Ramon Revilla: Ang Alamat ni Agimat

He’s a legend in his own right and it’s not only because of his agimat (amulet) to which his fans attribute his success as an actor and his successful conquest of the Senate. Why, many people believe that his agimat has been working wonders in the man’s lovelife which can only be described as "very fruitful, indeed," blessed as he is with, according to unconfirmed reports, about 80 children.

Yesterday, Sen. Ramon Revilla turned a year, uh, wiser and, like Eddie Garcia, he loves to keep people guessing how old he is or what the secret (if there is, besides his agimat) of his durability is.

Last night at the Star Awards for Movies (by the Philippine Movie Press Club), Ramon was honored with the Ulirang Artista award, which must have pumped new life and vigor to the ‘50s’ macho man who walks with a little limp aided by a came, all right, but who refuses to let a stroke (or whatever ailment came before it) consign him to domesticity.

"I am my biggest trophy," Ramon told Conversations in a free-wheeling interview several weeks ago at his mansion in Imus, Cavite, where he keeps his cocks (sabong is the one thing that gives him great joy, according to his children) and (some of) his children, led by former Cavite Gov. and now VRB (Video Regulatory Board) chairman Ramon "Bong" Revilla, Jr. and his wife, Lani Mercado, and their children. "I’ve survived all trials in life," he added with a weak smile, leaning on his cane. "I’m a survivor."

Although Sen. Ramon has been in the public eye these past six decades or so, not many people know what he is really like behind the scenes – you know, how he was as a boy dreaming of stardom, how he is as a father and what legacy he wants to leave behind.

Let’s uncover Ramon Revilla, layer by layer.

How many brothers and sisters do you have?

"We’re 10 all in all. I’m the youngest."

Wow, cheaper by the dozen!

"I was only one-and-a-half-years old when our father died, so it was our mother, whom we fondly called Nanay Andeng, who brought us up by herself. She was a disciplinarian; ayaw niya ng bastos na ugali. I remember the time when my barkada passed by our house shouting and laughing out loud. My mother pulled me aside and told me, ‘Don’t be like them, ha!’ She warned me against going out with that kind of company."

Have you always wanted to be in showbiz ever since you were young?

"I’ve always been a movie addict. Not a week would pass without me watching a movie at Imus Theater, a small neighborhood moviehouse. If the movie was drama, I’d cry inside the moviehouse. But I preferred action movies."

Is it true that you were discovered for the movies after you graduated from college?

"After graduation, my parents gave me a capital to put up my own gasoline station. Cool na cool ako n’un, very macho looking. I was stripped down to the waist; I knew I had a good body and I was proud of it. I was at my gasoline station when a movie producer and a director saw me and asked if I wanted to be an actor."

Dr. Jose "Doc" Perez of Sampaguita Pictures, your first home studio?

"No. The producer was Cortes Quilatan of CorQui Productions at ‘yung kasama niyang direktor ay Martillano ang apelyido. They were location-hunting. I was so happy with their (movie) offer that I gave them the gasoline for free. They gave me a calling card. A few days later, I sought them out in their office at a big building in Sta. Cruz, Manila. I was introduced in one movie. Not long after, I was rediscovered by Doc Perez."

Your real name is Jose Acuña Bautista. Why didn’t you use it as your screen name?

"First, I used Gallardo Acuña as screen name. Gallardo is the name of my nephew; Acuña naman is my mother’s surname. But when I went to Sampaguita Pictures, Doc Perez changed my screen name to Ramon Revilla. Why that name? I don’t know, Mahilig siguro siya sa double R. Mayroon ding Ric Rodrigo, di ba?"

You were paired with Gloria Romero in your early movies (Mr. Kasintahan, Cofradia, Bim Bam Boom and Liku-Likong Landas). Being a ladies’ man even then, did you ever court Gloria?

"Never. I didn’t dare. I never thought of courting her. Ni hindi ko siya niligawan kahit pabiro. At that time, Gloria looked like a virgin – birheng-birhen ang mukha niya. So she was always cast as Virgin Mary in the passion play."

Aside from Gloria Romero, who were your other leading ladies?

"Marami. Nandiyan si Lolita Rodriguez, si Norma Vales, si Myrna Delgado, si Alicia Vergel."

How were you different from such other Sampaguita actors as Ric Rodrigo, Oscar Moreno and Luis Gonzales?

