He may be the shortest cast member of the well-loved action-drama series FPJ’s Batang Quiapo, but all-eyes are arguably on showbiz newcomer Renz Joshua Baña, a.k.a. “Baby Giant.” He may be small in size, but his character Oweng is apparently the most boastful among the group of Tanggol, played by Coco Martin.

Since he’s just new in the industry, only a few is known about him. Thus, after giving us a glimpse of what happens behind the scenes of FPJ’s Batang Quiapo, seasoned broadcast journalist Bernadette Sembrano created a special feature for him in order to know him more.

For her latest vlog, she really paid him a visit in Tondo, Manila, wherein he currently lives with his “kuya-kuyahan,” who’s a fellow vlogger-turned-friend, and his cousin. They gave us a little tour around the two-storey house as they talked about his life before fame in his hometown in Antique and now that he’s gradually becoming popular.

When asked if it’s difficult to be a midget or unano, he disclosed that it’s inevitable for people like him to be discriminated. He recalled being bullied when he was in grade school, but he just simply shrugged off the derogatory remarks and treatments he got from his schoolmates. Thankfully, he had friends and classmates who defended him, and his bullies eventually became his friends.

He was discovered by Coco Martin through TikTok, wherein he uploads his videos doing random stuff. Being an innately shy person, it was his cousin John Paul Dalumpines who encouraged him to create videos, which had already raked in millions of views. This opened a lot of opportunities for him as he gets invited in various events and even hired to become a product endorser, as well as goes to places he hadn’t been before.

The 21-year-old lad is the eldest and only midget among five siblings. He’s able to reach first year college, taking up a bachelor’s degree in Information Technology, but decided to stop and focus first on his vlogging career.

He recounted how extremely happy he was when a staff of FPJ’s Batang Quiapo reached out to him to invite him over to their meeting, wherein he also got to meet Coco for the first time. Seeing him really got him so starstruck and thrilled since he used to only see him on teleseryes and movies, more so when the actor-director told him that he actually asked his staff to search for him after watching his videos online.

When asked by Bernadette how he takes good care of the opportunity bestowed to them by Coco, Renz said that he does it by being responsible and respectful towards the staff and crew and other artists and talents. He also experienced being reprimanded by Coco, which the latter did in a nice way as if they’re family.

Since acting is quite new to him, he really finds it challenging, especially that he and some of his fellow artists weren’t able to undergo any acting workshop and was immediately slated with the brilliant actor-director on their first scene. The artista life may be easy and lustrous in the eyes of other people, but it actually entails huge accountability, pressure, and hardwork. It’s also way different from being a vlogger as he has become more responsible with everything that he posts on social media.

Renz further shared that it has been nine months since the last time he saw his family in Antique. He may have to live away from them, but they’ve been very proud and very much supportive upon finding out that he would be part of FPJ’s Batang Quiapo. Since this is a once-in-a-lifetime kind of opportunity, they reminded him to always do his best so that Direk Coco will be pleased with him.

As the income that his parents get from farming and fishing isn’t steady nor enough for their daily needs and in sending all the five of them to school, he opted to give up his studies despite being in a scholarship in order for him to help his family through content creation. And now that he’s able to earn more, he sends them money from time to time to help with their finances. He also plans on continuing his education once his situation becomes better in order for him to fulfill his ambition of becoming an IT or computer programmer.

Moreover, he also dreams of having his own home here in Manila and have his family transfer here in pursuit of giving them a new and comfortable life that is way different from what they have in the province.

The seasoned broadcast journalist also got to meet his “kuya-kuyahan” AC Sigaw, who owns the house where he currently resides. Aside from being his companion in the videos that he creates, he’s also the one who brings Renz and his cousin to the FPJ’s Batang Quiapo taping and gives him valuable pieces of advice. He admires his dedication to the craft, to the point that he would go to work despite only having two hours of sleep. In return, Renz thanked AC for taking care of him and all the help he has given him while he and his cousin are here.

Now that he has become really popular, it has been difficult for him to go around and do the things he liked to usually do as he’s often mobbed by people who like to catch sight of him or take a photo with him.
For sure, many were surprised to find out that he actually used to work as clown as his side hustle and that he had a girlfriend before. He may be a midget, yet he still dreams of finding right girl for him and settling down someday.

The vlog ended with Baby Giant showing off his impressive dance moves.

Catch Baby Giant as Oweng in FPJ’s Batang Quiapo, weeknights on Kapamilya Channel, Kapamilya Online Live, A2Z, and TV5.