To stand half-naked in a cold and dark warehouse-sized room amidst watchful eyes and just weeks after all the eating of Christmas and New Year, you have to have the body for it. Luckily, actor and singer Jericho Rosales did when he showed up for the shooting day of "Screen," the TV commercial for SkyFlakes Fit Oat Fiber Crackers, the latest and healthiest variant of the popular SkyFlakes brand. Conceptualized by Publicis JimenezBasic, "Screen" was directed by Erin Pascual.

"Talaga? Hindi pa nga masyado, eh," says a sheepish Rosales, whose terry cloth bathrobe didn’t hide his long, lean, and lightly rippled torso, his teeny-tiny waist, or the strategically placed dots on his tanned chest and tummy (a guide, explains SkyFlakes Fit Oat Fiber Crackers brand manager Lissa Piczon, for the computer-generated graphics that will be added all over Echo’s body post-production). "But I did my best."

Not bad, considering he got the call to appear in the ad for SkyFlakes’ newest variant at the height of the holidays, when working out and practicing portion control weren’t exactly on people’s minds. Still, preparing physically wasn’t a stretch for the actor who already surf and skateboard on a regular basis. Rosales, who portrayed Manny Pacquiao in the boxer’s biopic a few years back, also added boxing (and drills like push-ups and jumping rope) into the mix. As far as food went, Rosales favored healthier alternatives like brown rice, sweet potato, and corn for his carbohydrates. The result, as anyone who was in the shoot for the commercial will agree, is amazing. "That’s why we chose him," says Piczon, who admits that they had the actor in mind from the very beginning. "Jericho epitomizes the kinds of people the product is made for: the young, mobile, busy individuals who want to live a healthier life but have little opportunity to do so."

That’s where SkyFlakes Fit Oat Fiber Crackers comes in. It contains the same, if not more, fiber than most commercially-available fiber-rich breads. Present in vegetables, fruits, and complex carbohydrates, fiber (a.k.a. "nature’s broom") promotes digestive health and weight management. Studies show that people who follow a fiber-rich diet are less likely to develop debilitating illnesses like cancer and heart disease.

Rosales, who was already eating the fiber-rich cracker before he was tapped for the commercial, needed little coaxing to endorse the famous biscuit brand. "Who isn’t a fan of SkyFlakes?" says the actor, who keeps packs of the original variety in the glove compartment of his car (for himself and for street children), and currently stores his brown rice in a plastic SkyFlakes tub. "I recently moved into my own house in Katipunan, and I spent all my money buying furniture," he explains with a laugh. "When Christopher de Leon and Albert Martinez dropped by for a visit, they said, pointing to the SkyFlakes tub of brown rice, ‘What’s that?’ I said, ‘I don’t have any Tupperware!’"

That’s going to change, given all the career breaks that are coming Rosales’ way in 2009, his 12th year in show business. He currently appears in the hit teleserye "I Love Betty La Fea," and is launching his solo album in the summer. He’s also teaming up anew with former on- and off-screen partner Kristine Hermosa, first in a soap opera, and then in a movie that also stars another of his TV leading ladies, Malaysian actress Carmen Soo.

"It’s good, it’s exciting, no more grrrr!" says Echo with a laugh when asked about working with Kristine again. "It was such an intense team-up, it affected our personal lives."

Fans, in fact, were so protective of the Echo-Tintin match, they would send him nasty e-mails whenever they catch him going out with another girl. "One even wrote, ‘Why don’t you fix your life?’" he recalls, chuckling. "But we’re both more mature now. And the fans are cooler, more understanding."

The same may be said of Rosales, whose New Year’s resolutions include "appreciating myself and what I have, valuing my time, other people’s time, and my health."

When he got the offer over the holidays to endorse SkyFlakes Fit Oat Fiber Crackers, it proved the perfect motivation to follow through with his resolution of staying fit. "This is a good blessing for 2009," says Echo.