Wednesday, December 30, 2009

FR. JAMES B. REUTER, S.J.-


On our way to the hospital, Our Lady of Peace which Fr. James B. Reuter, S.J. helped build, I began to recall my very first meeting with the dear Father. It was at the main Ateneo de Manila campus on Padre Faura Street, (before the school was made into a university) in 1952. I was in my junior year in college pursuing an A.B. Journalism degree.

Fr. Reuter was originally assigned at Ateneo de Naga right after World War II. He, together with other Jesuit priests who were caught by the war were under detention in Los Banos, Laguna until war’s end.

Fr. Reuter who is a naturalized Filipino by resolution of the Congress of the Philippines, celebrated the 75th anniversary of his first canonical vows in 1934 as an 18-year old Jesuit novice, last September 8, 2009.

His first project at the Ateneo de Manila was to produce a weekly one hour radio play with strong Catholic themes under the name of AVE MARIA PLAYERS. He got me and other boys and girls willing to act over the radio to play parts in the radio plays that he often wrote himself. I remember some of our lead actors included Celia Laurel, Sixto Roxas, Mitos Sison and the Powell sisters playing big and small parts week after week.

When television reached the Philippines Father Reuter presented TV shows under the title of MARY ROSE AND STA. ZITA aired over ABS on Roxas Boulevard. I continued playing supporting roles in these one hour Saturday evening TV presentations.

It was a delight working with Father Reuter for he exuded confidence, commitment and above all warmth. He was always patient with us. So, when I was preparing for my own wedding I immediately thought of asking Father Reuter to officiate and thus posed the question and invitation which he readily accepted. And so we were married on August 5, 1959 at the Pinaglabanan Church, on San Juan Rizal.

Little did I foresee that our dear father would eventually officiate in the weddings of our three children, the last one being that of our son Antonio, Jr. in 2005. I must say he was a real trouper despite his difficulty in walking. He abided by the dictum of actors and performers “The show must go on!”

So, at 6 a.m. Manila time Father Reuter assisted by his walker – for he was already having difficulty walking - arrived at the Altar of San Agustin Church in Intramuros Manila ready to officiate at the wedding of our son Jay and bride to be Jenny.

Over the six decades in the Philippines, Father Reuter presented plays not only at the Ateneo where he shared honors with Fr. Henry Lee Irwin, S.J. who was known for years as the accomplished Shakespearean actor and director ever.

He also presented many plays for the St. Paul College recruiting Ateneans in many of them acting together with Paulinian actresses.

In 1960, Fr. Reuter was entrusted the establishment of a group known as the PHILIPPINE FEDERATION OF BROADCASTERS, which later became known as Catholic Media Network (CMN).

During the dark days of Martial Law under Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Father Reuter, acting as spokesman for the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, with much courage and even defiance in his stance that led to his house arrest for several years.

As I drove towards Our Lady of Peace Mission Hospital where Father had been staying since the abolishment of his office I recalled the fact that it was this very hospital which he helped established during the administration of President Joseph Estrada. The hospital was constructed precisely and primarily to serve the poor people in the community. Free of charge.

Not many, by now, realize that Fr. James B. Reuter first arrived in Manila in 1938 at the age of 21, to join other Jesuits to teach at the Ateneo de Manila .

It is interesting to note that during the 63 years of his working in the Philippines, Fr. Reuter was able to achieve what many would imagine a team of two or three other individuals to achieve. Moreover, in the process of the good father’s interaction during his projects he has left an indelible imprint of his own on the lives of countless Filipinos including non-Catholics who have become by now his close and loyal friends.

As a result of this achievement many boys and girls from Catholic schools where Father had presented plays have dubbed themselves "Reuter Babies."

When we arrived at the OUR LADY OF PEACE MISSION hospital in Paranaque we were brought up to the fourth floor where Fr. Reuter had a room and with an assigned caregiver to care for him for 24 hours..

