Tita Munoz - A Friend and Fair Lady

My family and I had already settled in California for several years when I took one of the yearly vacations to the Philippines to visit my very close friends and fellow professionals in media and marketing whom I worked with in the past. Seeing Manila, the city of my birth, never fails to give me that needed boost of energy, and I always leave with a heavy heart. Perhaps, it is because I really miss the Manila that my uncle, Nick Joaquin, has written about and cherished in his books and plays.

It was in a party given to me by former friends where I saw Tita Munoz. She was slender, a bit of gray hair peeping from among his brown tresses and having seen me across the room raised her hand and voice and called my name, “Tony! Hace tiempo…” and at the same time rushing toward me when we exchanged a strong abrazo and a soft peck on my cheek.

We both were holding our drinks, she her non alcoholic iced tea and me my scotch, no ice. And before long we were updating each other on the intervening years as we sat in a corner area of the open-air azotea. It was at this time when she caught on that I was no longer living in Manila but in California. She asked me “How long are you staying? And I answered, “About a month”

Her dark eyes lighted up and she smiled her beautiful perfectly formed teeth at me. “Good.”

In the next few minutes she told me that she was appearing in a cameo role in a current soap opera with the name Victoria Hills. And she added that she needed one male partner also to do the same cameo in the TV soap and she thought I would fit the role with my salt and pepper hair. I was not able to conceal my delight and said, “I am game -- if we can do it within my time frame, for I have to return to California at the end of four weeks.”

Finally, I was at the studio set and so were the cast and crew at 5 in the afternoon. I knew some of the actors, which included Roderick Paulate and Herbert Bautista, and met a few young beauties in lead roles.
I learned that the modus vivendi of soap opera production, as practised in Manila, was to shoot all the sequences and episodes during one 12-hour session–nonstop starting at 5 p.m. straight through 6 the next morning. Yes, no one had any sleep at all. And that was what Tita and I did. In the TV series, we both played the role of former lovers who, after having lived abroad, now old and grey, happen to return to Manila and to “accidentally” meet once again. Too bad, I could not stay to watch the episode but I did cherish those moments with Tita.

Then I had to leave for California and did not hear from her for several years again. Then, some years back I read about Tita’s having been victim to a hypertensive stroke, which left her paralyzed accompanied by the heartbreaking report that she was now living alone in a dwelling with other poor elderly women in a sort of community place. On April 11, 2009, Tita died of a heart attack.

Our friendship, actually began in the mid 30s in San Juan where we both lived. Tita lived with her brothers and sister on J. Ruiz, while I was two streets away on G. Reyes and N. Domingo Street. Tita was two years ahead of me in school. While she was second grade at St. Joseph’s Academy, I was in kindergarten.
Right after the second world war, Tita met and married an American military officer, and they left for the U.S. After four years I saw her again back in San Juan, and she admitted with pain that her marriage did not work out.

As an actress, Tita popularized the part of the “contrabida.” Tita certainly showed how well she could act. And with her mestiza features, she was extremely good. Before television came to the Philippines, Tita was already doing extremely well in radio, because she spoke English and her native Spanish very well. Eventually, Tita became the highest-paid Philippine radio talent in the early 50s.

With the arrival of the new technology known as television, Tita was among the first radio personalities to migrate to television. The “First Lady of Philippine Television” also made history with the very first lips-to- lips kissing scene, opposite actor Ronald Remy.

Tita’s versatility and dramatic talent was showcased in the challenging lead role in “Sorry, Wrong Number,” adapted from the 1943 American radio play by Lucille Fletcher. She played the role of a woman who learns accidentally that she is about to be murdered. Tita won acclaim in that enviable play.

PARALUMAN -GRETA GARBO OF PHILIPPINE CINEMA

When I visited Manila back in the late eighties, having migrated to California three years earlier, I saw Paraluman who was then working in projects launched by Mayor Nemesio Yabut of Makati City. I had not seen her for several years and she had not been making movies as often as she did.

I was able to meet Mayor Yabut in 1983 when I was elected President of Rotary Club of Makati West considering that our club had continuing projects for Makati City especially geared toward the blighted areas in old San Pedro, and the riverside areas where the military had their enlisted men’s quarters.

“How are you?” I asked in Spanish for she spoke elegant Spanish even if she was a descendant of German parents. In fact her real name is Sigrid von Giese. Before her fame in movies, her younger sisters were already well known in the swimming world in Manila. Paraluman, a screen name, was the daughter of German father and a Filipina mother.

