Dingdong Dantes Pleased That His Faithserye Is Praised By Priests, Says He And Wife Marian Rivera Are Ready To Be Parents

DINGDONG DANTES is so happy that his hit new faith serye, “Pari ‘Koy”, is being endorsed by members of the clergy who were invited by Director Maryo J. Delos Reyes to a recent special screening of the show’s pilot week.

No less than the Rev. Fr. Francis Lucas, Executive Secretary of the Episcopal Commission on Social Communication and Mass Media of the Catholic Bishop's Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) praised the character of Dindong as Father Kokoy who is not a conventional priest in his efforts to bring the church closer to the flock. He also gave suggestions on how to further improve the serial to make sure viewers will not just enjoy watching it but also get some good positive values from it. So what can viewers expect from the show this week? “Unti-unti kong makikilala as Fr. Kokoy ang mga tao sa barangay Pinagpala na siyang bago kong assignment,” says Dingdong. “Unang-una na ang Tres Marias, lay workers led by Chanda Romero as Martha, who’s self righteous and who’ll oppose me sa non-conformist ways ko as a priest. Kasama niya ang tsismosang si Luz Valdez as Esther and Dexter Doria na siyang pinakamabait sa kanila as Salome. I will also meet two little boys na mandurukot pala, David Remo as Pinggoy and Jhiz Deocareza as Japet, na pagtatangkaan pa kong nakawan. I will try my best to reform them.”

We ask Dingdong how things are between him and wife Marian Rivera now that they’ve been married for more than two months. “Noong una, parang pareho lang, parang wala namang nagbago. But when we returned from our honeymoon abroad, mga after two weeks, ‘yun, naramdaman ko na, unti-unti talaga, alam mo na nag-next le­vel ka talaga. Alam mong may asawa ka na. Mas maaga ako nagigising, kasi parang mas may dahilan ka para bumangon araw-araw. Yung motivation to work and to do better things, nag-increase ten-fold. Mas ganado ka, kaya lagi akong ganado ring mag-taping ng ‘Pari ‘Koy.’”

Are they hoping to have a baby soon? “Yes, we’re both ready. Sana nga this year, if the Lord wills it. It’s one reason nga why we decided to settle down na, kasi we both feel na game na game na kami to start our own family. But right now, pareho kaming may bagong show. She has started taping 'The Rich Man's Daughter'. So lahat yan magbabago depende sa dikta ng ibibigay sa aming biyaya. Kaya everything depends on that.”