Hero Angeles

Young actor Hero Angeles and his brother Henry, who acts as his personal manager, have belied the item on German Moreno’s column, “That’s Entertainment,” in Pilipino Star Ngayon. 

Last June 24, Kuya Germs lamented that Hero’s non-appearance in the past few episodes of his midnight show “Walang Tulugan” was a sign that the actor is no longer interested in keeping him as his manager.

“Sa hindi pagdating ni Hero Angeles sa taping ng ‘Walang Tulugan,’ nangangahulugan siguro ito na talagang ayaw na niyang pakialaman ko ang career niya. Sa kapatid na si Henry na lang siguro niya ibabalik ang pagmamaneho nito,” Kuya Germs wrote in his column.

The Master Showman, however, clarified that he has not sacked Hero from his show, and that he’s always welcome to return if he wishes.   

“Hindi ko siya tinatanggal sa ‘Walang Tulugan.’ Makaka-balik siya rito kung gusto niya; nasa kanya na ‘yon,” he wrote.

Also, Kuya Germs was disappointed when Henry turned down a role assigned to Hero in “Endless Love.”

“Naikuha ko siya ng role sa ‘Endless Love’ nina Dingdong Dantes at Marian Rivera, pero tinanggihan ng kapatid niya. Hindi yata nagustuhan ang role at nag-dialogue pa ng hindi maganda.”

Kuya Germs also said he’s not asking Hero for commissions.

"Ginagawa ko naman ang katungkulan ko sa kanya nang wala siyang kailangang bayaran sa akin, pero mahirap.”

To clear up the matter, Hero and Henry posted a lengthy explanation in the actor’s official website www.heroangeles.net.

The incident

It all started last June 17, 2010, when I, Henry Angeles, called Mr. German Moreno (Kuya Germs) regarding the new GMA soap program “Endless Love” because we received a script and found a problem. This call happened after myself and Hero Angeles talked about the script.

Kuya Germs is Hero Angeles’ manager for TV and Film. Hero was labeled differently on the script, and the role was a complete reverse of what was originally offered to him. Last May 2010, I was notified by Kuya Germs about an offer for Hero on a new soap. The only detail Kuya Germs gave us was that it would be a regular major role and a best friend of the male lead star.

Kuya Germs said “hindi naman bibigyan ng management ng ‘extra’ role iyan dahil Hero Angeles na iyan” (“The management won’t give him a role as an extra, as he is already Hero Angeles.”) – so I asked for a clarification and he willingly said that he would ask the production, as there might be a mistake. After a few minutes, he called me up, I was surprised that he sounded irritated. He stressed that Hero’s role is what we had read in the script and that it was not the original offer anymore. He did not give any explanation. With him insisting on the role, I was prompted to say in a polite and calm manner even if I was very disappointed, “Hindi po ganito ung pinag-usapan natin. Ano ba naman ito. Para naman tayong naglolokohan po nito.” (“This isn’t what we had agreed upon. It’s like we are not taking things seriously.”) I started to ask why, as I was so puzzled how it went. He started freaking out and he called me a name, until he declared that everything between us including Hero was all over. I didn’t react due to respect.

I then called the GMA Official regarding Hero’s role and my phone conversation with Kuya Germs. He carefully explained that the role is just actually a small role that can be given to any “no-name talent.” So, it is very clear that it doesn’t match what Kuya Germs had previously told us and promised us. I also asked the GMA Official a favor that this incident be kept just among us. He then agreed.

June 19, 2010, I informed “Walang Tulugan” Talent Coordinator through SMS that Hero can’t make it for that day’s taping due to immediate personal appointment in Olongapo. Out of professionalism, we still sent that notice even if Kuya Germs had already declared closure, that it was over for Hero. We did not hear anything from them.

Surprisingly, June 24, 2010, fans started informing us about Kuya Germs’ article on Hero on not attending the show’s taping. We saw his article, and it was completely the reverse of the truth. We were also wondering why he started writing about it and he did it after one week knowing it was an internal dialogue.

June 26, 2010, Kuya Germs wrote on his article, “Sayang at baka ‘yung role ni Dennis Trillo sa Endless Love ang dapat sana ay napunta kay Hero Angeles kung hindi niya ito tinanggihan agad.” (Too bad and maybe it is the role of Dennis Trillo in Endless Love that could have been for Hero Angeles if he did not reject it right away.) Contrary to what he wrote, what me and Hero rejected was the “extra-like” role and not that of Dennis Trillo’s.

Kuya Germs also wrote in that article “I am just trying to help him get exposure. Palagi ko naman siyang inirerekomenda sa mga higher ups pero siguro hindi siya paborito...” (...I always recommend him to the higher ups but maybe he is not a favorite...) Knowing Kuya Germs as one of the industry’s institutions and an icon of Kapuso Network and coming from his own words, does it imply that Kapuso Network’s system is run on favoritism? 

On management and commissions

Before Hero’s GMA contract expired last 2009, I talked to Kuya Germs and he said that GMA will not anymore renew ANY artist and he asked us to stay as the network likes Hero and they have plans for him. Then under his management of one (1) year and four (4) months, he kept promising a special role on a soap, a regular role, and great plans of the management for Hero on radio, TV, and personal conversations. They just became promises. We still respected him, although we had several experiences of unpaid TV guestings, pre-booked TV guestings which were cancelled and sudden “political-campaign-like” guesting which was never paid and explained. I, as a personal manager, was not informed of the sudden guesting and it happened during break time of “Walang Tulugan” taping.

However last May 12, 2010, he was able to book Hero for a provincial gig sponsored by Ms. Alice Eduardo of Jaen, Nueva Ecija. Kuya Germs asked for a commission, he named his price and we agreed to pay it. Later on we discovered issues about the commission. We still kept silent out of respect for him.

We do not like to think that we were neglected by Kuya Germs even if everybody knows that he is fully focused and personally “hands-on” to his other talent Jake Vargas, he should not have had given us promises just to make us stay.

On a manager's side

It’s my duty as a personal manager to also know the details of my talent’s project. For me, a manager always looks after the best interest of the talent. One is not a manager if you just say YES even if you do not know the details. A manager also protects the talent at all costs when the situation calls for it. Even if the manager’s name is being assassinated in the media, a real and total manager shields the talent from anything that can harm him/her.

Conclusion

With all these happenings, this makes us feel that Kuya Germs is truly pushing Hero away. Maybe this letter will raise eyebrows and give this comment, “Hindi na kayo dapat sumagot, dahil si Kuya Germs iyan...” (You shouldn’t have spoken, because that’s Kuya Germs...) – I think it is everybody’s right to defend oneself and stand for the truth, especially when no one ever asks for your side of the story. With these bad experiences we decided to move on and move forward and we believe that there are still good, proper, and worthy individuals hidden in show business.

Thank you for your time.

Henry Angeles and Hero Angeles

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Hero became Kuya Germs’ ward after he transferred to GMA-7 a few years ago. With the Kapuso network, Hero appeared in a slew of TV shows like “Dyesebel,” “Maynila,” and “Paano Ba Ang Mangarap?”