Early in her career, Paraluman was likened to the great Greta Garbo of pre war years because they said that she had “perfect bone structure an impenetrable gaze” and fair skin. In fact, Paraluman, as a child, was herself a movie addict and pursued her favorite actors and actresses through movie magazines. Once when her family was living near the house of Corazon Noble, a shining star in Philippine movies during that period, Paraluman would clamber over the wall just to get a glimpse of her movie idol. Because of this activity Lily, the younger sister of Corazon Noble also a movie star, spotted this mestiza over their wall and noticed her rare beauty so she summoned Paraluman to come over. That started a close friendship leading Paraluman to meeting top managers of movie companies and directors.

One of these directors was Luis Nolasco of Philippine Films. Paraluman was only 17 at that time. At her first movie role in Flores de Mayo a year before the war she used the screen name Mina de Gracia. It did not last long. Later Fernando Poe Sr. came up with the screen name of Paraluman who signed her as a full-fledged star in X’otic Films’ in 1941. During the war years, Paraluman, like other movie stars had no films to make so she and the rest were appearing in stage shows in downtown Manila. It was during this period when she met a handsome Japanese officer who was smitten by her beauty and in no time at all they were married. Considering that the Japanese were the conquering enemy force, the wedding by a beautiful Filipina movie actress did not sit well with her fans and the rest of Philippine society, so during the war years until liberation she and husband kept a low profile. In no time at all they had a baby girl whom they called Kristin. Then tragedy struck, for some reason, his Japanese officer husband got sick and died. So, Paraluman was left a widow with a young child.

When war had ended Paraluman was back in the saddle making a lot of movies and by this time she had already married Tony O’brien, a mestizo American Filipino commercial pilot who worked for Philippine Air Lines. At that time a new subdivision was being cultivated by Old Man Andres Soriano Sr. who was then chairman of Philippine Air Lines. They called the subdivision Bel-Air (Good Air) which covered several acres the length of Buendia Avenue. All PAL pilots enjoyed a good rate for the real estate and bought lots in Bel Air. Tony, Paraluman and Baby Kristin moved to live in their new place in Bel Air subdivision. Since Paraluman was already Mrs. O’brien, Tony opted to adopt the girl changing her name to Kristin O’brien who during her post teen years also liked show business under the name of Baby O’brien. Moreover, Baby herself has a daughter Rina Reyes who is also in show business.

When I met Paraluman at the Mayor’s office, she was excited to refer me to a film ready to be shot, featuring Nora Aunor’s daughter Matet. Being the ham that I was I readily agreed without even knowing what it was about. Then she explained, I will be your partner in that scene. It turned out that the scene that Paraluman and I was to be in, was during the wedding reception of Matet in the movie. The scenario was that Paraluman was one of Matet’s guests whom I once knew. She is not aware of my presence until we see each other face to face. That was the short scene. The scene was about two minutes in the film but it took me the whole day sitting around chatting with Paraluman and others waiting to be called for the scene to be shot.

One quality I enjoyed chatting with Paraluman is her candor and sincerity. Even during the lovely winter of her years, Paraluman, or Sigrid von Giese still bears the classic beauty of a lovely Greek goddess.

Paraluman succumbed to cardiac arrest on April 27, 2009 at her home in Paranaque City.

She was 85.

DIRECTION: (BERT) AVELLANA

Tito Bert was the prime mover of the formation of BARANGAY THEATRE GUILD in the fifties. My mother and I took part in some of their stage and radio plays. One I recall was the role I had of the fake dauphin who was to mislead Joan of Arc in her mission to lead France to victory against the enemy. She entered the room saw me but was not fooled. She then looked around and saw a plainly dressed man and she approached him and suddenly knelt and respectfully said " My dauphin"

True enough, Joan was guided and blessed by God. Too bad Joan ended up burning at the stake.

Bert was among the pioneer cinema directors who was very creative especially after he produced the movie on SAKAY. Macario Sakay was considered at the time a "bandit" but history established the true role of Sakay and he was indeed a hero. for he was a fighter for Philippine Independence.

Other prize winning movies he produced were ANAK DALITA and BADJAO, both in black and white for color was still to come to Philippine cinema.

Bert was born in Bontoc, Mountain Province and was educated by the Jesuits at the Ateneo de Manila. He married his teenage sweetheart Daisy Hontiveros and together they were honored by being named Philippine National Artists - he for cinema and Daisy for theatre.

A writer, professor - and everlasting friend

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We were among the shell shocked Filipino teens that suffered through the Pacific War from 1941 - 1945. When we got back to school we felt old at 14 years but Ateneo High School was a haven for us. Still some bore the scars of war - some lost their parents who were murdered by retreating Japanese, shelled homes by the American artillery forces when they liberated Manila freeing the interns at the University of Santo Tomas and other internment camps.

