On Monday, February 14, Ultimate Heartthrob Piolo Pascual reminisced how he got his ‘Papa P’ moniker, revealing that it was comedian Ai-Ai de las Alas who gave it to him.
“It started with Ms. Ai-Ai sa Magandang Tanghali, Bayan. I was a guest one time and then she called me ‘Papa P’ and I call her ‘Mama Ai’ and it just stuck, you know, sa ABS, to the point na even the cameramen were calling me ‘Papa P,'” revealed the actor during the virtual media conference for his upcoming sitcom My Papa Pi.
It became awkward for him at first that even men were calling him by that name. But Pascual learned to accept it as a gesture for those who recognize him.
“Napagtanto ko na siguro, out of respect na rin, sige ibigay na lang natin kesa iba pa ang itawag sa’yo so Papa P na lang. Pero ‘yon, natanggap ko naman, may show nga tayong gano’n.”
Being called “Papa” is better than “Tito,” he pointed out.
“So at first, parang nakakatawa ‘diba? Pero habang tumatanda ka, kesa tawagin kang Tito, okay na yung Papa P, kasi kapag tinatawag kang tito nakakatanda eh.”
Meanwhile, an Instagram post from his official digital page caught the eye of the press people. The picture had a caption, “Ako nga pala yung mahal ng nanay ninyo.”
According to him, his social media manager posted the photo. The post was to tease him.
“Yung piolopascual.ph kasi, meron akong social media person. Baliw kasi yung social media person ko so anu-ano pino-post niya [at] hindi ako yung nagpo-post no’n pero it’s my official digital page. So sinasakyan ko na lang din pero wala siyang gustong gawin kundi pag-tripan ako. So nila-like ko na lang yung mga post niya. Blessing din naman ‘yon, wala namang problema,” explaiend the actor.
My Papa Pi also stars Miss Universe 2015 Pia Wurtzbach and Pepe Herrera. It is under the direction of critically acclaimed filmmaker Cathy Garcia-Molina.
The sitcom also marks Pascual’s return to the same format after a recurring and later regular role on the now-defunct show Home Sweetie Home.
