marky makes his mark

it's refreshing to meet a gorgeous young guy who is not self-conscious, vain, self-centered, stuck in his own universe, and wants nothing but to be the top model or movie star. in a country where every mestizo young guy has the illusion that he is the next piolo pascual or paulo avelino, and everyone is obsessed of making it big in the showbiz world, marky fernando munoz is indeed a rare specie.

a soon to be extinct one, i should add.

what's more, he doesn't talk much, unlike most of today's me-generation wannabes, not because he has nothing to contribute to the conversation but because he is more interested in other people's stories (he is a collector of stories). he doesn't smoke, drink or attend parties.

the five-feet and ten inches tall guy, with a flawless, milky-white skin thanks to his spanish genes, and handsome, boyish face whose smile can melt the glaciers in antartica in a second, is just contented doing some modeling gigs in small fashion shows, usually mounted by his fashion designer friends, hosting beauty pageants (and sometimes serving as a judge too), and doing photo shoots.

the twenty-three year old marky, who recently won the ginoong filipinas title, besting a dozen or more fame-hungry young men from all over the country, is not in a hurry. he is taking his own sweet time.

"i am a simple guy with simple dreams," marky told me at a recent dinner at one of his favourite restaurants, cafe adriatico, lured by its menu of classic, filipino favourites such as salpicao, adobo and suman sa lihiya, old-world charm captured inside a two-storey concrete and wood building right at the center of adriatico circle, where you can still spot the occasional tourists wandering around with cameras on their necks, wanting to recapture manille's slowly disappearing antiquated beauty.

just like us.

an old soul, marky misses the pampanga of his childhood when giant malls were still unheard of. that's why he feels right at home in one of malate's oldest meet-and-dine places.

marky, who is from mexico, pampanga, still exudes the shy provinciano charm, with his soft, almost whispering voice, as he talks about his town's many attractions including the old-time filipino favourite sisig (he knows how to cook the dish, by the way), antique churches, and of course, its beautiful, hospitable people who never cease to flash those gorgeous smiles despite experiencing some of the worst natural disasters this side of the world, particularly the mt. pinatubo eruption in nineteen ninety-one that buried and destroyed towns, killed people, with its hot, sticky magma and ashes.

a nursing graduate, cum-laude at the angeles university foundation, marky also has the brains to go with his gym-toned body, making him even rarer in a crowd of beautiful people who have nothing else other than their lovely faces. he thinks that having a college diploma is another factor, aside from his flawless singing voice (a joke), of course, that won him the title.

hungry for new experiences, marky has also worked briefly at the united nations international children's emergency fund (unicef) in jakarta, indonesia as a nurse, cherishing the experience including being among the first to rush to marriott hotel right after a bomb exploded in the luxurious hotel in two-thousand and nine to aid the victims.

"it's one unforgettable experience," marky said. "i felt my blood rush, but i also felt sad after seeing the victims, most of them already dead." despite the joys that the job offered him, his first right after passing the nursing board examination, he left jakarta after less than a year to take care of his mother back home.

today, marky, a fitness and health enthusiast, busies himself in the gym and engages in a small business when he is not busy with modeling, hosting and other gigs associated with being a male beauty title holder.

despite becoming a mini celebrity, marky is still devoid of the trappings of a star. he doesn't feel entitled at all. in fact, he offered to pay for our dinner (i let him) and insisted on paying for our coffee afterwards, as well as the cab fare.
isn't he lovely?