I almost did not get admitted at the Ateneo for the grade school records were all burned when the building inside the Walled City, the exact place where Jose Rizal studied as a young boy was bombed during the early days of the war. Thanks to the Nakpil boys and their father Juan Nakpil who vouched for me during registration time at the Padre Faura Campus where we held our classes in makeshift burnt concrete rooms still with the acrid smell of raw human flesh clinging to crevices. The rest of the classes held session in U.S. installed Quonset Huts which were like ovens during the summer months and a cold storage in January.

Tony lived in Sampaloc with his parents. He had two sisters whom we met during our periodic high school dances held in those times at private homes of students. These dances were "visited" by Jesuit priests and some nuns just to see how the kids were enjoying themselves. Slow drag was the favorite dance in which couples held each other tightly and just sort of swayed with the slow soft music as if in a trance or meditating. We were warned about this type of dance that could provoke the occasion of "sin".

My sisters and I enjoyed Tony's sharp mind and keen wit. Ateneo boys liked to pun at the time and playing with words phrases and quotations always got many laughing with complete abandon. In other mixed groups La Salle students frowned on Ateneo students being too intellectual. They just wanted to dance, period.

After our high school graduation at Padre Faura, Tony got a scholarship for a Masters in Journalism at Marquette University, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It was THE school for good Journalists. Gaby Manalac was another Journalism scholarship awardee at this Jesuit university. After his Marquette stint Tony returned to Manila and taught at the Ateneo for a couple of years. Since we became close friends on and off campus we asked Tony to stand as god father to our fourth child Ma. Regina. If the old folks are to be believed, Gina is our brainiest child now into information technology.

In 1964 he was awarded a fellowship at Oxford University (Exeter and St. Antony's Colleges) and another at the University of Durham (Grey College). Tony enjoyed the three year scholarship to observe English Literature courses in both universities. He was commended for his distingushed tutorial paper at the end of the course. We did not see Tony for a while and when he came back he managed to publish the first anthology of Filipino fiction the landmark anthology Brown Heritage: Essays on Philippine Cultural Tradition and Literature ( AdMU, 1967), which has been reviewed as the book that “sparked the revolution in Philippine cultural studies.”

.As chairman of the English Department, Ateneo de Manila University, he organized the Ateneo Institute of Philippine Literature in 1965.

A poem by Tony

TO MIREN

Did I forget? Do I regret

Days unremembered, thoughts unkept?

A harp (once plucked to eloquence by joy)

Long untouched now lies untuned ... off-key ...

Not sure if chords ring true. Listen! In coy

Distress -- how mute. Yet singing silently.

Days are remembered, thoughts are kept

In long, long silence ... with regret.

-- Antonio P. Gella Manuud, Bowling Green, 1973

RAFFY GARCIA - Friend, Inventor, Selfless Filipino

For many of us, whenever we hear the word "hero" the image that comes to mind is that of one courageous person sacrificing his life to save his comrades in battle. That is the stereotype that we grew up with. However, over the years we have been seeing real heroes. Ordinary Filipinos doing what they usually do day by day and achieving a measure of attention because of their deeds. To mention a few, we heard of the taxi driver who found a packet of cash by the thousands left by a passenger and readily turned the whole envelope to police authorities and who later found the real owner who was extremely thankful to the honest driver.

Another event focused on the bravery and selflessness of a young girl who despite serious burns on her back due to a fire was able to rescue five brothers and sisters out of the burning house to safety.

However, the person I am featuring today belongs to a different category for he has made great strides not in the area of sacrificing his personal safety but in using his technical know how to assist his country improve and develop important government systems thus revolutionizing very important functions affecting millions of Filipinos.

The person, I am happy to refer to is Raffy Garcia, whom I first met as a fellow Rotarian decades ago when I joined my first Rotary club – the Rotary Club of Pasig. Raffy, soft spoken [in fact too soft to hear him as he speaks] who eventually became a close friend and client during those times back in Manila when I managed my own small atelier. Over the years Raffy has serviced a lot of clients the world over and now he owns a conglomerate under the Mega Computer banner.

Some years back, knowing his expertise in the field of computer technology, Raffy was commissioned to examine and create improvements that would streamline the facilities and procedures of the National Bureau of Investigation particularly in the area of character "clearances" for individuals needing them. Having succeeded there, Raffy was also asked and was able to invent a new system that greatly accelerated and modernized the system of renewing and issuing drivers licenses in the Land Transportation Commission of the Philippines.

Today, both institutions are functioning not only quickly but more professionally and efficiently, thanks to Raffy Garcia.

If one would meet Raffy at any gathering it is possible that one could mistake him for a humble employee in the way he dresses and speaks. But once you get to know and learn about him as an entrepreneur and pioneer in the field of computers since the early sixties, one will just look at the person with complete awe.

Still unaffected by his two creations, for there have been others he seldom speaks of which inventions are being used in other countries, Raffy thought of the delicate function in a democratic government – that of the voting process.

