My Heartfelt Condololences To The Family & Friends of Mohammad Ali Shariff

This shocking news makes us to question man's inhumanity to his fellow man.
Here was a friendly, kind, extremely hard-working young man trying to enjoy life to the fullest, when suddenly, some evil, envious individual – killed the victim, Mohammad Ali Shariff just because he was granted a God-given gift of beauty.

This is revolting. These ugly Filipino men should be locked up for the rest of their lives. They're not only ugly physically, they are also ugly deep inside their souls.

The incident is almost unbelievable, something we can only read from komiks, like this short story published in mid-1970s.





It is not easy to be good-looking. People will tempt you left and right. People either like you so much or hate your guts and despise you for no reason at all.
May Mohammad Ali Shariff rest in eternal peace.

Amorsolo's "Marca Demonio"

Fernando Amorsolo was born on May 30, 1892 in Paco Manila. In 1909 he went to the School of Fine Arts in the University of the Philippines. He was one of the first graduates in 1914. He went to study further in Spain through the sponsorship of a prominent Spanish man, Don Enrique Zobel, a naturalized Filipino. But, before Amorsolo left for Spain, he designed the ever popular logo "Marca Demonio" used as the label of the well-known Ginebra San Miguel. This logo showed St. Michael vanquishing the devil. A favorite drink in fiestas, weekend camaraderie, and other important celebrations, this graphic design eventually became the symbol of the Filipinos’ tenacity when facing adversities and crises; and also their vigilance to protect and fight for what is right.



I have always been a big fan of Amorsolo. I have seen his works when I was a child from the books of my older siblings, the Philippine Readers. But, by the same token, since time immemorial, I was bothered by the fore-shortening of St. Michael's right arm brandishing a serrated sword in the "Marca Demonio" bottle label. If you look closer, you'll think that the arm is somewhat attached to the Archangel's neck!

I am not pretending to be a better artist than my favorite Amorsolo, but I somehow moved the arm around a little to make it look more natural.



I may have been a fool to do this, but the label bothered me for so long and I feel I had to do something and hear other artists' opinions regarding this issue.

Meanwhile, let's lift our glasses filled with Ginebra San Miguel and clink them: "A votre sante, mesdames et à messieurs!"

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Meanwhile, there's something you shouldn't miss: Sweet SISA SAMANIEGO-ESTEVA'S concert.



Musical takes a holiday on stage when Sweet Sisa Samaniego-Esteva – stage singer/performer, product endorser and recording artist - shares her songs and performances with some of her closest friends and student-workshoppers in a unique musical concert event aptly titled I AM WHAT I AM.

A popular song of Gloria Gaynor in the 70 and from the musical play La Cage Aux Folles, I AM WHAT I AM marks the first time Sisa has her own concert that offers the unexpected gathering of some of performing arts young and promising talents who just happen to be some of her closest friends, including Ayam Barredo,Cara Barredo, Joseph Mattheu, Reuben Uy, Red Concepcion, Jay Young, Onyl Torres, Marisse Abrilla, Naths Everett and Repertory Philippines’ Summer Workshoppers, among others.

I AM WHAT I AM evokes the power and excitement of live concert performances and blends music, song and dance of its performers in a multi-faceted themes viewers will find spellbinding. On a stage that relentlessly changes color, shape and tone, the concert’s repertoire will transform the theatre into a place of music (Mama Mia, Unexpected Song), dreams (Super Trooper), comedy (Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious from Mary Poppins), magic (Defying Gravity from Wicked), romance (What I Did For Love from Chorus Line and love song medley from Miss Saigon) and drama (Once Upon a Time from Brooklyn), giving viewers a rare opportunity to experience how a musical concert should be. In one night, Sisa proves Filipino music will never go out of style. With her stunning coloratura soprano voice, she brings back the romantic-comedy moments by melding the timeless beauty of classical Akoý Kampupot and medley of Christmas Songs to warm everybody’s heart.

I AM WHAT I AM is a collaboration of talented musicians and performers who wanted to work together for a common goal: to entertain. With a combination of music and stage chemistry between the performers, this concert will be a memorable musical event. Directed by George De Jesus and Choreographed by James Laforteza. Produced by Mr. Ollie Roble Samaniego and Mr. Robert John Morgan and in cooperation with the City of Makati.

I AM WHAT I AM will be staged on Dec. 21, 2009 at 7:30 PM at the Onstage 2nd Floor Greenbelt 1 Paseo De Roxas corner Legaspi St., Makati. Ticket Price: P500. Seating will be on a First Come First Serve basis. (ESM09)

SISTER THELMA

It was a mildly cold night in December, a week before Christmas, in the early 1970s. A ferry was smooth sailing along Cabra Island in Lubang, an island between Batangas and Mindoro.


This is Cabra Island in Lubang, an island in-between Batangas and Mindoro.

As usual, the vessel was filled to overflowing with passengers. Most of them were housemaids who were going home to the Visayas to celebrate Christmas with their loved ones. Blasting from the ferry’s loudspeaker was Eddie Peregrina’s recording of the song What Am I Living For? Many passengers were enjoying the song, some were even singing in desafinado voices, almost in chorus, following the song.

Instantly, a bright light suddenly appeared from the sky and it shined down below, illuminating the bushes, the boulders and the trees of Cabra Island.


Cabra Island in Lubang, in between Batangas and Mindoro

A few days ago, before this ferry trip, several allegedly visionary Filipino children have claimed to have seen the Holy Virgin who had spoken with them. The publicity of the incident was still fresh in the passengers’ minds. And now, here was this bright light illuminating Cabra Island. Could this be part and parcel of the miracle?

