Diether: Up, Up And Away!

Up, up and away! It’s a bird! It’s a plane…it’s—no! It’s not superman! He’s flying, unleashing a killer smile, which conquered the hearts of the women standing on the helipad of Makati’s City Garden Hotel. All the spectators stood still, sweating, and staring in awe, as the camera continued to click its way through this invincible superhero’s flight in the midst of the scorching sun. He was identified as Captain "D" a.k.a. Diether Ocampo from the planet known as The Hunks.

Actually, I was about to hibernate when he dropped into the scene. He was wearing a pair of black shades, a plain blue shirt, white pants and earphones, and it was apparent that the atmosphere changed when he walked towards us. Already an hour and a half late for his photo shoot with the UAAP cheerleaders who had already done their shots, I approached him and introduced myself. He looked at me with luring eyes and uttered an apology. "I’m sorry, I’m late," he blushed. With his uncanny charm, how can one resist?

His physique has radically changed since his early years in the entertainment industry and with The Hunks phenomenon that he has started along with four of his showbiz friends, it seems that his body buffing habit will never stop.

"Actually there was a conscious effort for me to stay fit, there was a movie I did which required me to bare some flesh, it was a movie I did with Maricel Soriano." Yes, I grinned at him knowingly as I remembered his "pretty boy" role in Soltera a few years back. Since then, Diether’s puny body has been replaced with rippling muscles now. He has been a regular "fixture" at the gym, working out as often as his busy schedule permits.

Today, he is busy with two of the best running shows on ABS-CBN. One is the afternoon soap Recuerdo de Amor which airs on weekdays, while the other is the hit Sunday noon time show ASAP, where he has been launched together with Carlos Agassi, Bernard Palanca, Jericho Rosales, and Piolo Pascual where they are popularly and collectively called The Hunks.

Diet has not only conquered the showbiz industry and has become one of the country’s most sought-after matinee idol, he has also ventured into business with two spicy restaurants, Cilantro and Oregano. However, the restaurants didn’t stay for long with the economic slump and with other restaurants sprouting along the area. Currently, he is venturing on the health business with a health club soon to be opened named The One Spa and Health Fitness, together with some Chinese friends. Here, one can find services such as a spa, gym, aero boxing, and wall climbing facilities, as well as a sports rehab clinic under one place. Watch out for the grand opening sometime in September.

Despite such a hectic schedule he still has time to pull off some stunts in sports such as, sailing, motocross, wake-boarding, basketball, and badminton. He also often used to go hunting but has stopped since joining the World Wild Life Foundation. Just last March he competed, together with his trainer, at a sailing race in Boracay and landed at the third place. He also mentioned that he performs with his friends in a non-showbiz band called "Blow", where he plays the guitar, percussion, and vocals. For him, he has found even greater ambitions than where he is now and dreams to produce local war films and try to break into the international scene. "A lot of people would look at me and say ‘Your Diether’ but I don’t even think about that, I’m just enjoying life one day at a time."

Too busy or perhaps just living his mantra: "Live fast and enjoy life!"