Bangs, another Davaoena on the rise
I HAVE heard the name Bangs Garcia for years now, but it was only last
night (Monday night ata ito) I realized that the Palos leading lady is my friend.
She is from Davao and was a constant subject in this page (that’s Mindanao Times… oooooops) years back.
I have not watch Palos since it debuted during the ABS-CBN’s ‘G8 shows’
launching last Jan. 28. Despite newspaper controversies tagging her as
the third party in the Jake Cuenca-Roxanne Guinoo affair, I did not
have the chance to see this girl named Bangs Garcia.
Not until last night when ABS-CBN’s TV Patrol featured Bangs in its
Star Patrol segment. The Kapamilya entertainment news program reported
that Bangs did her first sexy pictorial, and this early, she already
received several offers from men’s magazines. The news teaser featured
the face of this young actress named Bangs.
It was then that I realized that this Bangs Garcia was once the petite girl who dreamt of becoming a Mutya ng Dabaw.
Bangs Garcia is Valerie Garcia whose name was first printed in this
paper on August 31, 2004 when she joined the local reality show, Campus
Idols, created by multi-talented event organizer Gatchi Gatchalian. I
was then doing the PR works for the show.
The then 17-year-old freshman student of Ateneo de Davao University
(AdDU) stood up among the applicants, and was immediately signed-up as
one of the 10 girls in the top 24 finalists
In the three-month mall-to-mall show, the girl then known as Val
emerged as the top female winner with Evan Ray Benedicto as top male
counterpart.
The Campus Idol winning eventually gave them guest-hosting job on SBD Jam.
When SBD Jam signed off, the Campus Idol Top 10 went on to a bigger stint as segment host of KSP in 2005.
That year, she was very eager to join in the Mutya ng Dabaw.
But it did not materialize since she joined in the Close-Up To Fame, ABS-CBN’s nationwide search for the next close-up models.
Val was eliminated in the middle of the show but returned as a wild
card. She emerged as one of the Top 6 with three other Davao talents.
She lost to fellow AdDU lady, Katherine "Carine" Cabebe who went on to
catch the modeling contract and an appearance in the Star Cinema’s
Close To You. Carine recently returned to Davao to do hosting job for
GMA7’s Istayl Nato.
Right after the conclusion of Close-Up To Fame, Val then told TIMES
that her defeat would not stop her from pursuing her showbiz dreams. It
was also my last contact with her.
I heard a certain Bangs Garcia, a dimpled girl with hair bangs, making
a wave in the teen-oriented show Let’s Go with then upcoming young
stars like Kim Chiu, Gerald Anderson and other popular Pinoy Big
Brother teen alumni. Bangs was her character’s name on that show in
which she became popular. She dropped the Valerie and uses Bangs as
screen name in her next project, the fantaseries Lastikman.
I did not have any inclination that Bangs was Val.
Bangs recently grabbed showbiz headlines with her alleged link with Sam Milby and Jake Cuenca.
The young star claimed to be exclusively dating Sam before his PBB
fame. The Filipino-American actor who is also a Mindanaoan later denied
the claim.
Despite reports linking her to Palos co-star which prompted Jake’s
squeeze, Roxanne, to call her "That Girl", Bangs denied playing sweet
music with his leading man. Bangs was the second choice to play the
leading lady. The role of Sylvia, Palos’ love interest, was originally
offered to Roxanne but she could not make the project.
“I know where I stand. It’s just a job. I joined the cast of Palos to
work. I didn’t join the cast to have a boyfriend," Bangs said in one
interview.
The girl who once wanted to become famous in the modeling scene said: "I have big dreams and I want them fulfilled.”
Bangs’ former ABS-CBN talents in Davao are very happy with her success.
"(I’m) so proud of her accomplishments. She epitomizes one who dreams
and works hard to realize those dreams," said discoverer Gatchi, also a
former ABS-CBN show host.
DDS host and TIMES columnist Ian Garcia said Val is very down-to-Earth.
"Sa batch nila sa KSP, siya ray dili feeling artista. Ang uban intawon
masking dili sikat, feeling kaayo," Ian said.
While she failed to win in any ABS-CBN reality shows, we considered
Bangs to be in the same league with other Kapuso talents from Davao
like Star Circle grand winner Erich Gonzales and PBB Celebrity grand
winner Ruben Gonzaga.
