Grace Libero

Belle Mariano Renews Contract With ABS-CBN, Talks About the Genres She Wants to Explore and Dabbling Further in Songwriting

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Belle Mariano at the "Kapamilya Forever: Network Contract Signing"

<div style="text-align:center"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1755560432473batch_belle mariano contract signing_VYNO0234.jpg" style="width:700px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/>Belle Mariano | Photo by Vyn Radovan</div><div> </div>Belle Mariano just signed her first-ever network contract with ABS-CBN on August 18 during the &quot;KapamILYa Forever: Born To Shine&quot; event. A Kapamilya since she started in showbiz at nine, 14 years later, Belle truly feels more at home with the network that has helped shape not just the artist but also the person she is today. From her Goin&#x27; Bulilit TV debut and her stints portraying the young version of seasoned actresses in various teleseryes to her career breakthrough as a lead actress in the series He&#x27;s Into Her and, now, her foray into a movie outside of her phenomenal DonBelle love team with Donny Pangilinan, Belle Mariano proves to be one of the most prolific and multifaceted artists of her generation.&quot;Humility is the key to longevity,&quot; Belle reflected in a video interview with ABS-CBN. &quot;Ayun din po &#x27;yung mga natutunan ko sa mga taong nakatrabaho ko, veteran actors that I really look up to. They&#x27;re all so humble, ang galing nilang makisama. They&#x27;re really gonna teach you, and don&#x27;t be afraid to learn. Don&#x27;t think na magaling ka na kasi kapag magaling ka na, hindi ka na mag-gro-grow. So, there&#x27;s always room for growth in our industry.&quot;<div> </div><div style="text-align:center"></div><div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1755566232788batch_belle mariano contract signing_VYNO0202.jpg" style="width:700px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/>Belle Mariano wearing Blumarine, as styled by Adrianne Concepcion, with makeup by Jake Galvez and hairstyling by RJ dela Cruz</div><div> </div>Belle has successfully established herself as a leading lady, and her years in the industry have undeniably sharpened her skills. But learning doesn&#x27;t stop for her, and that&#x27;s what top Filipino directors like Cathy Garcia-Molina and Mae Cruz-Alviar love and appreciate about her.  &quot;Belle, to me, is a sponge. She just has the right attitude to just take in all the necessary experience from her co-actors, her directors. What I like most about her is her humility—that she has more to learn despite being good at what she does already,&quot; shared Cathy Garcia-Molina, who&#x27;s directing Belle&#x27;s latest movie, Meet, Greet, and Bye, which also stars <a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/people/digital-covers/pamilya-sagrado-piolo-pascual-in-michael-cinco/38326" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Piolo Pascual</a>, <a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/people/celebrities/juan-karlos-labajo-on-ere-and-first-major-concert/39083" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Juan Karlos</a>, <a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/people/digital-covers/joshua-garcia-julia-barretto-unhappy-for-you-metro/38674" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Joshua Garcia</a>, and Diamond Star Maricel Soriano.<a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/metro-style/people/2025/8/4/what-director-mae-cruz-alviar-s-adaptation-of-it-s-okay-to-not-be-okay-means-for-her-2230" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Direk Mae Cruz-Alviar</a>, Belle&#x27;s director in the series <a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/people/digital-covers/cant-buy-me-love-donny-belle-seoul-samsung/38008" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Can&#x27;t Buy Me Love</a>, also had a lot of good things to say about the 23-year-old star: &quot;Alam mo na excited siya mag-trabaho. Alam mo na gagawin niya ang lahat para sa trabaho niya. Kahit pagulungin mo &#x27;yan sa putik... natatakot s&#x27;yempre &#x27;pag naglambitin sa mga ganu&#x27;n but she will do everything for the role, for the job.&quot;<div> </div><div style="text-align:center"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1755569966444batch_belle mariano contract signing_VYNO0173.jpg" style="width:700px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/></div><div style="text-align:center"> </div>But if there&#x27;s one person who has truly seen Belle&#x27;s growth and maturity in her craft, it&#x27;s <a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/people/digital-covers/donny-pangilinan-belle-mariano-hes-into-her-2/32809" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Donny Pangilinan</a>, her love team partner for about five years now. Sharing a tribute to Belle, Donny said, &quot;Working with Belle for so long, I really can see how much she&#x27;s changed, how much she&#x27;s grown as a person, as a woman, as an actress. When I first worked with her, magaling na siyang artista. Sobrang galing na niya, but she never stops looking for opportunities, for growth, and for her to learn more.&quot;Although Belle takes on the movie Meet, Greet and Bye without Donny, fans have more to look forward to from DonBelle. &quot;As long as both of us grow, whether that&#x27;s together or apart, we&#x27;re going to be there to support one another,&quot; Belle assured.Knowing who she is as a person and artist, while embracing open-mindedness for which direction to take her career, Belle can balance confidence and humility with grace and enthusiasm.