(Blushing) "Well, pilyo sa chicks, e, so Mommy (Dolores) Vera would always call me to her office to reprimand me. Palagi akong nasasabon. Malapit sa akin ang mga artistang babae. At that time, basta lumalapit sa akin, e, pinapatulan ko naman, so Mommy Vera would always scold me. I must admit that when I was young, medyo may kapilyuhan ako sa babae."

You quit showbiz after only a few movies. How come?

"I was frustrated. Ewan ko kung bakit."

And you joined the Bureau of Customs.

"My friends were working at the Customs, some of them as secretaries and some as policemen. It was not easy getting a job at the Customs; you needed a padrino to get in. It was then Auditor General Pedro Jimenez who recommended me. He was my kababayan, also a Caviteño, and he told me that I was lucky because he hadn’t recommended anybody yet. I worked as Senior Intelligence Officer. Hindi na ako nagdaan sa pagiging private; official kaagad ako."

Wasn’t it a risky job?

"It was, in a way. We often got into a fight – barilan, patayan, talagang away! Mayroon pang paluan ng baril sa mukha. Those things were ordinary occurrences at the Customs at that time."

That must have prepared you for the action roles that you started doing later on. In 1968, after a long absence, you returned to the movies...

"...Doc Perez called me. I did Liku-Likong Landas (with Gloria Romero). Soon after, I went back to the Customs. But I realized that once an actor, always an actor. A few years later, I formed my own company, Imus Productions (formerly named Cavite Pictures), and my first project was Nardong Putik."

It was a huge hit. Why did you think of doing the Nardong Putik story?

"That was in 1972, the year Nardong Putik (Leonardo Manecio) died. He was also a Caviteño, you know. He died in a car accident in Kawit, Cavite. I saw it happen. I even saw his car, turned turtle, inside a canal. A producer broached to me the idea of doing the life story of Nardong Putik but the plan was never pushed through. I looked for friends to invest in my company and I decided to produce the project myself. The movie was a big, big hit. It ran for two months in Metro Manila theaters. It made a lot of money even if it opened during a big typhoon which flooded the whole Metro Manila."

That was Martial Law years. Didn’t you encounter any difficulty showing the movie?

"They tried to recall the movie’s permit pero at that time, the movie had already earned a lot of money. Bawing-bawi na namin ang capital at malaki na rin ang profit namin. Tubong-lugaw, ika nga."

You were nominated for the movie. Did you feel vindicated?

"I was nominated, all right, but a FAMAS member told me, ‘Sorry, we can’t make you win,’ Otherwise daw, makukulong sila. I didn’t understand him. I believed that I deserved to win the Best Actor award, but still the FAMAS didn’t make me win dahil takot daw sila makulong. I didn’t know why. Mayroon daw nananakot sa kanila. They didn’t tell me who."

Did you take it sitting down?

"No, I did not. Caviteño yata ‘to! And then I bumped into the person whom I suspected to be behind the ‘boycott’ and I confronted him. It happened at the Enrico Hotel where the FAMAS Awards night was going to be held. Gusto ko siyang ihulog sa bintana!"

You did!?!

"I was serious! Galit na galit ako, e. Luckily, I was stopped by Tony Ferrer who was at the hotel shooting a movie. Inawat niya ako. The incident even reached Gimo de Vega (then President Ferdinand Marcos’ Adviser on Appointments and concurrently chairman of the Board of Censors). Gimo called me to Malacañang. At first, Gimo was angry at me until I explained everything to him. He softened up. He told me, ‘You know, Ramon, nobody can put a good man down,’ I cooled off after that."

Of course, Nardong Putik was followed by more true-to-life starrers, like Pepeng Agimat.

"But before that, I did Tiagong Akyat. At that time, medyo nawala na ang galit ko doon sa taga-FAMAS. I bore in mind what Gimo told me, ‘Who knows, you just might win for your next movie. Ibalato mo na siya sa akin.’ I told Gimo, ‘I’ll follow your advice.’ The next time I met the guy (FAMAS member), it was as if nothing happened between us. Binati ko siya."

I’m curious. Do you really have an agimat (amulet)?

(Smiling enigmatically) "Oh, yes, I have. It was given to me by a relative of Nardong Putik." (No further elaboration)

You were known then as the Father of True-Life Movies and, in a way, a Jack-of-all trades.

"All the movies I did were based upon real characters and real incidents, and all of them made money, like Kapitan Eddie Set, Gulapa and many others. I produced my own movies, wrote the scripts and directed them, aside from starring in them. Sometimes, I even acted as the legman, lalo na kapag ang mga artista ko makulit. I would even fetch my stars at home. Of course, I did it when I was younger and stronger. I spoiled my stars."

