A day after holding a press conference regarding the “mismanagement of the investigation and mishandling of sensitive data” related to the death of his father, veteran actor Ronaldo Valdez, Janno Gibbs reacted to the apology issued by the Quezon City Police District (QCPD) to their grieving family.
“The QCPD extends its sincere apologies to the Gibbs family regarding the recent incident where a member of our police force inappropriately took a video of the late Mr. Ronaldo Valdez. We acknowledge the gravity of this lapse in judgment of some of our personnel, and we deeply regret any distress this may have caused,” the QCPD said in its statement on Monday.
The QCPD further assured that “involved personnel will face appropriate administrative charges for their actions.”
“In fairness to the police right after the presscon, (QCPD) general (director Brig. Gen. Redrico) Maranan who issued the press (statement), called me right away,” Janno disclosed during the media conference on Tuesday for his forthcoming directorial debut film, Itutumba Ka Ng Tatay Ko, at the Viva Café in Araneta City.
“He got hold of my number personally. He said to me that he watched my presscon and that he is apologizing to me personally, (saying): ‘Don’t worry. It was really wrong. I will issue a press release right away.’”
According to the singer-actor, it made them feel better and that Maranan “sounded sincere.”
Amid what happened, Janno decided to push through with the release of Viva Films’ Itutumba Ka Ng Tatay Ko on Jan. 24.
The action-comedy stars Janno alongside Ronaldo. They are joined by Louise delos Reyes, Juliana Parizcova Segovia, Xia Vigor, and Anjo Yllana.
It was his first time directing his father in the comedy that turned out to be his last film.
For Janno, it’s his “great tribute” to his dad and the “best parting gift” from him.
He hopes moviegoers will support the film.
“Aside from this is my first directorial job, it’s a comedy na feeling ko ay hinahanap ng mga masang Pilipino and of course, this is a great tribute to my dad,” Janno said.
“It’s good that I got the not-so-good details out of the way in an earlier presscon. I’m sure you’re all aware of that. I wanted to get that out of the way para makapag-promote (latest film).
“Alangan namang pumunta ako dito promoting my film (feeling) very sad, filled with repressed anger, sadness and resentment. So I wanted to get it out of the way and I did. I was able to let out all my emotions there… Now, I get to promote my movie na masaya naman.”
Janno believed that this is the “perfect time” to launch Itutumba Ka Ng Tatay Ko so that the people will see his father in a new light after what happened.
“Someone said to me, ‘Is it too soon to release the movie after what happened?’ For me, I believe this is the perfect time to release the movie kasi yung… Sorry, I don’t want to cry but the last image of my dad was… It wasn’t nice. So hopefully this erases that. We will see him in all his glory (in this film),” expressed Janno who got emotional while talking about working with his father for the last time.
It wasn’t that hard to direct his dad who showed his support to his son while filming. Janno recalled, “I remember one instance, our confrontation scene. I was rewriting the script before taping the scene. Then I sent it to him. I said, ‘I will give this to my dad so that he can study it.”
When Janno arrived on the set, Ronaldo said, “Who wrote this dialogue? Ganda eh.” “Of course, kilig naman ako nun,” reacted Janno.
His favorite filming moments with his father were the action scenes, sharing, “Ang sarap kasi directing him. And medyo pinahirapan ko siya a bit, technically. We had fun. I have pictures that I posted. You can see in the stolen shots that we were happy.”
Before his passing, Ronaldo filmed the eSports-themed GG (Good Game), the horror film Poon and a movie with Beks Battalion.
Janno admitted they are still in the healing process following the demise of Ronaldo and that they are grieving together as family.
“Like I said, family is the best support. Hindi kami naghihiwalay muna now because we are still in the healing process. We are not (yet) fully recovered but I’m good,” stated Janno.
He also said that their recent family vacation in Japan also helped them cope after what they went through. “That travel which I got bashing (where they were) also saying nagsasaya kaagad ‘di ba after (what happened).”
Then he explained, “But that was a scheduled trip. At first, one of my kids said to just postpone it because of what happened. But I said no, the more we should go through it eh. Let’s go ahead. We need it para makahinga, para makalayo sa tsismis and everything. So it really helped.”
They went to Japan a few weeks after the passing of Ronaldo on Dec. 17.
“There were some bashings but luckily kinuyog naman siya nung ibang netizens, saying, kanya-kanya tayo ng ways of grieving. Meron kasi nagsayaw pa ako eh, nag-TikTok pa ako eh,” he continued.
But he didn’t mean any harm or show disrespect to his father, he maintained. “I don’t want to use my social media kumbaga pagkakitaan yung grief namin. Yung puro na lang malungkot, nag-iiyakan. Parang ginagamit mo naman yung sitwasyon. So I wanted to show magsasayaw ako.”
Moreover, Janno has recently called out certain vloggers whom he said had been circulating fake news about his father’s death.
He said, “You know ako hindi but itutumba kayo ng asawa ko. Si Bing (Loyzaga) ang medyo mainit ang ulo sa mga… Parang gusto niyang habulin eh. Parang gusto niyang sumample ng isa eh. Because she was very close to my dad.”