I wasn’t a passenger in this ferry, but since my relatives owned Rodrigueza Shipping, they would be able to tell me what really happened that night. Since they were not passengers either, they referred me to the ferry’s purser, who, in turn, have told me the whole nine yards of what had really happened.

He related to me that it was the scariest experience he ever had on a ferry trip. He described to me that as soon as the passengers saw the unexplainable bright light, a deftly felt fear and excitement triggered a surge of adrenalin, resulting in the panic that almost culminated into a horrific disaster. They began screaming hysterically, many were weeping, and like stampeding wild horses, rushed towards one side of the ferry to get a glimpse of the “miracle,” causing the ferry to lean on one side that it nearly toppled!

The purser, with presence of mind, quickly turned off the music and announced over the loudspeaker, telling the passengers to get away from one side immediately or the ferry would sink. Only when the vessel began to tip over that the hysterical mob finally woke up from their foolishness and realized that they could really end up seeing the Holy Virgin prematurely – in the real McCoy place – called heaven.

When the light has finally dissipated (it was never explained by PAG-ASA what it was – though I suspect it was possibly a big meteor), everybody was traumatized both by the “miraculous light” and the tension of the near-disaster. Many housemaids approached the purser to play music in the ferry to lessen the stress of the event. They specifically asked him to play Eddie Peregrina songs, such as: I Believe, You’ll Never Walk Alone, and it should be followed by Two Lovely Flowers, Mardy, and Together Again. The purser told me that his anger towards the silly passengers would not go away just like that. Instead of playing an Eddie Peregrina song, he played a Chinese song of Hongkong recording artist Nancy Sit. This really pissed the housemaids off.

“We paid our fares!” Screamed some of them. “We want Eddie Peregrina songs, not Chekwa songs!”

Chekwa is a derogatory slang for Chinese.

But, their screams fell on the deaf ears of the purser. He was still seething from the awful near-disaster. Hence, the whole trip was graced by Nancy Sit’s Chinese songs that nobody understood and appreciated. The loud songs blasted the eardrums of the housemaids until the ferry had finally reached its destination.

And the “miracle?”

Oh, well, at least the kids have enjoyed their so-called “fifteen-minute fame.”


The panicking passengers would have caused the ferry to sink, just like the photo above.

Meanwhile, Virgin Mary sightings kept happening in the Philippines. In the 1980’s, some children from Ilocos also claimed the appearance of the virgin. Apparently, she talked about the mission of each child. Many believers, fence-sitters, and nonbelievers went to Ilocos in droves. Fights happened because the nonbelievers were there to taunt the believers, and the believers, naturally were pissed off. Thank God the fence sitters were there to pacify the warring groups.

But, let’s go back to the 1970’s, one of the most interesting and wackiest decades on earth.

I have four older sisters. When I was a child, my mother and my sisters would always read me stories. They also introduced me to the alphabet. At the age of five, I was already reading the Manila Times. When I went to school that year, the only thing my Grade 1 teacher had to teach me was writing. It was also the time when I started drawing.

The practice of reading the newspaper daily became habitual for me. During my adolescent years, the first thing I would do in the morning was have coffee while reading the morning paper. As a teenager, one morning, while browsing Panorama, a magazine supplement of the Manila Bulletin, I saw an article on a woman who claimed to have seen the Santo Niño (Baby Jesus).

This time, the visionary was not a child, but an adult named Sister Thelma.

“Now that was a new twist,” I said to myself.


Jose Rizal's residence in Calamba, Laguna.

The article described her as a healer, a God-sent individual whose mission was to heal the sick and emancipate the ailing spirits of people in turmoil. She claimed that the Santo Niño, God the Father, and the Immaculate Concepcion, had told her to build a chapel in a particular location in Calamba, Laguna, where a spring would appear and its water would heal the sick. People came in droves in Laguna to see Sister Thelma. Many have claimed to have been healed by her. She would go into a trance and would use her tongue by licking the wounds of many of her patients. She also used a wooden cross and coconut oil. She would pour oil on the cross, then lay it flat on the patient’s skin. When the patient had no illness, the cross will fall. If the patient was ill, the cross would stick on the patient’s skin and only Sister Thelma who could remove it.

“Holy shit,” was my reaction. “This one is definitely an uber faith healer. Licking the wounds. My, my. I just have to meet this person,” I told my girlfriend.

So, my girlfriend and I drove to Calamba, Laguna to see Sister Thelma.

This visionary was a thirty-something small woman with smooth olive-skin and a winsome smile that instantly melted my heart. Talking to her, I have felt – or imagined to have felt – a certain tenderness that surged allover deep within me. Could it be this charisma that made so many people trust her and surrender their salvation completely in her? She was extremely busy healing many people that day and she promised to see me the following week at the Broadcast City in Quezon City.

On the day of our meeting at the TV network, I announced to everyone that the well-publicized healer from Laguna would be coming to the studio for an interview. She arrived with two assistants. She was wearing the white habit and the white veil that she was wearing during the healing sessions. We sat across from each other at a desk and started the interview. While I was talking to her, there came a time when she suddenly fell into a trance. Her voice became like a little child and continued answering my questions. I noticed that producers, directors, actors and production people started to gather around us. Soon, we were surrounded by many people. A lady production assistant whispered to me, saying that she had been stung by a poisonous jelly fish on the beach in Cavite and the nasty wound was not healing. She asked me whether I could ask Sister Thelma if she could help her. But, before I could tell Sister Thelma about her problem, the latter turned around and said:

“Come to me, my child,” the childlike voice said. “I will heal the wound in your leg.”

The production assistant was taken aback and so was I. She approached Sister Thelma and the healer started licking the patient’s wound. After a while, the healer became very stiff. The assistants hold her and let her lie on the floor.

