Actor-director Joey Paras, 45

ACTOR-director Joey Paras, 45, passed away, a relative said in a Facebook post on Sunday.

«To all of our family and friends, we are saddened to announce that our Uncle Joey Paras passed away and joined our Creator this afternoon, Oct. 29, 2023 at 5:40 p.m. Unfortunately, his heart wasn't able to recover anymore,» said Paras' niece Zciara Shyne Sinchon-Fabian announced his demise on her Facebook account.

She also asked for financial assistance in the same post, explaining, «We need to settle his hospital bills for us to take him home. Our family is knocking at your kind and generous heart to help us raise a fund to cover his hospital bills.»

It was in July 2018 when Paras underwent his first heart surgery. He was also struck by Covid-19 in 2020. It was then when she also revealed that he needed P750,000 for an angioplasty operation and pleaded for help.

The Facebook post ended with Fabian saying that the family will release details of Paras' wake once they fulfill the celebrity's hospital obligations.

Paras graduated from the University of Santo Tomas with a Mass Communication course, and trained under Tanghalang Pilipino. He was part of the musical version of Zsa Zsa Zaturnnah in 2006 before venturing into showbiz.

He won Best Supporting Actor in the New Breed category of the 2013 Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival, for his performance as a cyber-scammer in «Babagwa» (Spider's Web).