So you won your first FAMAS Best Actor award for Tiagong Akyat. Who was this Tiagong Akyat?

"He was from Imus, Cavite. His real name was Santiago Ronquillo. His life story was done before I did it, by Jose Padilla, Jr. The movie was called Ronquillo, shown in the ’50s. But my film was more extensive; talagang nag-research ako before I wrote the script."

What do you think helped you clinch the Best Actor award (his son, Marlon Bautista, won the FAMAS Best Child Actor award for the same movie)?

"I guess it was my acting. In that movie, I did all the stunts. I refused to have a ‘double’."

Maybe your agimat worked wonders for you.

(Smiling widely) "Maybe. Who knows?"

Where’s your agimat now?

"I have passed it on to my son Bong."

Did you give it to Bong because you wanted to (temporarily) quit showbiz and join politics?

"Not really. Bong asked for it."

What made you run for the Senate?

"It happened by accident – literally. I was hurt in an accident while shooting (Operation: Ceasefire) and I had to stay home. One Sunday, my friend reporters visited me. I was limping then, walking on crutches. After a while, the two reporters told me what they visited me for. Gusto daw nila akong tumakbo sa pagka-Senador. The last day of the filing of certificate of candidacy was the next day already. I thought that the accident might have been providential, kaloob ng Panginoon. If not for the accident, I wouldn’t have stayed home and my two reporter friends wouldn’t have found me home. Destiny, ika nga."

It took you barely 24 hours to decide...

"...when I woke up the next day, there was a banda waiting for me and a truck-ful of people. We went to the COMELEC office in Intramuros in a motorcade. Pipilay-pilay pa ako n’un. Everything became controversial pa because I was accused of electioneering. Na-front page pa ako sa mga dyaryo!"

(Note: Ramon lost in that first bid for the Senate due to a technicality. Votes for Ramon Revilla were declared null and void and only those for Jose Acuña Bautista were counted. Ramon cried, "I was robbed!" He closed his Imus Productions and slipped into depression. He ran again four years later, in 1992, and finished among the top three. "It was Gimo’s words that boosted my morale," said Ramon. You know: You can’t put a good man down.)

You’ve been a Senator for more than a decade now. How would you rate yourself on a scale from 1 to 10?

"I’d give myself a passing mark – 75 percent. That’s good enough for me. At least, pasado. I’ve never been accused of graft and corruption at wala naman akong alam na naga-galit sa akin. Nakagawa din naman ako ng magagandang batas."

Such as?

"Well, there‘s Rep. Act 8150, the Public Works Act of 1995 allocating P73 billion for the construction of barangay roads up to the most remote area from Luzon to Mindanao. Nandiyan din ’yung Children Media Act which requires TV stations to devote 50 percent of their airtime to children-friendly shows. I also introduced two provisions to the Dangerous Drug Act, creating an Oversight Committee that would oversee anti-drug campaigns. The other provision is about the quality, not so much the quantity, of stuff found in a drug dealer (and/or user), whether it’s pure or impure."

Are you running for re-election in 2004?

"Not anymore; I’m retiring from politics. I might go back to producing movies. I hope Bong will run for Senator. I will campaign for him. He’s doing well as VRB chairman. I’m sure he’ll make a good Senator."

In the romance department, you certainly get a high rating. How many children do you have in all?

"I don’t know the exact number. I’ve stopped counting. I was lucky to have an understanding wife (the late Azucena Mortel, mother of Bong, Rowena, Andrea, Marlon, Strike, Princess and Diane). Walang masamang anak sa kanya; whoever came to the house claiming to be my child, tinatanggap niya at pinag-aaral niya; she treated all of my children as her own children."

How are you as a father?

"I never spare the rod and spoil the child. You can ask Bong. Strict ako; a disciplinarian. I disciplined them not with a sinturon but with a buntot-pagi. I always remind them even now not to engage in questionable acts. I try to give my children the best education I can afford. I tell them, ‘Study hard, study well, because education is the best thing I can give you; if you don’t study well, you’ll end up the loser, not me.’ Never take drugs, I remind them. Sabi ko, if any of you is sentenced for taking drugs, ako mismo ang magbo-volunteer to apply the lethal injection. Ganoon ako kahigpit mag-disiplina sa mga anak ko."

The usual clinching question: How do you want to be remembered?

"As an honest person, a simple man. Somebody who became an actor and then a Senator. A good father to his children. Somebody who did his fellowmen no wrong, somebody who didn’t steal. Just that."

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