At this point, comedian Gary Lising taunted the lady in trance, stumping his foot near her, saying: “Cut! Cut! The scene is over! Cut!”

Suddenly, Sister Thelma spoke in a low, deep man’s voice: “I want you to listen to me! Come closer!”

The comedian kneeled on the floor and leaned towards Sister Thelma. He moved his ear closer to her mouth. She whispered something to him. The comedian’s expression suddenly changed. He got up and left, leaving everyone baffled. When the healer came to, her assistants lifted her to her feet and I asked everyone to leave us alone for the interview.


Funnyman Gary Lising.

She was an only child. She was a spoiled brat. Whatever she wanted, she got. At 17, she fancied to be queen at the town fiesta. Despite the expense, her father obliged. When she was going to college, her father asked her for just one thing: to finish her studies before getting married. She was on her last year in university when she eloped. Her father never forgave her. She and her husband lived a difficult life. They had two children. One day her husband got killed. It was an unsolved murder. The police officer who was assigned to the case became her second husband. When her mother was dying, she went to visit her, but at the doorway, he father stopped her and told her to go away. Her mother died, and she wasn’t even allowed to attend the burial. After two years, her father had a stroke and while bedridden, he summoned her through her best friend. The father asked forgiveness, and she willingly forgave him, then asked for his forgiveness as well.

She inherited all her parents’ properties. Her new husband convinced her to start a minimart. She obliged. She also bought an expensive car for him. She also sold her parents’ house to buy another in a subdivision. But, the husband became a compulsive gambler. They lost the minimart, the car, and now the house is in danger of being foreclosed by the bank because they didn’t pay it in full. Faced by her husbands’ beating, hunger, and the prospect of homelessness, she attempted to poison her two children from her first marriage and the baby from her second husband. It was when the apparition of a child stopped her from doing it. He told her to go to the house of a cancer patient that she didn’t know in Canlubang. Afraid, she went and found the patient’s house. She introduced herself and told her what her mission was. Not knowing what to do, she massaged the neck of the patient. She then told her she was coming back the next day to continue healing her. But, she had no intention of coming back. That night, the apparition of the child appeared again and persuaded her to go back to heal the sick. She did. The patient was healed, and her husband mended his ways when he saw what was happening. Many people were healed.

She then told me that the apparition (the Santo Niño), gave her a mission: to build a chapel where a spring would arise and the water will heal the sick. When her youngest son Kristopher reaches the age of seven, she will die. And Kristopher will continue her mission until his death.

The TV episode would have been about the miracles of the healer. However, after my interview with her, I did my own further research and undercover work. Sister Thelma omitted one thing about her life. She, it turned out, was a former radio drama talent. This discovery gave me enough reason to debunk her claims, especially the changing voices. And yet, I discovered another thing that I could never explain. While wearing a disguise and dark sunglasses, I came to the healing session to observe. When she fell into a trance, four men were trying to lift her yet they couldn’t do it. I came to their rescue and helped. She was just too heavy to be lifted. It boggled my mind how a 120 lbs woman who was slightly taller than Nora Aunor would become so heavy and impossible to be lifted by five men.

When I sat down to write the two-hour episode done in semi-documentary style by including actual footages of the healing sessions and interviews, I could no longer just write a straight-forward healing story. I was compelled to write the story of Sister Thelma, the woman. Sister Thelma the person, who, despite her little weaknesses didn’t deserve to be treated like a rag. She was a beautiful person, someone far from being a saint, but someone with a good heart who gave so much to her loved ones and the throngs of people who came daily to be healed. What was amazing was the fact that she never charged even a cent. But, the well-off insisted on giving her subsistence which she reluctantly accepted. But, the most important thing was: she gave hope to the hopeless, and the miracles might not even be true miracles but might be some sort of a placebo effect. Divine intervention or not, Sister Thelma remained a beautiful person who deserved to be respected and accepted. And who else would play this role with panace and grace but Gina Alajar? Indeed, she played the role brilliantly.


Gina Alajar, played the role of Sister Thelma. Gina, even now, is one of Philippines' fantastic actresses.

My only regret is: I left the country soon after this episode had aired. I have totally lost the tract of whatever happened to Sister Thelma’s plight after that.

Did she really die after seven years?

People of Calamba, Laguna do you know what really happened?

Dreaming about people from the other side

For several weeks now, I have been dreaming about people I have known who have already passed on. I have dreamed about my dear mother and father, my wife, some classmates, even Consuelo “Ateng” Osorio and Vincent Benjamin Kua, Jr.

Since the last time I talked to Ateng Osorio and Vincent Kua was during the late 70s, I figured I should write something about them to remember them.

When I was a kid, I have always been critical about every movie I watched. I looked for the errors in them, I noticed bad acting when I see one, and even became quite aware when the film was awfully directed. At age 8 in 1968, during the summer vacation, I went home to our house (I was staying in my grandpa’s ranch in Bicol and going to school there). I thought I was ready to write a movie. Therefore, when I went home for the summer in the city, I asked our family driver to take me to the ABS-CBN studios on Bohol Avenue to find out how to apply as a writer. At the gate, the guard asked the driver who he was looking for. The driver said the TV director of the program being taped that time. The guard let the car in. Once inside the building, I asked the receptionist who was the TV writer present that day and she mentioned the name: Consuelo Osorio, also known as Ateng Osorio. She told me which studio she was working that time and I proceeded to find her. Unfortunately, upon entering the TV barn, a production assistant told me that she actually went to the cafeteria to have coffee. So I went to the cafeteria and tried to find her. I asked the person at the till to point out to me Miss Osorio, and she did. She was seated at a table, smoking, talking to another lady, and both of them, I noticed, were looking at me.