Before we were ushered in with my wife Chita, we were required to wear a cloth mask to check any possible infection for Father was weak and susceptible to infection and so he had to be kept indoors under sterile conditions as much as possible. We were met with a big smile by Father who was in his wheel chair. He looked a bit frail and my wife and I took turns in embracing him and then we proceeded to chat. He did not sound a bit sick and not a trace of pain showed on his face.

Before too long we knew that he would need to rest so we prepared to say our goodbyes but first I requested him to bless us, which he agreed to do. Then right after his blessing, Father Reuter asked the both of us to bless him in return. We were honored and a bit thrown off but we managed a small prayer and ending with our blessing over him as he sat with his hands folded in prayer and making the sign of the cross.


Sunday, December 20, 2009

THE ACTOR-HERO - TEDDY YABUT

Teddy was a campus figure in the early fifties at the University of the Philippines. He directed campus plays and in one production I, the only Atenean, decided to join as performer together with others all from UP. It was the summer stock presentation of ALOYAN a complete original play by UP artists writers, composer, and director. I joined them for raising funds for the chapel of the Holy Sacrifice of Rev. Fr. John P. Delaney, S.J. who was a new chaplaihn in this state university.
He was there upon he request of the UP Catholic Action or UPSCA.

But no one including Teddy would dream of being a hero during the country's dark ages under Marcos' Martial Law.

Friday, December 18, 2009

LOLA - directed by Brillante " Dante" Mendoza

Here is Dante's background data. Barely months after his award winning movie KINATAY (Butchered) in Cannes we find Dante winning another best director film award for his film "Lola" in the Taiwan film festival.

I admire and envy this young Filipino whose real-time mind focuses on extremely serious human situations in the Philippines that thousands see daily but does nothing. We need someone like Dante to sit as President of the Republic (hoping he does not get corrupted in the process) and address these basic human issues of being dirt poor in our country.

---------

VENICE - Two Filipino grandmothers scraping a living to get by in Manila's slums are at the center of Brillante Mendoza's new film "Lola," a story about the resourcefulness of people living in abject poverty

The movie, a surprise entry in the main competition at Venice film festival, tells a fictional tale but is shot like a documentary, leaving the audience wondering throughout whether its scenes are from real life.

Each of the two elderly women bears the consequences of a murder involving their respective grandsons -- one the victim, the other the suspected killer.

Frail and destitute, both have little time to give in to misery as they desperately need money, one to pay for a decent funeral, the other to get her grandson out of jail. Pragmatism prevails.

"You can't be too emotional when you live in a condition like the Philippines, that kind of condition and situation in life ... You just have to move on and live your life," Mendoza told Reuters in an interview.

"When you live in the Philippines and you are exposed to this kind of story every day, it is not difficult to show it in your work. I wanted to show it in a very natural and very spontaneous way, like you are watching life right in front of you."

"Lola" -- which literally means grandmother -- gives a glimpse into the country's inefficient judicial system, prison overcrowding, loan sharking and life in the flooded shanty towns where people get around by canoe.

"That part of Manila is flooded all year round," said Mendoza, who shot the film during this year's rainy season. "But the thing is that people stay there because they have nowhere to go, they have no choice."

Critics in Venice praised "Lola," with Italian daily Corriere della Sera calling the performance of the two lead actresses -- Anita Linda and Rustica Carpio, aged 84 and 79 -- "extraordinary."

Mendoza won the best director award in Cannes this year with "Kinatay," also a grim depiction of modern-day life in his homeland.

Thursday, December 10, 2009

Of Laughter and Tears by Sarah K. Joaquin

"Do not worship money, earn it honestly and spend it wisely. Love conquers all difficulties. And above all put a good supply of forgiveness in your heart. You will feel much
better inside.

Jesus Christ has set the example.
Thank you, all of you, who have made my life on earth a very fruitful one."
----------
This is the middle part of my mother Sarah's “Farewell Letter” which with great effort she wrote in her own elegant penmanship just days before her death on January 30, 2002.

