Gary Valenciano during the second night of his “Pure Energy, One More Time” show. Images: Hannah Mallorca/INQUIRER.net
As he continues to recover from severe dehydration, Gary Valenciano pulled off a miracle as he successfully capped off his “Pure Energy, One More Time” show, as his way of accepting his new calling from God.
Valenciano — with a blood sugar monitor in his pocket, a diabetes patch on his arm, and an elbow strap where his IV plug was attached — completed his two-hour concert on Sunday, December 22, which pushed through despite the ongoing health risks. But what made it different was he taking short breaks in between, either to drink water, chew on ice chips, or check his blood sugar.
“This morning, I suffered from severe dehydration. And I wasn’t sure if I was going to do this concert tonight… at 8:15 a.m., [my wife] Angeli [Pangilinan-Valenciano] came up to me and said, ‘You’re gonna be great, Gary,’” he recalled, saying the team had a 9:00 a.m. deadline to determine if the show would push through.
“I looked up to her and said, ‘I cannot do this concert, I cannot.’ But the kind of wife that she is, she was persistent and she believed I could not do it, but God could,” Valenciano further added.
It was a powerful entrance for Gary Valenciano as he opened the second day of his “Pure Energy, One More Time” show with “Shout For Joy.”
His opening was met with excited cheers with some jumping in excitement. pic.twitter.com/nXVBcKupVT
— Hannah Mallorca (@HMallorcaINQ) December 22, 2024
The singer-performer also shared that the concert — divided into five parts — was tweaked to accommodate his condition. “What a challenge it was to even step on this stage today… I’m not running on myself today. I’m running on fumes of the Lord.”
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“Alam niyo, hindi na namin sinundan yung original lineup ng concert,” he continued. Hindi naman tipong ‘bahala na.’ We changed it a bit simply because it was a challenge kasi (Did you know that we didn’t follow the concert’s original lineup? It wasn’t a case of a ‘come-what-may.’ Instead, we changed it a bit because it was a challenge),” he explained.
At one point, Valenciano admitted that he was struggling with “part of [his] mind” whether he would continue. But he expressed his gratitude for giving him the “source of pure energy” throughout the show.
“Part of my mind — which is not of God — said, ‘Hindi mo matatapos ang concert na ‘to. Pagod ka na, Gary. Wala na (You won’t finish this concert. You’re tired, Gary. You can’t do it),’” he said. “But the other part, which is my heart and my spirit, I know that God said, ‘You’re gonna step on that stage tonight Gary, and you’re gonna shine for me.’”
New chapter
After a high-energy performance with Manoeuvres, Valenciano spoke about entering a “new chapter” which was relayed to him by God through a “vision.” He also turned the attention to his son, the show’s director Paolo, while tagging him as one of the “best [concert] directors in the country.”
“I’m still recovering from everything that happened in the past few days,” he said in his closing speech. “I need to make things clear. I am not retiring. Please know that. But there is a reason why I called it, ‘One Last Time.’ If any of you are familiar with what a vision is about, it’s awake and God reveals something to you. That is what happened to me.”
The “Shout for Joy” singer explained that it happened in November 2008 when his voice was too hoarse for him to speak. He then asked the help of Angeli to pray for him before he was led into his “God-given vision.”
“In this vision, I saw myself walking toward a direction to the horizon but I wasn’t walking alone. I was with this bright light that gave me so much peace,” he said. “And then I heard God say, ‘Gary, it’s okay to stop. It’s okay to stop and look back’… He said, ‘It was fun, no?’ I had tears in my eyes when I said, ‘Yeah. I’m going to miss this, Lord.’”
Valenciano said he was then brought by God into a different horizon that apparently “didn’t have anything” in it. Despite this, he was encouraged by God that it would be fulfilling. “Doing these things hasn’t been easy. What more in this season of my 60th year of life? Nakakapagod din (It’s tiring).”
“But there is a calling, leading that is energizing me to move into the spirit of uplifting, encouraging, and inspiring, now more than ever before,” he continued. “As long as this heart beats, that’s what I’ll be doing. I’ve given you my all tonight as I consistently tried to do so, in every performance I’ve given in the past 40 years.”
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The singer-performing said he’s ready to walk into the “great, empty horizon” while stating that God is the source of his “pure energy.”
“This is how I wish to be remembered. The final page of a chapter is written right here at this very moment, but it’s not the final page of a book. And me, I’m going to walk into this great, empty horizon, with the challenges and with each step taken, it will be with energy and hope, by faith and wholeheartedly trusting Him, the source of my pure energy,” he said.
Also part of the show were SB19, Kiana Valenciano, Gab Valenciano, Darren Espanto, Gloc-9, Jay Durias, A-Team, Manoeuvres Ignite, Manoeuvres, and W3.