I approached them and introduced myself. She gave me a handshake and introduced the other lady: “She’s Mitos Villareal, our director.”

After shaking Miss Villareal’s hand, I didn’t hesitate to tell them that I was there because I want to become a writer for TV and the movies. They both smiled.

“You’re a bit too young to work as a writer,” Ateng told me. “Besides, you look more like an actor than a writer! We immediately noticed you the moment you entered this room. You are unusually fair. You are even fairer than Jeanne Young. Leave your phone number with me, I’ll find something and I’ll give you a call.”

That’s exactly what I did.


A scene from Malvarosa. Written by Clodualdo del Mundo, Screenplay by Consuelo Padilla Osorio. Asia's Best Picture, starring Charito Solis. (Photo from Kabayan Central).


After two days, Ateng called: “Something came up. Come to the TV station and I’ll discuss something with you. Is it possible to talk to your mother?”

My mom and dad were away that day and my older brother talked to her. Afterwards, he volunteered to drive me to the TV station.

Once we got to the station, Ateng handed me a piece of paper and told me to read it quietly, then aloud with feeling. I did. She said: “I’m impressed. You delivered the lines perfectly. You will be playing Helen Gamboa’s little brother in Bang-Shang-A-Lang”

“Bang-shang-a-lang? Is that the title of the movie? It sounds stupid!”

My brother laughed and so did Ateng.

“It is stupid because it is full of dancing and singing. It’s lots of fun.”

“I don’t like to be an actor,” I told her. “Besides, I don’t dance. I can sing, but I don’t want to sing. I want to be a writer.”

“Okay, then you have to wait a few more years for that. Maybe after high school, see me and by then maybe you can be a writer.”

So I went home that day disappointed. Six years quickly went by.

At age 14, I’ve met a komiks writer-editor named Robert Bornay. I was on my first year university, and I told Robert that I can write better stories than other komiks writers. He laughed. Maybe because he believed what I said, or maybe he thought that I was just a cocky teenager. Anyway, whatever it was, Bert handed me a script written by Mars Ravelo and told me to study the format and write something. But it was summer time again and there were too many activities here and there, and I procrastinated. I didn’t write anything. One night, Bert came to our house, a surprise visit. He took with him Tony Tenorio, Orlando Nadres and Deo Fajardo Jr. Bert asked me about my script. I was really embarrassed and promised the visitors that I will write a script. Orlando Nadres, on the other hand, asked me if I want to be on the cover of Sixteen Magazine, a komiks he was editing – an idea that Deo Fajardo seconded. I told them I am a very shy guy, so thanks but no thanks.


Blueboy was Bert Bornay's well-loved nobela by teenagers in the late 60s. It was published in Teenagers Songs & Shows komiks/magazine. Filmed by Joy Productions starring Fred Cortez Jr as Joey and Dorothy Joy as Loretta. First Directorial work of Elwood Perez.


The following week, I sat down and wrote my first komiks script. It was about the called and the chosen. A story of an aspirant nun whose fervent desire to become a full-fledged nun encountered some problems. Divine intervention? Perhaps not her true vocation?

Tony Tenorio approved the story and he introduced me to another newcomer writer/illustrator named Vincent Benjamin Kua. My first story, was Vincent’s first komiks drawing. I was also heavy into drawing and my favorite illustrator was Stan Drake. It turned out that it was also Vincent’s favorite.

It was then that Mr. Tenorio proposed to me and Vincent to work as editors in Atlas. I was in first year university and I was worried it might affect my studies, so I had to turnn down the offer. Vincent was more gung-ho to write and to draw his own komiks stories and he said no as well.

The very first komiks story I've written for Atlas in late 1974 and came out early 1975. This was Vincen'ts first published drawing.




Vincent drew a few scripts of mine but never drew other writers’ work in Atlas. He concentrated on his own “Katha’t Guhit.” What really struck me about him was that, he tended to question everything about our existence in this planet. And I would usually tell him: “Just look up and look at the vastness of the evening sky. There are billions of blinking stars out there. Why are they there? Vincent, there are things in this world that we should rather not ask why they’re there. They’re just part of our own existence. Don’t go crazy knowing the reasons for everything.”

Then I would quote Blaise Pascal’s famous: “The heart has its reason, which reason cannot know!” that sometimes he would say it with me in unison and we’d end up blurting out laughing.

And then one day, I told him: “You must just believe in Descarte’s mountains without a valley. That’s something our mind cannot grasp, but which our hearts utterly understand. Then, you will have peace within you.”

But, he continued to question things that it became a standard joke greeting from me every time we would see each other in Atlas: “What’s our question for today, Vincent? Are we going to discuss the Alpha and the Omega of the universe?”

Once, Tony Tenorio overheard me joking to Vincent and he thought we were serious: “Huh! Are you guys planning to co-write a mind-boggling nobela? Just give me the synopsis as soon as you finish it.”

Vincent and I started laughing and Tony was so puzzled and figured out what was going on and he just said: “You guys turn crazy every time you’re both here in my office.”

“Tony, in Psychology this type of illness is called Folly, also known as SHARED INSANITY! Only one person has the problem, yet it can influence other people around him to mysteriously be afflicted with temporary insanity!” I joked.

“Then who’s the real mentally ill?”

Vincent and I both pointed at each other. Then the three of us all laughed.

I continued writing scripts for Atlas publications while I was studying in university.

One weekend, our Mass Comm Association had a tour of ABS-CBN. It was there in the TV barn that Mrs. Osorio and I have seen each other again after six years.

“Mrs. Osorio!” I said as soon as I saw her.

“You look very familiar,” she said.

