Road Rules

From the original StarStruck Avengers, one particular Avenger stood out with bad boy looks and bad boy charms -- but Anton Dela Paz shows a different side of his personality through a bad boy hobby: motor-biking! Text and Photos by Jason John S. Lim. At 21 years old, Anton Dela Paz is living life at its fastest, with motorbikes. The StarStruck Avenger shares that even as a kid, biking had already been his passion. With his father nurturing this particular hobby, Anton is now a true-blue biker. “You get to travel,” Anton points out as the main reason for his hobby. He says that with his father, they gets to travel everywhere with just their bikes. Anton shares that they treat these trips as their bonding time as well. “Tsaka, hilig ko kasi talaga.” From breakfast rides to Tagaytay with his girlfriend to spur-of-the-moment trips to Laguna, Anton has been to many places with his trusty bike. But one particular trip is very memorable -- and special -- to him: the trip he took with his dad to Sagada, in the Mountain Province. “Kaming dalawa lang ng dad ko, bonding kami. Four days namin kinuha ‘yung ride na ‘yun. Four days bago kami nakauwi. Adventure talaga. Pumunta kami sa Banawa Rice Terraces, as in walang tao -- kami lang! Natulog kami sa kubo lang doon. So, fun talaga.” But motor-biking isn’t always a smooth ride. Anton admits that he likes the winding roads, especially the one in Sierra Madre, in Tanay, Rizal. He says that he likes the challenge that casual bikers don’t have when riding through straight roads. In one instance though, the rough roads almost did him in. “Ride namin to Laguna,” Anton recounts that he almost overshot towards the cliffs with his bike. “Kasi nawalan ng breaks ‘yung bike ko dahil uminit ‘yung breaks. So nung bine-break ko na, nagsi-slip, dumudulas. So muntik akong dumiretso sa bangin.” He shares, “For you to maneuver the bike, kailangan ili-lean mo, ihiga mo, ‘di ba? So ‘yun ‘yung ginawa ko, para hindi ako dumiretso [sa bangin].” In incidents like the one he recounted, Anton says that there’s no right thing to do. “Diskarte mo kung ano ang gusto mong gawin. ‘Yung iba ginagawa, tumatalon sa bike. Pinababayaan ‘yung bike na ano. So kanya-kanya.” But those interested in motor-biking shouldn't be scared. Anton says that as long as a person has discipline, there won’t be any problems. Of course, it would also help to have the right riding gear, and if possible, the right education. “Mag-riding course. Kasi meron noon eh. ‘Yung riding course, tuturuan ka kung paano ‘yung tamang pagbaba sa bike mo, pag-andar, pag-liko, pag-maneobra sa bike mo, road safety... Ituturo lahat.” With all the trips he has taken, Anton says there’s one place still that he wants to go to: Pagudpod. He reveals that his father has already been there twice, and he plans on going there as well. The question now will be when he can have the time -- especially now that he has gone back to school at the University of the Philippines’ open-university program. There are now new ways to feel the fun with Fanatxt! Tune in Mondays and Wednesdays, from 8.30 to 9 in the morning to Baranggay LS FM for Fanaxt All Stars! Who knows, you might be the next lucky Fanatxt subscriber to get to talk to their idol! Want more safety tips and other suggestions about Motorbikes from Anton? You can learn more from him by subscribing to his Fanatxt service! Just key in ANTON on your cellphones and send to 4627. (Each Fanatxt message costs PhP2.50 for GLOBE, SMART, and TALK 'N TEXT, and PhP2.00 for Sun subscribers.) And if you want to hear from other Anton dela Paz fans, just log on to the iGMA forums!? Talk about him and his passion for biking at his forum thread! Not yet registered? Not a problem! Register now and you might even get a chance to chat with your favorite Kapuso star! You can catch Anton in various GMA programs! Tune in to La Vendetta every weeknight where you can see him as one of Junjun’s (Paolo Contis) classmate in college.