‘Princess Padyak’ launches Miles Ocampo to stardom

Beauty, brains, and brawn have won for actress Miles Ocampo her first leading role in a teleserye or television series, “Padyak Princess”, which premieres at 10:15 a.m. today on TV 5.

 The God-given gifts have made her like water that seeks its own level in the entertainment field.

 These and her inborn wit and knack for humor drew the attention of TVJ—  Tito (Sotto), Vic (Sotto) and Joey (de Leon)—who made her a member of Dabarkads, gang of friends, on Philippine TV’s longest running show “Eat Bulaga”.

 De Leon, referred to as the “Henyo Master” who came up with the show’s title and slogan, explained that “Eat” was for lunchtime and “Bulaga” was TVJ’s wish to fill the variety show with a lot of surprises.  The show’s slogan is “Hangga’t may bata, may Eat Bulaga” (as long as there are children, there’s Eat Bulaga).

 It was in Tito Sotto’s kitchen where the idea came up. To make the show unforgettable, Joey decided to use both Filipino and English words for the title.

The show is now in its 45th year of entertaining people and has served as a launch pad for the careers of many young stars who have since become successful in the entertainment industry.

It also provides public service to those in need., which includes helping the sick and the needy, sending poor but deserving kids to school (secondary or college), donating to barangay to enable them to render more efficient service to residents, providing aid in cash or kind when necessary and giving away prizes during the “Sugod-bahay sa Barangay” portion of the show.

 “Sugod-bahay sa Barangay” roughly means “rush to a barangay house to give gifts”.

 It goes without saying that Eat Bulaga paved the way for Miles to get the lead role in the TV series “Padyak Princess”, opposite Joao Constancia, whose parents are in Macau, and Jameson Blake.

For last Saturday’s presentation, Miles and TVJ  arrived at TV 5 in separate pedicabs. Tito, Vic and Joey “complained” with the kind of humor for which they are known.

 At the start of the show, Miles took center stage, thanking everyone—TVJ, other Dabarkads, among others— for her leading role in the new TV series, which was first mentioned to her last December.

She was surprised, she said. It would be the first time she would have a lead role in a  series. The show is produced by TV 5,  Cignal TV and APT Entertainment.

Recently, she won Best Supporting Actress in the Manila Film Festival.

“Fast forward to January this year when they presented (the project). After the presentation, my first question was ‘Are you sure? Is this really for me?’“ she said.

Nevertheless, she was excited and was grateful to the producers for entrusting her with a major project.

“It was my first time to be given this kind of project … I felt blessed to be granted this huge project… I’m new to TV 5 and to be entrusted with this great project is a big deal. Grabe ‘yong pressure,” she said.

Helmed by Easy Ferrer, “Padyak Princess “ tells the story of Princess, a charming and determined young woman who dreams of someday reviving her family’s reputation and her barangay’s golden days.

To make ends meet for her family, Princess must step up as the breadwinner. As Princess’ story unfolds, she faces life’s challenges with courage, determination and humor.

Miles had to make some adjustments to meet the physical demands of her character as a “padyak” driver because she was diagnosed with Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma, and underwent surgery last year.

With Miles in the  show are Ara Mina, Ces  Quesada, Christian Vasquez, Cris Villanueva, Yayo Aguila, Gillian Vicencio, Jameson Blake, Joao Constancia, Karissa Toliongco, Kira Balinger, and Miel Espinoza.