BARON GEISLER
BARON GEISLER IS, OF COURSE, ALIVE.
BUT HE HAS NEVER BEEN THIS ALIVE.
As told to Clint Holton Potestas
R.I.P., Baron—I have no idea about that.
Kung sino man ang nagkalat, I call him crazy genius.
In a way, it kind of helped kasi sobrang sakto.
He “killed” me before my birthday.
I put a quote na lang there that the old is gone; the new has come.
My old self, iniwan ko na sa Pampanga; my new self I found here in Cebu.
Natawa lang talaga ako. Ako—I’m dead?
Ah, I felt bad. I felt a little mad and sad. Some of my good friends in the industry called. Some were crying. It was not a good joke. It was an evil prank.
What can I do?
I just laughed about it.
I posted it because I don’t want people to worry. Actually, ayaw ko talagang patulan kasi I don’t want attention.
Kasi, when I come out—yung mga sinasabi kong mga plano—I want to surprise them. Wow… this is the guy that we all have been waiting for.
People might assume that I am not taking my program seriously because they see me outside. Third rehab ko na ’to. For me, the open-gate program is the healthiest.
In a closed-gate type, like what I had previously experienced, you don’t know how to blend in sa society. It makes you feel afraid and sad. You end up going back to your old habits.
Here, I can enjoy my recovery.
I get encouragement from recovering addicts.
Most important thing about recovery is enjoying it kasi pag pinipipilit lang, you’ll stumble.
My first month was really uneasy.
I was just embracing the thorns, the cactus—accepting who I am and my reality, and where I am at right now… emotionally bankrupt, physically and mentally bankrupt. But slowly, slowly, I am learning from the “12 steps.”
It’s just basically talking about our problems, how we’re coping because we have a lot of character defects.
Sometimes, we get pissed off easily, but by using the “big book,” nagkakaroon ng tools for coping skills.
I have a book, a blue book; it’s called “Alcoholics Anonymous.”
I haven’t thought of becoming a better actor after rehabilitation, but I think I’d be a better human being, a useful human being in society— more loving and caring.
Well, kasi ano, I am still going to Skype with the producers next week for a movie that will be shot in Qatar. Hopefully, it would push through. I don’t want to mention the rest, but I am moving two movies before the year ends.
Yu’ng isa, secret pa, pero series. Let people speculate. We’re cooking up something here.
I also have service work. I go around jails, around Cebu, and probably schools for drug awareness.
We’re cooking up a show—we’re cooking up a show just to go around Cebu. Basta, ‘yun na lang. Things are going to happen very soon.
I am going to Liloan to feed the orphans on June 17.
I, myself, am already an orphan.
My birthday wish was to make these kids happy.
Before, I used to do this when I had lots of money, but it didn’t come from the heart, minsan nga napipilitan pa ako—okay, just for the sake of helping.
Now, I can relate na. There’s really meaning in the process of giving; it’s more of seeing them smile.
The key to a successful recovery alcoholic is acceptance.
You always have to have awareness, hindi lang sa sarili but outwardly, too. You have to be teachable. You have to be very, very honest to yourself.
I love the Cebuanos. They accepted me as an adopted son.
I want Cebu to be my sanctuary talaga.
This is where I learned the hard way—this is where I found peace and love. This is where I found who I truly am. Pag magka pera na ako, I’d like to buy a simple home lang dito, townhouse lang, motorcycle lang.
After my program, I am going back to set up a restaurant in Pampanga, and then branch out in Bulacan. Not in Cebu, dami’ng kompetensya—masyado’ng lami dito, bai.
The nine lives of Baron Geisler
Baron Geisler
I knew I had to do it.
When I received a text message from Jeck Yap, the head counselor of the rehabilitation center where Baron Geisler is at, I only had less than 24 hours
to gather my team before the appointment.
The new segment “Trending” debuts today, a rip off of “Style of the Month” that has been appearing every first Wednesday of the month for an in-depth fashion news coverage since February 2018.
But unlike our monthly special, this answers the immediacy of pop culture that I would merge with local fashion.
And to go with the times, “Trending” has no specific publication schedule—because it is a servant of the breaking news in our field of watch.
I already had the concept of this segment, but I was waiting for the right coverage to launch it.
I mentally reserved Yvonne Quisumbing’s menswear collection for a feature of someone who is proportioned to her ethos after she launched it in
Manila.
As her customer since 2013, I knew how my friend accepted the truce for highly tailored pieces.
The rants, on the other hand, were decoded and left on our coffee table several afternoons at the mall, sharing only one piece of croissant.
It’s a tie for Yvonne and Baron—although much had been said about Baron in show business.
But here, we raise the curtain for the truest of the many lives he has ever had.
One of them, too, is being the Heath Ledger of my life. (Clint Holton Potestas)
