by Ayo Gunting, The Philippine Star, 15 July 1998

He is "Inaki" of GMA-7's top-rating youth-comedy-drama "T.G.I.S.", a teeny-bopper to the younger generation. But for good-looking Dingdong Dantes, television is just one step on a long road toward adulthood that started with commercials.

Dingdong practically grew up before television viewers, first as a commercial model, then as a gangling lad of "T.G.I.S." That cameras have recorded his formative years intrigues him no end.

Not surprisingly, one of his favorite actors is Jim Carrey, whose latest hit, "The Truman Show," is a satire on how one man practically grew up with the whole world as his audience because of the intrusive nature of television.

For Dingdong, however, (who's 17 and stands 5'11") television isn't just a recorder of his growing-up years, not a pest that ruins one's privacy. Truly, he is a member of the MTV Generation.

As a commercial model. he considers one print ad he did for Johnson & Johnson as particularly memorable. He confesses he is more comfortable with commercials because it is less time-consuming.

Two years ago, he joined the Abstract Group, a dance group, out of "katuwaan." Dingdong gets to strut his stuff and display his dancing powers whenever he gets invited to variety shows.

But even before that, he got noticed by movie and television bosses. He later signed a two-year contract with Viva Films and joined the second batch of "T.G.I.S." when the original members graduated to mature roles in other shows.

Dingdong has just finished a yet-untitled movie for Viva that stars Judy Ann Santos Onemig Bondoc and Antoinette Taus, directed by Joyce Bernal.

Dingdong finsihed high school at Ateneo. He's now a philosophy freshman at San Beda.