MATTEO Guidicelli revealed many thought him crazy joining the army last month as reservist.
These include his parents as with girlfriend Sarah Geronimo.
“Parang lahat sila, ‘Why?’ ‘Ano nakain mo?’ ‘Busy ka naman,’” he related with a laugh.
“Then there was this argument about me doing it simply because I want to hold a gun, fight, go to war. It goes to show lang talaga that people really don’t understand what it entails.”
The 29-year-old Filipino-Italian then explained, “There are many ways you could serve the country as reservist. Like, for example, we could be activated during calamities. To help those in need. Ang maganda dun, we have training, professional training.”
“Going to war, going to fight, it’s the farthest thing in my mind,” he added. “I’m doing this for the country. I want to help it the best way I can and I really do believe joining the army is one way of doing that.”
More than just signing up, Matteo is actually to undergo a 45-day training course specific to the country’s scout rangers.
“That means I’ll be gone for a while, I will actually stay in a soldier’s camp somewhere and undergo training the whole of June,” he said.
And what about show business?
“I’m putting it on hold,” Matteo retorted, going on to thank Viva management for allowing him the chance.
“Boss Vic (Del Rosario, Via head honcho) actually facilitated it,” he shared. “He arranged my schedule in a way na lahat ng gagawin ko for the year are moved to a later date, after the completion of my training course.”
Told how the actual training could get rough, Matteo said, “I know. I was briefed about it. Sabi nga mangingitim ako doon, then kakalbuhin ako, they’ll take away my cellphone, baka may ilan din daw doon na susubukan ang kakayanan ko ng husto kasi nga artista ako. Well, okay lang, I’ll try to tough it out.”
Fans will not miss Matteo so much as he has already prepared something for them: a song.
“I have recorded a remake of Imago’s classic hit ‘Sundo’ and it is my parting gift of sorts to fans who will have to wait until after I completed my training,” he said.
But why “Sundo?”
The Cebuano actor-singer answered, “I wanted to release an original song talaga, something that I wrote myself but I feel like hindi pa ako handa. I want to really prepare for that. Good thing though, when I was asked to listen to ‘Sundo,’ I immediately remembered how much I like it. It’s a really nice song.”
Matteo will launch the single on May 24 at the Music Hall in Metrowalk. (NEIL RAMOS)