Before she became very ill, our mother Sarah began to write an autobiography which she tried to complete had it not been for her kidneys that had deteriorated too fast leading to her death at age 93. She was a couple of chapters short.

My brother in law Fred de la Rosa [married to my youngest sister
Josefina] and I were able to complete the final chapters just to make her
autobiography end appropriately.

We, her children, are now happy to announce that the book is finally out and
available for anyone desiring to purchase a copy.

We hope to have copies available in a select San Francisco, California bookstores
named ARKIPELAGO BOOKS as well as in Manila's major bookstores like
POWERBOOKS
, NATIONAL, AND BOOK MARK.

A copy has been priced at $15.00 each plus shipping and handling of $3.00
[only in North America.]

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Butch Dalisay's- Pinoy Penman


I just thought of showcasing -a definitely amazing and fine Filipino writer who, to my mind, is a terrific example of excellent writing in English (and Tagalog) whose name is Jose "Butch"
Dalisay and his latest summary of new literary events in UP campus.

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Manila - Pearl of the Orient - prewar

War is immoral..anytime anywhere.

World War Two was the worst event that happened in Philippine history and to the Islands and was a devastating blow to millions of lives of Filipinos, Americans and others living in this country- especially this blogger who suffered through three and one half years of it.

Thanks to this video we can view the beauty and splendor of this Pearl of the Orient, the lovely
city of the Philippine Republic.

Now Voyager - Bette Davis and Paul Henreid


Willie Fernandez was among other Jazz aficionados I enjoyed being with in the mid fifties. Just graduated from an architect course Willie and I would meet late afternoon at his place in Paco and proceed to meet other jazz fiends at CAFE INDONESIA on Dewey Boulevard. We would invariably meet stalwarts listening to Toots Dila and his combo Doreen Gamboa, already a fine writer and food columnist, Emma Versoza who worked at the Department of Foreign Affairs a few blocks towards Taft Avenue, Ramy Hermano fresh from his New York University post graduate studies with tidbits about life in Greenwish village, and more. Eventually, Willie married Doreen Gamboa and together they worked in harmony talking and writing about food - and Doreen evencoming out with several volumes of Philppine dishes and recipes. Willie began to be recognized with his distinctive interior decor ideas and winning clients outside the Philippines. During those times Chita and I would be asked by Mr. and Mrs. Fernandez for a gourmet dinner, no less. Then we would wind up at their chalet at Mandaluyong and watch Willie's collection of classic films. One of them was this classic film of Davis and Henreid- Now Voyager.

Tony Sings with Pilita

When Mama Sarah got her award from the Filipino Community in 1999, Pilita Corrales was the main show and during that time I was seated in Mama's box inside the Convention Hall of Washington D.C.

Pilita, without any warning, suddenly announced my name and asked me to come join her onstage.

Here is the clip of that singing incident. I enjoyed it. I hope you do too.

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

DING ROCES - Artist Par Excellence


The Roces family has been in the newspaper and movie theatre business in the Philippines since before World War Two. I met some of their children my age when I was studying at the Ateneo Grade School in Intramuros before the war. Alfredo Ding Roces was one of them. The other was Marquitos.

An older brother, Alejandro "Anding" was an officer at the Far Eastern University and head of the Institute of Arts at the time when I was teaching there in 1954. Anding was, for a time, Secretary of Education at the same time he was also teaching and working as an executive of the Far Eastern University.

Ding in 1977 moved to Sydney Australia with his wife Irene. And he really kept his paintings, writings and photography steadily - and winning prizes.

When the del Rosario family members got word that the Supreme Court of the Philippine Republic had finally declared their father Roberto del Rosario the sole owner of the original patent rights for a sing along system now popularly known in the Japanese language as Karaoke, there was joy all around for her dynamic, and inventive father Roberto del Rosario, though no longer here with her, had finally won his case against a Japanese company who allegedly claimed the device as its invention.

