Recently, the public were alarmed over reports of two ABS-CBN talents “collapsing” while in the US for the 17th anniversary show of Star Magic.

First was actor Diether Ocampo who was reported to have suffered a seizure during morning rehearsals for that show. Ocampo was rushed to a hospital by fellow Star Magic talents – one of them, his ex-wife Kristine Hermosa. Tests were conducted which revealed that Ocampo has arrhythmia.

Another ABS CBN talent, comedienne Kitkat, fell unconscious while taking a bath in preparation for the show.

According to roommate Mellissa Ricks, the comedienne shouted for help from inside the bathroom they shared. Kitkat complained to have difficulty in breathing which was later attributed to dehydration, and not over fatigue as first speculated.

Gary Valenciano, one of the bigger stars in ABS-CBN’s roster of talents, admits that work for people in showbiz can really “get out of hand” at times.

“Some of my friends look at my schedule and say, ‘You’re really busy.’ I’d then reply, ‘You don’t know what busy is.’ It’s a cause of concern…many of us really run the risk of getting over fatigued when we don’t pace ourselves properly.”

Valenciano emphasized that it’s not the network’s fault.

“Sometimes there’s a need, a demand for us artists to really work. But they [ABS-CBN] know how to balance things. They realize that although they have to act on that ‘need,’ their artists have needs as well,” he said.

Does Gary know specifically how their needs are being addressed?

“I think they’re starting on the kids…the younger talents. They have created this schedule in which they are meant to work only for a set amount of time.”

Still, Valenciano hopes that “more things are done” to address the situation.

“I’m even hoping to share some suggestions if they would ask me. I’ve worked in some productions abroad and I’ve seen how accomplish so much in so little time. I wish we could do that here, you know? But, yes, the networks are aware of this and are slowly moving towards that.”