Blood for Blood (Blood Series 1) (COMPLETED)

15: Countryside Man

Giovanni "Gio" Navarro, is a portrait of a South bachelor whose empire is not a one big shot company, but a variety of SMEs (Small and Medium Enterprises) under his name. He also takes care of a land spanning 12,000 acres in the rural town of Ganza in Quezon province. This young haciendero inherited their ancestral land, Navarro Estate at a very young age of 22. Now 32, the handsome and charismatic Navarro is still by miracle, single.

A Brother, A Father

Eldest of five children, Gio was regarded by his siblings highly as if he was the father of everyone, not only in their household but also their entire hacienda. During our interview inside the humungous Navarro Estate, staff and crew of the hacienda fondly refers him as "Sir Gio". Not only does he manages the operations of the land, he also manages to pitch in philanthropic work as five high school students who happen to be children of the land farmers are said to be his scholars. When he can, he also donates money to causes and charity projects organized by his friends.

Countryside Man

Born, raised and educated at the small rural town of Ganza, the bachelor expresses his preference of the country life, "Surrounded with livestock, where chicken's wake you up as early as four in the morning", he says. The bachelor speaks of how he was never charmed by the city life, and he prefers "open spaces and fresh air than the concrete jungles of the city." He says as he recalls his stay in Manila while finishing his Masters degree in Business Administration at one of the big universities in the city several years ago.

Unlike his other peers featured, Gio Navarro doesn't own yachts and ridiculously priced sports cars. He says his guilty pleasure is collecting "rancher" cars (no sports car, in a dirt and mud stricken land, he doesn't see the point). His favorite one was a limited edition white custom-made 4x4 jeepney that only two people in the world owns. His collection includes a variety of pick-up trucks, SUV type and monstrous jeepney type cars, "an appropriate collection if you're a certified rancher," he jokes.

His other hobbies include sketching, doing black and white pictures using pencil and paper. Though hesitant, he showed us some of his works. Some are even displayed and framed at the walls of his home office which are sketches of his younger siblings. In his sketchbook are people he usually interacts with at work. "I appreciate beauty," he says as he flips to a page, a portrait of a woman he is rumored to be dating was found. When asked if she was his girlfriend, he chuckles and said "I hope she will be."

Regarding his interest in venturing in politics, the bachelor smiles and gently declines. Says he never sees himself joining the "circus that destroyed his family", as the Navarro family was the former political dynasty governing the small town. He says even his siblings have no interest in engaging in any form of politics, as they are happy with their individual private lives.

As of the moment, Giovanni Navarro lives inside Navarro Estate, both his home and workplace, "tolerating occasional trips in Manila" he adds, as some of his SMEs are stationed in Makati and other parts of Manila.

Aria didn't really want to read the magazine feature. But she got curious as C.C. was reading the same thing. It's way past five PM, way past their office hours at may mga empleyadong naiwan para magtapos ng trabaho. After work hours, it was their habit to stay in office and have some little girl talk.

"So they didn't talk about his family crime history?" tanong ni C.C. Nagkibit-balikat si Aria.

"They're trying to clear their family name. I guess Lizzie is behind this. You know, she's all about 'public image'." sagot ni Aria.

"Eligible bachelor pala ha. Sino kaya 'yung babaeng nasa sketchbook ni Gio?" tanong ni C.C., eyeing Aria. Hindi naman ito pinansin ni Aria. She pretended she's reading something on her phone. Honestly, she wonders herself if the woman was actually her.