<div> </div><div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1755573180393batch_belle mariano contract signing_VYNO0209.jpg" style="width:700px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/></div><div style="text-align:center"> </div>This ABS-CBN contract signing means growth for Belle. Reflecting on her Kapamilya journey for the past 14 years, Belle said it has been an experience that highlighted growth. &quot;All throughout the years, what I really went through, like there are times na magiging mahirap talaga. There are times na you will fall and may times talaga na mapanghihinaan ka ng loob. But then you rise above it, so it makes you a stronger person, and I think those experiences molded me into who I am today. So I would say it&#x27;s growth. Being a Kapamilya for me is growth, and I&#x27;m so grateful to be in this family.&quot;Metro.Style asked her what she wants to explore next as an actress, having established herself in family dramas and rom-com projects. &quot;Actually, family [drama] is the one thing that I&#x27;ve wanted to do. I did Four Sisters Before the Wedding, so sabi ko, parang gusto ko gumawa ulit ng family pero mas mature na compared to Four Sisters Before the Wedding, na parang iba na talaga &#x27;yung problems and &#x27;yung tasks na tatahakin namin dito. Another one would be—dami pa po e—bida-kontrabida. I haven&#x27;t done horror, action. You&#x27;ll never know. I really want to do something that will challenge me.&quot;<div style="text-align:left"> </div><div style="text-align:left"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1755573134650batch_belle mariano contract signing_VYNO0237.jpg" style="width:700px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/></div><div style="text-align:left"> </div>Her last series, Can&#x27;t Buy Me Love, offered glimpses of Belle&#x27;s ability to take on kontrabida roles with her feisty personality as Caroline Tiu. It was also a family drama type of project that showed how well she can carry herself in an ensemble cast, which gave her more &quot;sisters&quot; in the industry—Maris Racal and Kaila Estrada—who played her sisters in Can&#x27;t Buy Me Love.&quot;We still talk to each other. May group po kami actually... Like, last time, Maris just had her premiere night for Sunshine. She&#x27;s so amazing there. I went to visit her and watched her premiere. So proud of her. And si Kaila naman, she&#x27;s doing a lot of things now, and I&#x27;m just so proud of them po.&quot;<div> </div><div style="text-align:center"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1755569101474batch_belle mariano contract signing_VYNO0246.jpg" style="width:700px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/> </div><div></div><div> </div>Aside from being an actress, Belle is also a singer with two albums under Star Music, Daylight (2021) and Somber (2023). She is set to release an album and will be holding a birthday concert. She&#x27;s had the honor of writing songs like “Roadtrip” and “Somber &amp; Solemn,” but she wants to further hone her songwriting skills.  &quot;I really want to be hands-on,&quot; Belle said of her music plans. &quot;I want to be able to write more than what I&#x27;ve written before. So, hopefully, this time, makasulat na talaga ako nang buo. &#x27;Yun &#x27;yung feeling ko problem ko when it comes to writing—I&#x27;m good at the beginning pero &#x27;pag tatapusin ko, &#x27;Okay, I need a little bit of guidance.&#x27; But I&#x27;m so grateful that I get to collaborate with great singers, writers, and composers who would really help me learn more about the passion for music.&quot; Belle revealed that she has written songs she hasn&#x27;t yet revealed. &quot;When you&#x27;re writing something, minsan it takes you two hours to write. Sometimes, it&#x27;s going to take you two months to write,&quot; she shared, determined to finish the tracks in time for when she releases a new album. <div> </div><div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1755572472501batch_belle mariano contract signing_VYNO0264.jpg" style="width:700px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/> </div>Taking us through her songwriting process, Belle told Metro.Style, &quot;Sometimes, may mood ako na parang kunwari matutulog ako tapos magigisng ako, gusto ko magsulat. Isusulat ko siya and minsan naka-notes siya. &#x27;Yung iba kasi they do the tuning first before they actually write. For me, I think it works if I write it first before adding the music to it. Minsan out of nowhere, kakalabas ko nga lang ng shower, biglang may naisip. May ganu&#x27;n talaga. Or, let&#x27;s say, if I&#x27;m watching something na I want to write about, that&#x27;s what I&#x27;ll do.&quot;<div></div>She added that songwriting is therapeutic to her, saying, &quot;Sobrang nakakatuwa kasi it&#x27;s so beautiful how we&#x27;re able to express ourselves or express something we want to express through words and music.&quot;Whether portraying a character in a movie or series, connecting with fans through heartfelt music, showcasing her personality through her fashion and beauty looks, or entertaining the audience with song and dance numbers, Belle is a passionate artist and a creative through and through. <div></div><div> </div>Photos by Vyn Radovan

As Belle Mariano signed her first-ever network contract with ABS-CBN, the young, multifaceted artist looked back on her showbiz beginnings while dreaming of new and bigger dreams with this milestone.

As Belle Mariano signed her first-ever network contract with ABS-CBN, the young, multifaceted artist looked back on her showbiz beginnings while dreaming of new and bigger dreams with this milestone.

'Humility is the Key to Longevity'—Belle Mariano Reflects on Her Showbiz Journey

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'Humility is the Key to Longevity'—Belle Mariano Reflects on Her Showbiz Journey

Grace Libero

Published August 19, 2025 11:20 AM PHT

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Updated August 19, 2025 11:32 AM PHT

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