Wincy Gerard Aquino Ong (born February 4, 1982) is a Filipino musician, director, actor, writer, illustrator, and podcaster. He is best known as the songwriter for the bands Narda and Us-2 Evil-0, the director behind the films San Lazaro and Overtime and the actor who played Sven de Leon in the TV series

Rakista ''Rakista'' is a weekly Philippine television comedy/ musical series that centers on the exploits of a newly formed rock band composed of five Filipino college students. It aired from August 14, 2008, to November 20, 2008, replacing ''PBA Classic ...

. He is also the host of The Telebabad Tapes, with his wife Cj de Silva.

Early life

Ong was born in

Quezon City Quezon City (, ; fil, Lungsod Quezon ), also known as the City of Quezon and Q.C. (read in Filipino as Kyusi), is the most populous city in the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 2,960,048 people. It was fou ...

, the second of four children. He attended the

Ateneo de Manila , mottoeng = Light in the Lord , type = Private, research, non-profit, coeducational basic and higher education institution , established = December 10, 1859 , religious_affiliation = Roman Catholic (Jesuits) , academic_affi ...

for grade school, high school and university. In 2004, he earned a bachelor's degree in AB Communication.

Work

Music

As a musician, Ong played in college bands before starting his career as the bassist and songwriter for the band Narda from 2002 to 2005. He was nominated for NU 107 Rock Awards' Bassist of The Year category in 2003. After quitting Narda in 2005, he then composed musical scores for radio, TV and film—most notable of which are station ID music for ABS-CBN's cable channels, Lifestyle Network, Cinema One, and

MYX Myx (, stylized as MYX or myx) is a Philippine pay TV channel based in Quezon City, owned by Creative Programs Inc., a subsidiary of ABS-CBN Corporation. The channel is targeted to youth audiences and primarily airs music videos. It was intr ...

, and for rival cable company,

Solar Entertainment Corporation Solar Entertainment Corporation (simply known as Solar or SEC) is a Filipino media company based in Makati, Philippines. Founded and owned by the brothers, Wilson, William and Willy Tieng. Solar Entertainment operates two digital free-to-air c ...

. In 2007, he wrote songs for the Gawad Kalinga musical ''Tao Po'' which was staged in the Philippines and Indonesia. As a film composer, he has written music for the films Still Life
Cul de sacHuling Pasada
and

Overtime Overtime is the amount of time someone works beyond normal working hours. The term is also used for the pay received for this time. Normal hours may be determined in several ways: *by custom (what is considered healthy or reasonable by society) ...

. In 2008, he formed the band Us-2 Evil-0 with director Quark Henares and fashion designer

Mich Dulce Mich Dulce (born Michelle Dianne Lopez Dulce on May 8, 1981) is a Filipina fashion designer, milliner, corsetiere, feminist activist, actress, artist and vocalist of bands Death By Tampon, Us-2 Evil-0 and The Male Gaze. __NOTOC__ She graduated ...

. In 2010, he released his solo musical project Patience Dear Juggernaut.

Film

Ong directed music videos from 2003 until 2014. He made the video for True Faith's "Araw't Gabi". The video caught the attention of record companies and led Ong to direct and do cinematography for acts such as

Pupil The pupil is a black hole located in the center of the Iris (anatomy), iris of the Human eye, eye that allows light to strike the retina.Cassin, B. and Solomon, S. (1990) ''Dictionary of Eye Terminology''. Gainesville, Florida: Triad Publishing ...

Sandwich A sandwich is a food typically consisting of vegetables, sliced cheese or meat, placed on or between slices of bread, or more generally any dish wherein bread serves as a container or wrapper for another food type. The sandwich began as a po ...

Itchyworms The Itchyworms is a Filipino rock band. The band is composed of Jazz Nicolas on drums, Jugs Jugueta on guitars, Kelvin Yu on bass guitars and Chino Singson on lead guitars. The group made their name in the OPM (Original Pilipino Music) scene in ...

The Bloomfields The Bloomfields were an English rock band formed in 1970 by Maurice Gibb, Billy Lawrie and Johnny Harris (musician), Johnny Harris. During the 1969-1970 split between the three Gibb brothers (Barry Gibb, Barry, Robin Gibb, Robin and Mauric ...

Sponge Cola Sponge Cola (sometimes spelled Spongecola) is a Filipino rock band formed in 2002. The band is composed of Yael Yuzon on vocals and guitars, Gosh Dilay on bass, Armo Armovit on guitars and drummer Tedmark Cruz. One of the most popular rock ban ...

Hale Hale may refer to: Places Australia *Hale, Northern Territory, a locality *Hale River, in southeastern Northern Territory Canada *Hale, Ontario, in Algoma District United Kingdom * Hale, Cumbria, a hamlet near Beetham, Cumbria *Hale, Greater Man ...

Silent Sanctuary Silent Sanctuary is a 6-piece Filipino rock band that was formed in Metro Manila, Philippines in 2001. Five studio albums have been released by the band throughout its career. History Silent Sanctuary was formed in 2001 with three founding membe ...