“Oh, I was the 8-year old boy you said – who was fairer than Jeanne Young six years ago!”

Ateng Osorio laughed. “And you’re still fairer than Jeanne Young even now! Now you’re here to become a writer, aren’t you?”

“Actually, we’re just having a class tour of the station.”

“Well, perfect timing. I need someone your age. I am auditioning today and tomorrow for new talents for BBC Channel 2. Since I already know that you can do it, you’re in. I need you to come for taping on Saturday night. Come with me and I’ll give you the script.”

I wanted to say no, but for some reason, I couldn’t. Besides, this lady was super nice and I didn’t want to say no to her. So I went with her and we proceeded to the office and the producer of the show handed me a blue mimeographed script. It says:

PROGRAM: Dulambuhay ni Rosa Vilma
WRITER: O.B. Pangilinan
MAINSTAY: Vilma Santos

To make the long story short, I ended up appearing with Vilma Santos and Walter Navarro. I played Walter’s younger brother in that episode. Thank God all my scenes were take one. And after the show aired, all my friends teased me non-stop about it. Ateng Osorio was directing films that time as well and she wanted to cast me in them but I begged off. I finally told her that acting is not what I wanted to do. I want to write. She then said: “I’m committed for seven months to direct movies which I have already written myself. After they are all finished, we’ll discuss a movie I will be directing for Barangay Pictures. I have a storyline. You will write the screenplay.”

I was delighted.

But, after three months went by, in mid-1975, BBC Channel 2 phoned me. Marcial Sanson, the big boss of programming that time, told me that he read some of my komiks scrpts and he liked them a lot and now he offered me to write for Alma Moreno’s TV show, Alindog. I didn’t hesitate and this was how I began my TV writing adventure in the Philippines.



Scripts in the 1970s were typewritten by the writer. Then the network would copy it and print them en masse using the very low tech called MIMEOGRAPH. They were usually done in blue, like this sample here.

I didn’t have time anymore to write a screenplay for Ateng Osorio, but she understood that I was having a hectic schedule writing for several TV dramas. We remained friends (it was like having your grandma around while working in showbiz). And definitely, for me, she was one of the most memorable persons in RP showbiz.

And Vincent? His questioning about things never ended. He was still the same sensitive guy who was easily hurt especially when people act unkindly. He tended to brood about it for sometime. I guess he wanted this world to be a perfect place. I know it was an impossible dream. But, I can’t blame him. This planet would have been really a perfect place to live in if only human beings were perfect.

I’m sure Vincent is now in a perfect place where he has found all the answers to his questions. And Ateng must be mingling with so many RP showbiz souls now also enjoying eternal peace, perhaps, somewhere where the sky and earth meet.

THE GIFTED FANNY SERRANO

In 1978, my girlfirend was a fashion model for Girard Peter Models. I was writing dramas for television that time. I don't watch any of the shows of the Girard Peter models, but one day my girlfriend insisted that I should watch, and I did. It was a dinner show at a plush night club in Ermita. The first thing that surprised me was that one of my friends at the YMCA, Henry Cando, was also part of the Girard Peter Models. His job in the show was to lift the women models, including my girlfriend. Henry and I worked out together at the YMCA GYM on Arroceros Street, with Joey Sanchez (Gino Antonio). Henry never told me and Joey that he was doing some modelling jobs. Nevertheless, it was a bit of surpise for both of us, because he didn’t know either that one of his co-workers was my girlfriend.

So there we were, laughing at each other while the models changed costumes. The intermission was a group called PAPERDOLLS. When they started their act, I had to watch them because they were very good. One of the members of the group was quite a looker. She performed so gracefully, and she was indeed a stunning woman. So I asked Henry who she was. Henry laughed so hard and said: “Man, he’s not a woman. He’s an impersonator. His name is Fanny Serrano.”



I was stunned. I really thought he was a woman. I looked at him again, and watching him perform showed no scintilla of evidence that he was indeed a he. Graceful movement, soft features, and a beautiful face – but a face that exuded some sadness, some vulnerability that almost broke my heart.

“I’ve got to talk to him,” I told my friend.

“What for?”

“I’m in-love with his face!” I said, and Henry blurted out laughing.

After the show, my girlfriend, Henry and I went to see Fanny. I introduced myself to him and I realized that his face was even more feminine tête-à-tête. I asked him if he had any experience in acting. He said no, only impersonating.

“Would you like to act with Rosa Rosal?” I asked him.

“Are you kidding?” he said, smiling.

I told him that his performance inspired me to write an episode of ULILA, and by just watching his movements, I just knew that he can act. He agreed, and I told him that I will let the studio send a script when I’m done with it.

The episode of ULILA was called FARIDA. It was the story of Alfredo, Jr., a.k.a. Farida (Fanny Serrano) a womanish-looking young man who was working as an impersonator in a gay bar without his father’s knowledge. He thought that something was wrong with him because he was feeling dizzy all the time. In their neighborhood, the macho men imbibibng alcohol outside made Farida the butt of their jokes. Unfortunately, his gayness was affecting his younger brother (played by Caloi Pimentel) who got teased a lot by his peers just because his older borther was gay. He would come home bleeding from fisticuffs. This constant rigmarole irked his father Alfredo, Sr. (Rolly Papasin). Alfredo Sr. punished Farida by hitting him so hard and dragging him out of the house and disowning his Junior because the latter was bringing nothing but shame in the family. The pleadings of Farida’s mother Tinay (Rosa Rosal) fell on deaf ears.

