High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Venancio Johnson Paras, Jr. (born October 2, 1968), better known as Benjie Paras, is a Filipino professional basketball player of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) turned actor. He is the only PBA player to win both Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player honors, in a single season (1989). As its star center, Paras led the Shell Turbo Chargers to championship titles.