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Monday, July 18, 2005
Straight from Cito
By Kara Mae Muga Noveda
Onscreen he is a gentle teddy bear of a talk show host. But in person, Cito Beltran can be a preachy megalomaniac out to straighten your average mediocre.
Growing up with a famous last name in media, Cito is the son of Louie Beltran, who rose to mass media history as the journalist who understatedly “earned the ire” of the Edsa I heroine and eventually proven innocent from defaming former President Cory Aquino.
An entrepreneur for most of his life, the host of “Straight Talk,” late bloomer of a journalist and Christian—Cito is a testament of how looks can be deceiving. He comfortably switches from “bad cop to good cop” in his commanding speech.
Cito tells us he is an intense person in all of his pursuits. He cries foul against ukay-ukay clothes, barks on the young generation’s “whining” attitude and in the end tearfully tells us that love and God is all we need, just among a few of his many many points.
LIVE!: You’re a journalism graduate and currently a practitioner as your tough father, Louie Beltran, was; how is it basking in reflected glory?
CB: For a long time, I’ve LIVE!d in his shadow. He was hard. Growing up, you’re like a plant. If only when put into the light will you bloom. It was only after he passed away that I entered as a host a talk show. In the years before that, I was completely out of the media.
LIVE!: What do you consider as your career or occupation?
CB: I’m simply a person enjoying life with God.
LIVE!: Any hobbies on the side?
CB: All over the Philippines, I am now considered as a serious antique car collector. My first piece is a Jaguar and until now I still have a few of them. They are sometimes given to me by my friends. They also turn out to be a blessing for my family when I do get to sell them to clients, I have a shop and I am able to provide jobs to hundreds of Filipinos.
LIVE!: Have you ever been intimidated by someone you’ve interviewed?
CB: The minute I focus, there’s no one who really scares me. I’ve met too many bad people in my life. When I talk to people in power, they only get my awe and respect.
LIVE!: Of the many you’ve interviewed, who have left unexpected remarkable impressions on you?
CB: Aleck Bovic and a 15-year-old fighting a degenerative muscle condition. Aleck didn’t turn out to be a bimbo, she is a survivor who refused to be engulfed in the darkness. The (latter) young man was so powerful in his statement despite his disease—he was still thankful for his life even in his deformity.
LIVE!: You’ve implied that you’re your own worst critic, whose critique do you also acknowledge?
CB: I listen to and respect any person who criticizes with solutions.
(July 18, 2005 issue)
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