, Cueshe, Chicosci, Sugarfree, The Camerawalls,

Nikki Gil Monica Pauline "Nikki" Santos Gil-Albert (; born August 23, 1987) is a Filipino singer, actress, host, model, and video jockey. She is known for being part of the afternoon remake of '' Carlo J. Caparas' Pieta'' (2008–2009) and, in 2009, fo ...

and Kyla. His music video for Pupil's "Dulo Ng Dila" (co-directed with King Palisoc)--with its '60s-inspired production design—earned a nomination for the Music Video of the Year at the Awit Awards in 2006, which was also listed as one of the 50 Best OPM Music Videos of all time by FHM Magazine. "Chicosci Vampire Social Club"] won Favorite Rock Video at the 2006 MYX Music Awards. Ong wrote and produced an

Eraserheads Eraserheads (sometimes stylized as ERASƎRHEADS or ƎRASƎRHƎADS) are a Filipino alternative rock band formed in 1989. With a line-up comprising Ely Buendia, Buddy Zabala, Marcus Adoro, and Raimund Marasigan, the band became one of the most ...

documentary for the show MYXposed in 2008. In 2011, Ong produced and directed his first feature film San Lazaro for the Cinemalaya festival. It was nominated for the NETPAC Award. In 2014, Ong wrote and co-directed (with Earl Ignacio) his first mainstream film, Overtime, under

GMA Films GMA Pictures, formerly Cinemax Studios and GMA Films, is a film and television production company in the Philippines, established by GMA Network in 1995. Its films include ''Jose Rizal'', '' Muro Ami'', and '' Deathrow''. Filmography Histor ...

. In 2015, Ong focused on more commercial projects, writing and producing web films for Magic Crackers and

Jollibee Jollibee is a Filipino chain of fast food restaurants owned by Jollibee Foods Corporation (JFC). As of December 2021, JFC had a total of about 1,500 Jollibee outlets worldwide, with restaurants in Southeast Asia, the Middle East, East Asia ...

, projects that won several awards from The Philippine Quill Awards and The Anvil Awards.

Acting

Ong started his stint in acting after being cast for a pilot for Petiks, an office-set comedy show under

ABS-CBN ABS-CBN (an initialism of its two predecessors' names, Alto Broadcasting System and Chronicle Broadcasting Network) is a Philippine commercial broadcast network that serves as the flagship property of ABS-CBN Corporation, a company unde ...

, with

Ping Medina Crispin "Ping" Chupungco Medina Jr. (born July 23, 1983) is a Filipino film actor. Medina is a contract artist of Star Magic. Career Medina is a prominent independent film actor in the Philippines. He debuted in Marilou Diaz-Abaya's film ''Jos ...

and

Toni Gonzaga Celestine Cruz Gonzaga-Soriano (; born January 20, 1984), better known as Toni Gonzaga, is a Filipino singer, host, actress, producer, vlogger and entrepreneur. She is the former lead host of long-running reality show, ''Pinoy Big Brother''. To ...

. The show was not picked up, but his performance in the pilot led to other bit parts in music videos and short films. In August 2008, he starred as the eccentric drummer Sven de Leon in the TV5 series

with

Carlo Aquino Carlo Jose Liwanag Aquino (born 3 September 1985) is a Filipino actor and musician known for being the lead singer of the band Kollide and formerly of JCS with John Prats and Stefano Mori. Aquino achieved critical recognition for his performan ...

and

Denise Laurel Denise María Sanz Laurel (born September 30, 1987), better known as Denise Laurel, is a Filipino actress and singer. She is half-Spanish and half-Filipino. She is a granddaughter of former vice president Salvador Laurel and great-granddaughte ...

. He co-starred with Ramon Bautista in the horror film San Lazaro. Ong also acted in TV commercials for ANC, Belo and Minute Maid and as a mad scientist in

's "Tambay" music video. In a 2013 Spot.ph article entitled "From Music Men to Leading Men: Top 10 Rockstars-Turned-Actors", Ong was described as "a low-profile charmer...and a reliable actor".

Writing

Ong has written for publications such as The Philippine Star, Esquire, and 8list.ph. His horror story "Marty" was published as part of Neil Gaiman's Expeditions Prose Vol. 1 / The Philippine Graphic / Fiction Awards anthology. In 2020, he released his first collection of fiction, ''Tales For A Rainy Season''. The horror anthology is known for its short story "The Ophthalmologist's Case", a pastiche of

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930) was a British writer and physician. He created the character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for '' A Study in Scarlet'', the first of four novels and fifty-six short stories about Ho ...

in which Sherlock Holmes meets

Jose Rizal Jose is the English transliteration of the Hebrew and Aramaic name ''Yose'', which is etymologically linked to ''Yosef'' or Joseph. The name was popular during the Mishnaic and Talmudic periods. * Jose ben Abin * Jose ben Akabya *Jose the Gali ...

during the height of the

Jack the Ripper Jack the Ripper was an unidentified serial killer active in and around the impoverished Whitechapel district of London, England, in the autumn of 1888. In both criminal case files and the contemporaneous journalistic accounts, the killer w ...

murders.

Personal life

In 2013, after a year of studying at the

Vancouver Film School Vancouver Film School (VFS) is a private entertainment arts school located in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Founded in 1987, it has achieved international recognition. The Vancouver Film School has campus locations around Downtown Vancouver ...

Vancouver, British Columbia Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. The ...

, Ong married painter and art director CJ de Silva.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ong, Wincy Aquino 1982 births Living people Ateneo de Manila University alumni Filipino film directors Filipino illustrators Filipino male writers Filipino musicians Filipino male television actors Musicians from Quezon City