Farida stayed with his friends in the gaybar. A male dancer named Erwin (Rafael Lucas) was the most caring in the joint. Erwin was a komiks illustrator who was being paid so low that he had to moonlight as a macho dancer in the bar to finish his university degree. Farida was glad that Erwin was trying to strive for a better life. Farida had the same dream. He was trying to save up some money so he could go to college and change his life, and be accepted by his father and hoping that someday, his father would finally be proud of him. But for now, impersonation was the only available job for him that would pay better to fulfill his dream. One of the other impersonator in the club was UBANGGA (Joey Galvez) a dark complexioned funny impersonator who was also kind to Farida.

One day, Farida collapsed. He had an inoperable brain tumor. Ubangga and Erwin went to see his father but he refused to allow his son back to his house. Farida died. Tinay went to the hospital and hugged her son’s cold body. Alfredo Sr remained firm, unrelenting, untouched by his son’s death. But after the burial which he did not attend, we see him late at night, boozing up alone at the dining table, then shoving the bottles of alcohol and weeping, his whole frame shaking. He lost his son, after all. The son he loved but refused to tell him so when he was still alive.

This father and son story was directed by Mario O’hara, and during the taping, Mario and I were both stunned when almost all of the crew were deeply affected by the scenes involving Rosa Rosal, Rolly Papasin and Fanny Serrano. Many became tearful. Danny Vibas, a movie reporter, approached me after the scene where Fanny was beaten by Rolando Papasin, and whispered to me: “Joemarie, it’s too violent. I’ve never expected it this way,” he said, removing his glasses, and wiping his tears.

My hunch was right, after all. Fanny Serrano was indeed a fantastic actor. He played his role as if he was a veteran performer. He was the only new actor who made the crew react this way. When the episode aired, BBC-Channel 2 was stormed by phone calls. Televiewers where asking who Fanny Serrano was. It was the first time they saw him perform and yet his performance struck their hearts and minds. When TV week magazine came out, there were requests from viewers to cast Fanny again in future episodes.

Meanwhile, I got all the flak from the gay community. Many were mad at me for writing an episode about a gay person, which they claimed, of which I had no idea what it's all about to be gay. They accused me of ostracizing the gays by making the father beat the gay son unabashedly. They even told me to do another episode, but make sure that the gay son will fight back and kill his father! There was even a TV producer who confronted me after the taping, accusing me of being so irresponsible for writing a lifestyle that I was totally ignorant of. He even threatened me to bring up the matter to the Benedictos and he will do his best to yank me out of all my TV shows. He went on saying that if it were him who was being abused by his father, there is no doubt he's going to retaliate. Quietly, I told him: "well, why don't you write a script about that?" The more he got mad and screamed. "From now on, I don't want to see your face ever again. Just be careful. All the gays in UP are fuming mad!" He left and had never spoken to me again. I was not yanked out from the network, and the young producer suddenly disppeared. After six months, I asked Marcial Sanson where the guy was. Marcial told me that the guy was diagnosed with cancer of the mandible and died a few weeks after being diagnosed. The gays from UP never confronted me.

But going back to Fanny Serrano, his impersonation scenes as Carole King were fabulous. After being thrown out by his father, the next scene became so heart-rending when he performed “You’ve got a friend”, where Erwin and Ubangga were watching him. His costume was amazing, and he was the one who made it. I wrote several more episodes with Fanny Serrano in them and all of them had accented his wonderful gift in acting. What’s really funny was that Fanny killed Rolly Papasin in an episode called WALANG HANGGAN ANG DILIM NG GABI. In this episode, singer Romy Mallari played Fanny’s younger brother, and I was in disbelief when Romy performed the role so well. I never knew the guy was an amazing actor as well.

There you go, folks. Fanny Serrano is not just a very talented beauty specialist that many of you know him to be. He is also a very talented impersonator, actor and costume designer. A multi-talented individual that the Philippines can be really proud of.

Thank you, Fanny Serrano. You’re not only a wonderful actor and beauty specialist par excellence, but you are also an amazing person. Mabuhay ka.

Down Memory Lane: Tikoy's Rizal Is Heavy Handed With Josephine

Tikoy Aguiluz’ RIZAL SA DAPITAN is a somber and ominous film. It utilizes many unknown actors; uses some hand-held shots quite reminiscent of Cinema Verité; a lot of tripod shots borrowed from neo-realism; dubbing of dialogues that do not match with the actors’ lips, something that reminds me of Felinni and Pasolini's films.

Most of the films about Rizal’s life that had been made before had always shown his execution by musketry.I am not blaming those filmmakers (including my favorite filmmaker, Gerry de Leon) because indeed that part had been the most dramatic scene in Rizal’s life. His execution by the Spaniards was truly a temptation for any filmmaker. It’s like the Devil in the garden on the Mount of Olives east of Jerusalem, who tried repeatedly to temp Jesus. Unfortunately, Filipino film directors are only human and it’s not surprising that many had succumbed to this temptation. They emphasized this part (usually as the final scene) and in fact, many of them were done in the much abused device known in the annals of filmmaking: the slow motion.




Therefore, what a relief when Aguiluz’ version opens with Rizal’s execution already carried out and his remains are being dragged by two of his executioners, los dos guardia civiles. This scene is extremely clever and powerful. Unfortunately, from this masterful beginning, the film utilizes another device that seems to haunt many scriptwriters and directors: the flashback.

We are told how Rizal, banished by the Spaniards to Dapitan, lived his life as a farmer, teacher, surgeon, entrepreneur, lover, son, brother, and even as a father to a still-born child. All these ploded on and on, that I began to wonder whether Tikoy Aguiluz is a member of of a club where Kevin Bacon and Keifer Suherland are both members: the Flatliners. Sure, there are obstacles and triumphs along the way as Rizal’s daily existence is expounded, but the whole movie is so flat, even the humor used is so dry, it would have been better if they had deleted them altogether.