Working for over two decades del Rosario's children on their own, pursued the fight for justice by their father Roberto del Rosario particularly when he noticed his health slowly deteriorating.
He intimated that they pursue the case and “not to give up” despite the tremendous amount of stress not to mention the terrific investment in money in (and out) of the Philippine courts fighting for their father’s case which had taken several decades.

The Supreme Court’s resolution dated March 19 2007 stated:

Plaintiff Roberto Del Rosario owns the patent rights for a sing-along system, popularly known as the KARAOKE. On January 18, 1993 plaintiff filed a case with the Regional Trial Court (RTC) of Makati City, for patent infringement against defendant Janito Corporation who, without his consent, was manufacturing and selling a sing along system marketed as “Miyata” which was substantially similar and identical to his (Del Rosario’s) patented invention.

After trial, the RTC in its Decision dated November 9, 1999 ruled in favor of plaintiff
relying upon his uncontroveted evidence that defendant, without his consent manufactured and sold the Miyata system which was substantially identical to his patented invention.”


This triumph by a Filipino inventor who holds patents in other inventions as well, is not only a personal victory for the del Rosario family, stated his other daughter Isa Valenton but a feat worth acclaiming for the Filipino people.
Bert was born in Pasay City, the son of Teofilo del Rosario and Consolacion Legaspi. He married Eloisa Vistan, a former beauty queen with whom he has five children- three girls and two boys. Bert has been a widower since 1979 when his wife died at age 45 of heart failure. Bert did not remarry.
He admits that he never took up formal music lessons and cannot read music. Bert has also won awards in the Philippines and abroad, but the one he cherishes the most was the 1985 Gold Medal Award by the WORLD INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY ORGANIZATION (WIPO) of the United Nations. An award that recognizes him as a Filipino inventor.
Like most inventors, Bert admires other inventors like Thomas Alva Edison, who believes that invention is “one percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration” and the Wright Brothers for their having invented the airplane.
Bert del Rosario an accomplished musician who could play seven other musical instruments very well besides the piano. He was also proud to state that he enjoyed playing with the popular orchestra known as The Executive’s Band organized by Former Senator Raul Manglapuz which was composed of musicians who were businessmen and members of the diplomatic corps who get together to play Jazz and other popular music just for “fun”.
In 1962, on his own, Bert set up the first of many piano factories that populated the Philippines. Hecalled his pianos “TREBEL" – a combination of Bert’s name spelled backwards [TRE] and Eloisa his wife- EL.
Back to his minus one system, in the later models, another cassette tape player/recorder was added. It could record on one magnetic tape both the musical accompaniment and voice of the person singing. This unit was created in 1977. To enhance the quality of sound the device had a knob to produce "reverb" [or echo-like sound] adding technical artistry to the resulting sound.
Bert saw the first sign of corporate leakage – and the specter of “industrial piracy” during the time that he had to contract a Japanese manufacturing firm to produce most of his replacement parts. Not long after this arrangement he and his friends began to see very similar units of his invention but with a Japanese logo being sold openly in major Asian citieis and even in Manila stores..
This, Bert said philosophically, was the price one has to pay for a successful product. People would like to steal the idea or just make copies and sell them under another name.
After some sleuthing, Bert traced the bulk of the “piracy” to a Japanese firm. Since Japan could easily produce units in greater quantities Bert was aware that he really had limited resources and less money to battle this underhanded practice by a big time Japanese firm.
He was no match money-wise against the moneyed Japanese. But it did not discourage Bert from filing copywriter infringement, pursuing it to several decades for he felt in his heart he would be given justice.
In one of the media interviews Bert shared his philosophy in life: “Be observant, be creative. Most of all work hard at what you believe in.” At last, Bert really worked hard in what he believed in and he won the fight for justice.

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

A Haunting poem



TOMORROW…PERHAPS


All day today, I have looked for you
In the secret places
Where I keep you hidden, like a jewel,
Too precious to share with others.
I like to think that you are mine alone,
Although I know others have as much even more claims to you than
I might have.
I choose to delude myself
For in the mazes of my thoughts,
My passion is yours too.

