Sibling Harmony

Hatsing! Hatsing!! Hatsing!!!

Like most everybody, Jak Roberto is sneezing due to the crippling summer heat punctuated by sudden downpour. Nobody is spared. Even the so-called Pambansang Abs is susceptible.

We are at the receiving room of the One Castilla Place by DMCI (#1 Castilla St., Valencia, Quezon City) for an exclusive joint pictorial-interview with Jak and his younger sister Sanya Lopez. (They are only two siblings.) They put a face to “sibling harmony,” in contrast to “sibling rivalry” which is prevalent in the highly-competitive showbiz. Having lost their father when they were young, brother and sister toe the uncharted line to support each other.

“No professional jealousy between us,” claims Jak (Jan Rommel Roberto, born Dec. 2, 1993). “We are lucky that we both have shows. We can pay our bills and we are able to save.”

“We support each other,” adds Sanya. “We share whatever we have. I’m happy for him and he’s happy for me.”

Jak has done a few indies and, thanks to his six-pack which he blithely displays on national television initially in the GMA shows Dear Uge and Bubble Gang, he has caught the eyes of the Kapuso management and the public fancy. He continues to flaunt the same abs in the kilig series Meant To Be, his biggest break yet in which he plays one of the four beefcakes competing for the attention and affection of Barbie Forteza (lucky girl!), including Ken Chan (Chinese), Ivan Dorschner (Irish) and Addy Raj (Indian). Sanya is in Encantadia. They were both discovered by German “Kuya Germs” Moreno’s late lamented show Walang Tulugan along with several others (although Jak was the only one reported to have paid his respects on Kuya Germs’ first death anniversary last January by offering flowers and prayers at his grave).

Before Encantadia, hardly anybody noticed Sanya.

“But now when I am at the mall, people call me Danaya, my character in Encantadia.”

Their shoot schedule overlaps so they seldom see each other. When Sanya is home, Jak is busy shooting — and vice versa.

Can Jak win any girl by simply showing his, uhm, abs?

“I am shy when it comes to courting girls,” admits Jak, just like his role in MTB, the middle-class among Barbie’s suitors, whom Jak describes as torpe. “I think my MTB character was patterned after my real self,” adding when asked further how many girlfriends has he had, but without naming names, “three, two of them from showbiz.”

Although close, they don’t meddle in each other’s lovelife.

Asked if Sanya has a boyfriend, Jak turns to Sanya, “May boyfriend ka ba?” Sanya blushes and shake her head.

Jak is an HRM graduate from a school in Laguna (where he finished runner-up in the Ginoong Laguna pageant). His abs was first showcased in 2013 in Laut, directed by Louie Ignacio, in which he plays the husband of Barbie Forteza (who won an award). It was followed by three more indies…Potpot, Asintado and Tibak. His image as Pambansang Abs was sealed when he appeared as Machete in Sunday Pinasaya.

Sanya was inspired by Jak’s appearance on Kuya Germs’ show. One day, she accompanied him to the shoot. Sanya was discovered and she got stuck on showbiz.

She laughs at Jak’s Pambansang Abs title.

“I would tease him, ‘Wow, Pambansang Abs talaga ha! Ang taray. Sometimes, I wonder, ‘hindi kaya sinisipon ‘to?’“

Because they are close and they live in a rented house in Tandang Sora, Quezon City, Jak and Sanya (Shaira Lenn Roberto, born Aug. 5, 1996) are often mistaken for sweethearts.

“When we are in public,” says Sanya, “we notice the way people look at us. They suspect that we are not brother and sister. So funny. We even work out together. All I do is cardio exercises and treadmill. I can’t do the heavy stuff that Jak does.”

Their father passed away when Jak was five years old and Sanya was two years old. They switch between Laguna (where their mother came from) and Bulacan (their father’s hometown).

“When our father died,” volunteers Sanya, “we went through hard times. We didn’t have a choice but to help our mom earn a living.”

“When I was 10,” shares Jak, “I earned extra money during undas (All Souls/All Saints Day). I helped clean and paint the tombs, P50 per tomb. I also helped my mom cook for her food business.”

After the interview, Jak and Sanya proceed to the gym. Watching them work out, we can’t help but notice how close they really are. Jak helps Sanya with barbells, the chest press and the rest of the exercise equipment.

“As a kuya,” says Jak, “I really take good care of her.”

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