Many thinking Filipinos have always lamented the dire situation of our voting system – and many crooked politicians have mastered the corruptive practices by now – represented by the phrase "dag dag bawas" which is self explanatory.

So, Raffy and his technicians once again put their thinking caps and created a new system using all the modern technical developments in computer technology that would produce a voting mechanism and system that was fast and tamper proof. This product, which Raffy patented, he offered to the Philippine government for its use …free of charge.

Raffy named it BOTONG PINOY. Raffy proudly presented the product and briefed officials of the Comelec and related government entities to his creation as a total voting system developed specifically for use in the coming Philippine elections. Before this invention, for it is a new invention strictly speaking, the voting system was so faulty that corrupt practices known to both parties were endemic. What many dub as "dagdag bawas" tongue in cheekly was actually rampant cheating during and after the ballots have been cast. In fact, many trapos [traditional politicians] enjoyed using the old system riddled with corruption, which they already knew how to manage.

Botong Pinoy is composed of three modules which can operate individually by themselves but which can easily be integrated to form one complete TOTAL election solution. Raffy made sure that the system he developed has built-in safeguards against fraud and manipulation, and has specific design features to help even the disabled and the illiterate members of the voting Filipinos. Some skeptical politician said that judging from the reaction of many to the phrase "free from fraud and manipulation" the system is in danger of not even being approved by higher authorities involved in the voting process.

After Raffy identified the problems that have plagued past Philippine elections such as dagdag-bawas, vote buying through kadena, lansadera and carbon-copy, ghost voting and substitute voting, multiple registration, illiterate voters, slow voting because of having to write the names of candidates, and came up with solutions until each and every one of the problems had been solved.

But, as luck would have it, Raffy's offer of a free graft free system of voting was turned down. Of course he was downhearted but sadder still was he for his countrymen especially because here was a system that can finally assure really honest elections in his country… and it was shot down.

When this decision of the government officials hit the newspapers, a Filipino nationalist and ex official in his 90's said, "There goes a precious opportunity for change that could have been the hope of our country for truly honest elections." And with the knowing wink, the man added, "You and I know why they turned it down."

CARLOS PALANCA AWARD WINNERS IN DALY CITY LIBRARY

Daly City – The Daly City Library is pleased to announce the donation of 6 volumes from the Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature, the Philippines most prestigious literary awards. This book donation was arranged by Tony Joaquin, a Daly City resident who has long supported the Library and its growing Filipiniana and Tagalog Materials Collection. The donated titles are: An Anthology of Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards winners, English Division; Volumes 2, 3, and 4; 1955-1970, and the Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature: an anthology of winning works: 3 volume set: [1] The 1980s one-act play -- [2] The 1980s poetry -- [3] The 1980s short story.

The Don Carlos Palanca Awards, often dubbed the "Pulitzer Prize" of the Philippines, were established in 1950 and the first award was given in 1951. The aim of the awards is both to help develop Philippine literature by providing incentives for writers to craft exceptional works and to assist in the distribution of these works to the public, particularly to students. Mr. Joaquin arranged for this donation from the Palanca Foundation, and the Library is very grateful for his generosity. The books are now available for checkout at the Serramonte Main Library, 40 Wembley Drive, Daly City. Please call Carol Simmons, Library Director, at (650) 991-8025 for further information.

RAGE - BY ALFREDO ROCES

Alfredo "Ding Roces, a fellow Atenean and a fine artist and writer has just launched his book RAGE in Manila. A highly productive blogger, Ding who now lives in Australia, manages to capture in still photographs and paintings beautiful images of life that many professionals would certainly envy.

Belonging to the Roces clan of Filipino-Spanish writers, intellectuals, and journalists, and established ilustrados of Filipino society, Ding certainly has proven by his record artistic production that there certainly the artist in him and in his genes, considering that his family was among the Filipino pioneers in newspaper publishing as established by their pre world war II newspaper TVT [Manila Times, La Vanguardia, and Taliba].

Although Ding and I never became close friends during our prewar days as students at the Ateneo Grade School in Intramuros, and later as fellow professor at the Far Eastern University, Ding and I have maintained that quality of mutual respect and admiration between our families since Uncle Nick Joaquin , our Philippine National Artist knew him quite well during his life time. Moreoever, Ding dedicated a heart rending blog entry on the death of Nick. It must be said that Anding, Rafael [Liling] Roces, his older brother had also set a high standard in column writing by his track record writing for their prewar THE MANILA TIMES newspaper "Roses and Thorns". After the war Alejandro [Anding] Roces picked up the broken thread of three and a half years during the Japanese Occupation and wrote "Rose and Thorns" in the 50's. Ding wrote "Light and Shadow" from 1960-1972.

While I am at it, here is another blog entry from Ding's blogsite for your delectation.

Bravo Ding!