And so I look for you,
Knowing you will be there
For me…
If not today
Perhaps…tomorrow.

Sunday, September 20, 2009

Pie Thrown on a human face - not funny at all for Asians




A famous comedy duo that appeared in films just before World War II somewhere in the mid thirties, were Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy. Laurel was the thin one and Hardy the fat one. They were of British descent as revealed by their English accents. Most of their comedy routines stemmed from funny situations. Laurel is the straight man who always plays the part of the better informed half of the team while Hardy is the foil or the fall guy who gets it between the eyes and his whole corpulent body shakes with anger when it happens. 

One characteristic of the two is that in all their movies, they never used the “slap stick” technique at all. To the aficionado humorists, the highest form of wit is intellectual or double meanings similar to the type of humor that Bob Hope uses. 

The lowest is slapstick. With the Laurel and Hardy team, sometimes one would hit the other gently to emphasize a point but that was all the physical or visual effect. Often, they depend on the situation itself using the power of pantomime, enough to produce the desired laughter. 

On the other hand we have the very popular American spawned The Three Stooges known and liked by many over many decades and in fact their films are having a comeback these days. These three were totally dependent on situations and with the ample use of slap stick – and I mean hard hitting slap, bops on the heads, and falls of various types - to get a laugh. One plays the straight man in a superior position and the other two stooges is supposed to obey or imitate what number one stooge wants. Usually the two follow wrongly and therefore get bopped by some hard object depending on what is within reach or available. Mock anger by the number one partner produces the comedic effect and the other two nursing a painful head or nose or back provokes the laughter.


               In many American films, it is almost certain that a slap stick comedy sequence would be topped by a pie in the face sequence. And this act usually gets terrific reaction from the audience – a non Asian audience. Why do we say this is so?


              In Asia the human person’s face is considered delicate and priceless. The fact is in effect the person's logo and should not be mistreated. It is his whole being, his public image. Over the developing period of Asian societies the basic elements of human relations rested and depended largely on how one honors one’s face especially in business transactions. Bartering – which preceded the exchange of currencies – which is to trade with one another using items or services and not money - depended principally on the quality of a person through his face. When one made a professional commitment orally facing the other party one has to stake his face and must meet the commitment before or on agreed time. His face is his asset, and of course his visual word of honor!
In early agricultural society Asia, a man’s face stands for his individual integrity, family honor, prestige and standing in the community. That is why the term “losing face” and “face the music” “face value” originated from and often really refer to that commodity, precious and fragile which is one’s face. It is his ticket in polite and honorable society. It is supposed to represent his willingness to abide by the common code of conduct and business relationships.

              
              Thus, whenever one who is Asian or of Asian descent views the American film comedies featuring the pie thrown on one’s face, it creates a slight psychological trauma within his own Asian bred body and soul. The person not ready to laugh at this physical humor. But one asks, does it follow that because the Americans who make use of this type of humor has no honor and that he does not value his face at all? And the answer of course is that American society values the totality of the person and not just the face and attributes one’s personality and integrity as his credentials as a member of society. Having a pie in the face, to the American mind, does not diminish the person’ honor, nor integrity for it is done in jest, it is a "child like" moment and for humorous effect without giving the act of throwing pie on the face any other meaning.

Saturday, September 19, 2009

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

OUR GOLDEN WEDDING ANNIVERSARY -





On August 5, 1959, Fr. James B. Reuter, S.J. officiated at our wedding held at the Pinaglabanan Church, San Juan Rizal. A small reception followed not far from the church. This picture on the left is Fr. Reuter blessing the rings. (on the left)


On August 22, 2009 we commemorated our 50th wedding anniversary with a 
Mass held at the St. Francis 
of Assisi Parish in Sacramento 
City officiated in by Fr. Anthony 
Garibaldi. A reception was held at the  
Embassy Suites Hotel ballroom not far from the Church.

Philippine presidential hopefuls...

