In two months, leading man of 2015 box office hit That Thing Called Tadhana (Destiny) JM De Guzman, will be celebrating his second year free of drugs.
He first admitted to his struggle with drugs in a television interview with ABS-CBN talk show host Boy Abunda in 2014.
That had been compounded by frequent anxiety attacks brought about by bipolar disorder and depression.
In his Instagram post yesterday, he posted his certificate from an organization that provides rehabilitation for those struggling with “substance abuse and attitude disorders.”
His colleagues from the industry showed their support for his sobriety in the comments section.
Angelica Panganiban, his leading lady in Tadhana commented, “I miss you Anthony,” referring to his character in the film.
“Ayan na o (Here he is),” Tadhana director Antoinette Jadaone commented, tagging Panganiban in her comment.
While De Guzman never specified what kind of substances he used, his admission comes in the midst of a deadly war on drugs.
Another actor and former child star, John Wayne Sace, who was suspected of also using illegal drugs, and friend Erik Sabino, were shot by an unknown gunman in 2016 in Pasig City. Sace survived the shooting, while Sabino was killed.
President Rodrigo Duterte, despite spending billions to put up rehabilitation facilities for drug addicts around the country, has said on multiple occasions that he doesn’t believe that shabu (meth) users can be rehabilitated.
“Regarding shabu [use], how can we rehabilitate? During the visit of some Americans… they say that the brain of a human being, [due to] constant [drug] use, [after] more than a dozen times, it begins to shrink,” Duterte said in July 2016.
Dr. Carl Hart, a neuroscientist from Columbia University who visited the Philippines earlier this year, however, called that claim not only wrong, but “abhorrent.”
“This is the most abhorrent claim made by (Duterte). Millions of people around the world take this drug. For a variety of conditions. We don’t see anyone’s brain shrinking,” Hart said.
“We’ve never seen, in the methamphetamine doses humans take, any shrinking brains or destroyed brain cells. It’s a ridiculous notion.”
While De Guzman has admitted his struggles with addiction, there have been no reports in the media of De Guzman being arrested or involved in other crimes.
De Guzman took a break from television and film during his time in rehab, but returned to the stage late last year performing a monologue and the song Not While I’m Around from the Stephen Sondheim Broadway musical Sweeney Todd as part of a musical showcase produced by veteran director Fritz Ynfante.