In the movies (both Hollywood and Tagalog, but more in Tagalog), there is a recurring scene that seems not to go away: a leading man shoving her leading lady.

Charito Solis was shoved by Nestor de Villa in BULUNG-BULUNGAN; Marlene Dauden suffered the same fate from Eddie Rodriguez in MILAROSA; Charito Solis, once again, by Ric Rodrigo in DAHIL SA ISANG BULAKLAK; and even Faye Dunaway by Jack Nicholson in CHINATOWN.

When Albert Martinez (as Rizal) confronts Amanda Page (as Josephine Bracken) about her fidelity and veracity, I told myself, “Oh, boy! DON’T do it, Tikoy! Don’t! Please!”

But, Tikoy had succumbed to the second temptation! His Rizal shoves Josephine!

Now, I will have to add Amanda Page’s name on the list of belted leading ladies.

But the film’s trouble isn’t over yet. Even if the filmmakers added a disclaimer at the end that they had to invent many things to dramatize Rizal’s life in Dapitan, how can they explain the fact that many of the dialogues and motivations were totally UN-RIZAL?

Let’s examine some of Rizal’s wisdom here. “Sa mabahong tae ay sumisibol ang isang mabangong bulaklak” (From a stinky manure, a flower blooms).

I don’t think that Rizal would have insulted our intelligence by telling us that shit smells bad. Any farmer out there who had smelled a sweet-smelling manure, please send us some so that in return, we could send it to Tikoy Aguiluz. I know Jose "Pete" Lacaba's writing style, and he would never write such dialogue (either it was added by Tikoy, or was suggested by a leg man to add into the film). And unfortunately, the credit of the writing went to Lacaba (and this is one of sticky points in screenplay writing, everyone on the set has something to say, and the poor writers are blamed when the dialogues come out horrendous). Which reminds me of what I have experienced with Gosiengfiao in Bedspacers. I wrote the dialogue: "That's the bitch! The one we saw on Recto Avenue yesterday." During the shoot, the American actress who was playing the part said: "That's the bitch! The one we saw on Azcarraga yesterday."

I protested: "For crying out loud, Joey! No young people would even know what Azcarraga is! That name was known during my mother's time!"

"But Joey, it sounds classy!" he replied.

And, yes... the movie said Azcarraga, not Recto.

But wait, we're discussing Rizal Sa Dapitan.

How about Jose Rizal’s characterization? When one of Rizal’s sisters accused Josephine of infidelity and lying, Rizal confronted Josephine right there and then, hence the shoving scene.

I don’t think that Rizal, whose IQ was that of a genius and who was against violence and tyranny, would have listened to hearsay without investigating first, let alone resort to such violent action. I don't know if Pete wrote the script this way, but it's unlikely. The shoving must have been added during the shoot. Sure, Tikoy wants drama here, but if the character’s motivation is totally inconsistent from the personality of that character, such dramatic build up is rendered useless. Rizal, who was a very good doctor and a champion of women’s rights – would shove a woman who is also his wife and who is pregnant with a child?

Balderdash!

Pete Lacaba had written the most sensible scripts in local movies and unless the devil made him do it, it's unthinkable for him to write this way.

Albert Martinez’s interpretation of Rizal’s characterization shows the intensity of Rizal’s demeanor. It may or may not be accurate in real life, but I rather liked the edgy touch he added into it.

Amanda Page is not Irish-looking enough for Josephine, but she’s quite charming and endearing. I just hope she refuses her director next time he asks her to be shoved by her leading man. Charito Solis, a world-class actress, had agreed to be pushed twice in her career, plus the other people who pushed her in real life as well. But that was during her time. That was then, this is now. If another director is going to use this scene in a film, he should be thrown in the slammer for being so banal.




Despite the many problems of Tikoy’s Rizal, there are some nice touches to this film. The shot of a gecko trying to crawl laboriously up the banyan tree is something akin to Rizal’s life who is facing an arduous future as an exile. The sunsets and the starless nights are like paintings done by a master. The overall dark look of this production reminds me of the Tikoy Aguiluz brand that is always present in his films, including the Boatman. If he were careful in his choice of materials, wean himself from the influence of the neo-realist movement of the fifties and used more established good-looking actors (and quit using every Tom, Dick, and Harry off the streets who can't act), stayed away from overused tableau vivants that are more recognizable than the soldiers raising a flag in Iwo Jima; and if he borrowed more from the French New Wave – he might end up yet as one of RP's better filmmakers.

Rizal Sa Dapitan is far from being a masterpiece, but its components (Lacaba's vision) have the makings of one.

Happy 148th birthday, JR.

SCRIPTWRITING 101: DIALOGUE

Recently, a commentary from two “high brow” observers of komiks and comics, annoyed a lot of komiks talents when these two bozos (who badly need to take Philosophy 101 - Logic) argued and argued nonstop with reasoning only ignorant people like them would understand. One of these guys accused me of using HIGH FALUTING (sic) dialogues in a short komiks story which he claimed was forgettable, yet he remembered who wrote it, and remembered the story, and remembered the dialogues. Yet, he said it was a forgettable story. Forgettable, but he remembered everything about it, including the so-called “High Falutin” dialogues.

My understanding of his “high faluting” description, is its current use here in north America. I thought he meant my dialogues were “Showing off, ostentatious, pretending to be above one's station in life, putting on airs.” This is the context now of this word here in north America. But, it turned out that the guy using this word, must have meant : “bombastic speech,” a context which was the status quo in the 1950s. Today, in north America, if you tell someone “high falutin”, it will always be interpreted as “Showing off”. Example, if there is an exclusive, pricey restaurant where only the people who have extra money would go, chances are people in the south or Midwest would say: “Them rich guys will all go to that high falutin restaurant called TURO-TURO.” Nowadays, if your dialogue or speech is bombastic, it will be labelled: STILTED, not “high falutin.” If you call a dialogue high falutin, it will be the same as saying GAY because you’re HAPPY. But of course, that was in the 1950s. If you say the word GAY these days, it would only mean one thing: HOMOSEXUAL.