TONY ABAYA


I am not a political writer but this time - for the first time - I have to make mention of a relevant individual who knows much and with quality substance about the coming presidential elections in the Philippines in May 2010.

I am referring to
Tony Abaya, a dear friend and dynamic, articulate writer in English. Here is his latest column.


Also, his website


Sunday, August 30, 2009

Biography of Nick Joaquin


I am in the process of writing the official biography of Nick Joaquin National Artist for Literature. I have started this project one year ago but I am still interested in getting in touch with people who can help enrich the writing of the book,” he added.

I can be contacted at my residence at 4645 Winter Oak Way Apt. 309 Antelope California 95834 . Contributors can also call tel. no. 916 348 8414. My e-mail address is tony.joaquin@gmail.com

Contributors are asked to send photos of Nick Joaquin or of themselves if these are available via email or mailed via postal service.

Nick Joaquin died on April 29, 2004, at 82. Shortly after his death, two of his written biographies were published in Metro Manila, one on the journalist Emilio (Abe) Aguilar Cruz and the other on Sen. Edgardo Angara.

My father was the jazz pianist Porfirio (Ping) Joaquin, older brother of Nick. Nick was my teacher and inspiration.

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

SR. JOAN CHITISTER- SPIRITUAL WRITER


In her excellently written book, The Gift of Years, Sr. Joan focuses in her introduction a scene:

It is a January morning in County Kerry. the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of the craggy islands below me is roild with whitecaps and angry palisades of water crashing against the tiny islets in their rocky midst. the windstorm of the last two nights have drenched the hills on which this small Irish stone cottage clings, left them dripping water from bare branches hours later, sent the tiny rivulet of water outside my window rushing wildly down the mountainside to the valley below. It is an average Kerry winter day.

But not average for some. In the last two days of rocking, howling wind, five Irish fishermen and their trawler have been reported missing at sea. This morning, they were pronounced dead, the sea too wild yet to even attempt to recover their bodies.

Who they were, how old they were, I do not know. But one thing I do know - life and time are ghost creatures for us all.

Most of us, inch our way through life, sure on the one hand that it will never end, certain on the other that it will surely be ending for us soon.

Is at moments of such quiet consciousness that is is important come face to face with what it means to age, to be older, to be old, to become an elder in society."

Sr. Joan continues and states that Life is about becoming more than we are, about being all that we can be. Whatever we are doing, however old we are, wherever we fall on the social economic scale

THE GIFT OF YEARS is for those who are on the brink of "old age" ...and knowing themselves to be young and healthy, are very surprised by it.

On the chapter LONELINESS she writes -

A burden of these years is that
we will hole up somewhere and mourn our age,
our change in life, our losses.

A blessing of these years is that
we will make ourselves available to the
world that is waiting for us even now. even here.

Monday, July 20, 2009

A Mediterranean cruise aboard Royal Caribbean Lines

(Atop a hill near Amalfi - Tony, Nico, Chita and Mikee)
----------------------
Last June, Chita and I went on a Mediterranean cruise with our grandsons Mikee and Nico. We first took off from San Francisco Airport up to Barcelona, Spain but with a stop over at Amsterdam airport.

Using the usual means used by tourists - cruise ship, chartered bus, and on foot we four covered sites like the Rambla plaza in Barcelona, the port of Naples in Italy, and a brief visit to one of the casinos in Monte Carlo.

We hired a van driven by an engaging Italian driver who in his fractured English managed well to inform us of the hilltop views as you can see on this picture on the right.





Being a part of the place, which is Pisa, we tried to conform with the pattern...and that is why we leaned like the tower (see left).

Mikee and Nico who went on their frist cruise some years back with us to the Caribbean enjoyed this one much better especially because of their visit to The Vatican, the Sistine Chapel and moreover both met wonderful people who were from Scotland and Ireland in the cruise ship.

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

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.

Monday, May 11, 2009

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.


Tuesday, February 3, 2009

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.

Sunday, February 1, 2009

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

Monday, January 19, 2009

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."