility I hardly had time for myself. There were moments when I felt so pressured because I didn’t get to sleep anymore. I was taping or shooting everyday, transferring from one set to another. I felt I wanted to quit, just go to the beach and bum around. But with prayers, I finally realized everything that was happening to me, like getting all the good career opportunities, is for the simple reason that I’m here to serve my family. ‘Yun ang purpose ko in life: to share with my loved ones. I even learned how to forgive my parents for breaking up. After that, things became easier for me to accept. I realized I’m truly fortunate because the Lord is giving me a lot of good breaks, samantalang ang iba, nagrereklamo dahil they don’t have any job. Now, I want to do good because it just makes me feel good to do good. And I’ve learned to love my work even more."
As a result, he has already won much acclaim for his acting. He has two Best Single Performance by an Actor trophies from the Star Awards for the Forceps (1998) and Pasa (2000) episodes of Maalaala Mo Kaya and he has also won praises for his performance as Angelo in Pangako Sa’Yo. In films, he has obtained nominations for Tanging Yaman as a son alienated from his father, Bagong Buwan as a dedicated young soldier and Santa-Santita as an anti-hero. He has also proven himself a bankable box office star in such romantic hits as Trip, Forevermore and Ngayong Nandito Ka, where he was paired with ex-girlfriend Kristine Hermosa.
How did he feel when Kristine fell in love with his friend Diether Ocampo while they were doing the teleserye Sana’y Wala Nang Wakas? "By that time, matagal na kaming wala ni Kristine so I really felt happy for them. Diether is a good man and baka they’re really meant for each other."
Jericho has already broken up with Cindy Kurleto, who later revealed that they really went steady but Jericho ordered her not to admit it in public as it might adversely affect his show with Kristine. Is it true Cindy didn’t want to be paired with him in his new show, Ang Panday? "No, it’s not that," he says. "What happened is she has a commitment to do shows with GMA 7 and she wants to honor it so she can’t play my wife in Panday."
Have they reconciled? "No. Ayaw na niya. Pero sobrang ganda niya in her soap commercial, di ba? As of now, we’re just good friends, although I haven’t seen her for some time now since we’re both so busy."
Instead of Cindy, he’s getting a newcomer as his leading lady in Panday. He says more than a hundred girls auditioned with him and the final choice is Ashley Silverio, who has appeared in Bikini Open, and in the GMA 7 comedy show Nuts Entertainment.
Jericho has also completed the romance thriller, Nasaan Ka Man, which opens June 15 and where he’s paired with Claudine Barretto for the first time. Claudine, Diether and Jericho play the adopted kids of sisters Gloria Diaz and Hilda Koronel. Even if they grew up as brother and sister, he and Claudine fall in love with each other, much to the chagrin of Diether, who turns out to be also in love with Claudine.
"I played Claudine’s NPA boyfriend in Kailangan Kita but it was only a guest role. This time, I play a full-length role and I’m amazed at the chemistry I have with her. Konting tinginan lang, we understand each other agad on how we’ll do a scene, especially our lovemaking with many kissing scenes. Our director, Cholo Laurel, made it so tender and lyrical. Ibang klase."
Those who’ve seen the film say Diether has the more challenging role as the villainous Ito, who became psychotic because of jealousy. Isn’t Jericho threatened by this? "No. I’m perfectly happy with my role as Joven. Api-apihan ako rito as we were growing up so I rebel. It’s only Claudine as Pilar who consoles me, so we became very close. Actually, they made me choose between the roles of Joven and Ito. I was shooting this simultaneously with Santa-Santita, where I already play a bad guy. If I’d choose to play Ito, salbahe na naman ang character, so I chose Joven, para mabalanse naman. I’m proud to be part of Nasaan Ka Man, the impressive debut of another good director. We shot the film on location entirely in Baguio. The ambiance of the City of Pines suits the material perfectly, including the old dark house, setting of the story.
"What’s nice about Direk Cholo is that he gives you the freedom to interpret your role. He’s not the kind who’d say, do this, do that. He has his own style in bringing out the best from his actors. If he didn’t like what you’re doing, he’ll just give suggestions on how you can do it differently. He also has a good cinematic eye so all the scenes are constructed well and come out visually appealing on the big screen."
As we write this, Echo is still in Malaysia where he is shooting an international movie. "The TV viewers there are familiar with me as my teleserye, Pangako Sa’Yo is now being shown there. Producers of the film came over here and offered me to play a role in it. I play a very important role, but not the lead role. All the lines are in English as they’ll release it abroad. I’d be shooting in Malaysia for one week then we fly to Brussels in Belgium to shoot there for another four days. Pagbalik ko rito, I’ll resume Panday and record an album with my band, Jeans. The band was formed two years ago with my guitarist-friend, Danny. I’ve written a lot of poems and he helped me set them to music. Now, were all set to come up with an album of all original songs. I’m excited as this is a new development in my career, becoming a recording star."