Well, since we’re discussing this topic, this is the best time to discuss DIALOGUES in scriptwriting. In the old komiks industry, even in our old tagalog movies, TV and radio dramas, dialogues were never utilized to ADVANCE THE ACTION OF THE STORY, or to suggest an incident in the past to make the scenes interesting. This does not encompass all the writers, but many were guilty of this shortcoming.

What exactly is the main purpose of dialogues?

• Dialogues must sound convincing and natural, but should also be entertaining
• Dialogues should be in keeping with a character, even emphasizing his/her traits and disposition
• Dialogues must build & advance the action of the story. It should give foreshadowing, state facts and other information that can’t be shown in the action
• Dialogues must intensify, reveal – the emotions of the characters
• Dialogues should be fragmentary just like in real life, simple, but witty. If you can keep them short and crisp, the better

and the most important of all, avoid:

• Tired, worn-out phrases! If you have heard it too many times before on tv, movie, or even in real life – don’t use it as is! Re-invent it. You don’t want to write clichés:

“The devil made me do it”
“I’ve got a bone to pick”
“Don’t bite the hand that feeds you.”

Think about the image a phrase can convey, and reword it:

“Jeffrey Dahmer’s soul made me do it!”
“I’ve got a fish to scale”
“Don’t twist the hand that holds your paycheck!”

When I was writing for TV in RP, I have always opened my dialogues “after the scene has already begun”. This way, I could inform the audience of what has happened before, the characters would discuss it, ponder it over here and there, maybe worry about the past action, and wonder what might happen because of it.

So, instead of:

“Magandang umaga, Kiko.”
“Magandang umaga naman, Kikay. Kumusta?”

This sort of exchange of words is lifeless. Empty. Static.

“Magandang umaga, Kiko. Akala mo di na titigil yung ulan, ano?”
“Oo nga, e. Mabuti nga’t nakauwi ng walang problema si Lagring”.

By putting an incident in the dialogues, the audience will pick-up the past action.

For smoothness, use connective words whenever possible.

“Tumakbo yung aso patungo roon sa tambakan ng basura!”
“Ano’ng klaseng aso?”
“German Shepphered.”

“Sigurado ka ba?”
“Oo, sigurado ako.”

• In TV and movie scriptwriting, SHOW, rather then TELL as much as possible. Use dialogues only to explain and to build interest and suspense – use only when necessary. Make the dialogues speed up the plot. Stress the visual. Use pictorial story-telling all the time.
• Avoid too much dialect. Suggest his nationality by using one or two foreign words, but don’t overdo it, unless subtitles will be used in the actual film. If the format is TAGLISH, finish all the english and don't insert the Tagalog in between. It will be too confusing to the readers or to the audience. So, if taglish is what the characters speak, spare us the agony. Please finish the sentence in full tagalog, then begin another sentence in English and finish the whole sentence in English. It will be wishy-washy to mix the tagalog and english together in one sentence. Avoid this as much as possible.

What leads to a better dialogue?

• Well-developed characters and contrasting characters will reveal their uniqueness. As a writer, you don’t even have to force the words. They will come out naturally.
• Listen how people talk in real life. Use the idea, but make sure that their conversation is arranged with splendor of order. Real life dialogues are meandering at times. This characteristic must not be included in your dialogue. Make the dialogues sound like in real life, but arranged artistically, and must move the plot forward, not hinder.

If you watch tagalog movies and/or tv shows, you will notice one very big problem. Almost always, if, say, there are two characters having a conversation, they would talk about something that they already both know from the past, and yet they are now talking about it because the writer’s intention is to inform the audience (expound) about this past. This strategy is a no-no. It’s purely schlock writing.

“Grabe ang tiniis natin sa buhay noon, di ba, Mystica?
Lasenggo si itay, labandera si inay. Tuwing uuwing
lasing si itay, laging sinasaktan
si inay.”

“At lagi tayong umiiyak, ate Auring, kadalasan ay
nakakatulog tayong walang laman ang sikmura at
may mga luha sa mga mata.”



This kind of dialogue is always used by many RP writers. Both the characters talking to each other knew all the facts from way back when, yet they are saying these facts to each other! What for? To inform the audience of the past. Isn’t this awful?

“Sino ang mag-aakalang makaka-ahon rin tayo
sa dati nating buhay? Hanggang ngayon ay hindi ko
pa rin maintindihan kung bakit naging lasenggo si itay.
At ewan kung paano hinayaan ni inay na saktan siya
ni itay nang paulit-ulit?”

“Kung hindi naging lasenggo si itay, hindi sana tayo
nagdanas ng katakut-takot na hirap sa buhay.
Naalala mo pa ba, kung paano tayo natutulog nang
walang laman ang ating mga sikmura?

This second alternative is more logical. The characters are reminiscing the past without the OBVIOUS unabashed spoon-feeding dialogues of the first example. Also, you'll notice how the two characters never addressed each other with their names. There is no need for that. When we talk to someone, WE DON’T SAY HIS/HER NAME each time we begin to say something like in the first example. As a writer, take note of this.

BTW, Madam Auring and Madam Mystica are both pop icons in RP. He-he-he. May ASIM pa silang dalawa. Damang-dama ko ang kanilang mga alindog. Sana, kayo rin.